What It Meant to Be a Citizen

Transcript

In Athens, citizenship was not something a man simply possessed. It was something he practised. We have already heard that, in the democratic courts, citizens judged citizens. But what did that actually mean? Imagine arriving early one morning with your bronze juror token. You do not yet know which case you will hear. Or who will stand before you. The jurors are chosen by lot. Soon, you are sitting among hundreds of other citizens. You hear both sides. Then you vote. No professional judge gives you the answer. The judgement is yours. Citizens judged citizens. In 399 BC, one of the men standing before them was Socrates. He was accused of not respecting the gods of the city and of corrupting the young. His accusers spoke. He answered them. Then the citizens voted. He was found guilty. When his life was at stake, he could have brought his sons before the court. Defendants sometimes brought their families, hoping to move the men judging them. Socrates refused. He would not use his children’s tears to save himself. According to Plato, he later had a chance to escape from prison. He refused that too. He did not say the verdict was just. But he would not escape it. A citizen could argue with the city. He could try to change its mind. But he also had to live under decisions made by other citizens. Aristotle later put this at the heart of citizenship.

A citizen had to know how to rule - and how to be ruled. Athenian women were free, but they had no voice in the Assembly. Except in comedy. For an Athenian citizen, citizenship was not a seat in the audience. It was a place in the action.