The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor

by Susan Wise Bauer

Spartans were expected to obey their king. But the Greeks who lived in Athens had a different way of doing things. Everyone who lived in Athens had a say in how the city was run, because Athens was a democracy. That means that whenever a new law was written, the people of Athens could vote on whether or not it should actually be followed. Each citizen would have the chance to say, “Yes, this is a good law!” or “No, this is not a good law!” If more people voted Yes than voted No, the law would pass! They also voted on their leaders, on how much tax they should pay, and on whether they should go to war. Whenever it was time for the citizens to vote about something, they would gather in the middle of the city, at a special meeting place called a forum. There, they would argue about whether to vote yes or no. After the arguments, they would make up their minds and then vote. So that they could understand how to vote properly, the citizens had to be educated. They needed to know why taxes were important, and whether leaders were good or bad. They had to understand the laws of the city. If they were ignorant, they wouldn’t be able to argue properly about the government of the city. And they wouldn’t be able to make up their minds about how to vote.