Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History / Pericles' Citizenship Law: Who Got to Be Athenian
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Athenian democracy — the kleroterion, the ekklesia, sortition. But there's a basic question we haven't really touched: who actually counted as an Athenian? Who got to be a citizen? Luna: I mean, I assume it was adult men born in Athens — but was it that simple? Lucas: It was not, and that's where Pericles comes in. In 451 BCE, right around the height of Athens' power, Pericles pushed through a citizenship law that completely redefined what it meant to be Athenian. Lucas: Before that, citizenship was a bit looser. You basically needed an Athenian father, but your mother could be from anywhere. Pericles changed it to require both parents to be Athenian citizens. Both of them. Luna: Wait — both parents? So if your mom was from Corinth or something, you were out? Lucas: Exactly. You were a nothos — a bastard in the legal sense, with no political rights. You couldn't inherit property, you couldn't participate in the ekklesia, you couldn't serve on juries. You were essentially a metic, a resident alien, even if you'd been born and raised in Athens. Lucas: And here's where it gets personal. Pericles himself had a long-term relationship with Aspasia, a woman from Miletus. She was brilliant, influential, but she was not Athenian. Their son, also named Pericles, was born before the law passed — but after 451, he was technically not a citizen. Lucas: You know, speaking of things that make you think — this show is ad-free and listener-supported. If today's episode was worth the price of a coffee to you, that's the link: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just helps us keep going. Luna: Yeah, absolutely. It's a small way to say this matters. Lucas: So back to Pericles and his son. During the plague that hit Athens in 429 BCE, Pericles the elder died — and his legitimate sons from his first marriage had already died. So the family line was in jeopardy. The Athenians made an exception and granted citizenship to Pericles the younger, despite the law. Luna: So even the guy who wrote the law got a loophole for his own kid? Lucas: The law also affected women, of course. An Athenian woman couldn't be a citizen in the political sense — she couldn't vote — but her status determined her children's status. So a woman's marriageability depended on her being a citizen's daughter. It tightened the whole social system. Luna: So it's almost like they created a caste system within the democracy. Lucas: In a way, yes. And it had long-term effects. During the Peloponnesian War, with so many men dying, Athens had to relax the law in 403 BCE to allow more people in. But the ideal of the pure Athenian remained powerful. It's one reason democracy was so exclusive — maybe only 10 to 20 percent of the population in Attica ever had full rights. Lucas: There's also the question of enforcement. How did you prove both parents were citizens? The phratries — kinship groups — kept registers. At festivals, citizens had to show they were legitimate. It was a bureaucratic system, but one that relied on community knowledge. Luna: So if you moved to Athens from another city, even if you fought for Athens, you could never be a citizen? Lucas: No, not under this law. There were occasional grants of citizenship for extraordinary service, but they were rare. Most metics, no matter how wealthy or loyal, remained outsiders. It's a striking contrast to the democratic ideology of equality among citizens. Lucas: And that tension — between equality for the in-group and exclusion of everyone else — is something that resonates beyond ancient Athens. It's a pattern we see in many democracies: the definition of 'the people' is always contested. Luna: It makes you wonder: was Athenian democracy really a democracy, or just an oligarchy of native-born men? Lucas: Right, and that's the debate. Some scholars argue that the citizenship law was a way to protect the democracy from outside influence. Others see it as a betrayal of democratic principles. Either way, it shaped who got to participate in that incredible experiment. Lucas: So next time we think of the golden age of Pericles, we should remember that it was built on a very narrow definition of who counted as Athenian. Aspasia, the brilliant woman beside Pericles, could never be one. And their son only barely made the cut.