Dragged to Democracy

Transcript

The Athenians invented democracy. That did not mean they always felt like showing up for it. Aristophanes, an Athenian citizen and comic playwright, gives us a wonderfully unheroic picture of democratic Athens. It is Assembly day. Citizens are supposed to be gathering here on the Pnyx. But the Pnyx is almost empty. One man is already sitting here, waiting. Everyone else? Still down in the Agora, Athens’ marketplace and public square. Talking. Wandering. Taking their time. Even the officials are late. Aristophanes jokes that when they finally arrive, they will rush forward and push one another for the best seats. So how do you get citizens to actually come and practise democracy? Apparently, sometimes you need a rope. A red rope. Aristophanes describes men in the Agora trying to dodge a rope stained with red dye, used to move reluctant stragglers towards the Assembly. You are enjoying your morning in the Agora. You know perfectly well that the Assembly is meeting. Perhaps you will go in a minute. Perhaps after one more conversation. Then you see the red rope approaching. Time to become a citizen. The scene destroys one of our favourite illusions about the past. The Athenians built an extraordinary political system on citizen participation. But the citizens themselves were still human. They were late. They lingered. They talked. Sometimes they tried to avoid going. The Athenians invented democracy. They also had to drag people to it.