ARTE: Mecenas e-magazine Final | Page 29

The production of artworks in Ancient Greece in the classical era (Golden age of Pericles) Florou Paraskevi, Fidanis Apostolos, Betsakos Konstantinos, Christodoulou Despina, Chatzigiannis Michael English translation, Parasxakis Zafeiris-Akilas, Stampoulidou Thomai Introduction The political life in ancient Athens is indissolubly related to the idea “Democracy”. Democracy was germinated there and formed the most lair way of governance because all Athens citizens had to express their opinion in public. Of course, from time to time there were alterations to the political system by composing democratic institution and therefore taking democratic measures. The most popular and important institutions were:  The council of 500 (“Vouli”): a political body of five hundred councilors, 50 of each tribe of the city, the main role of which was to draft the deliberations for discuss and approval in the Ecclesia.  Areios Pagos: the council appointed in Areios Pagos had the power to enforce the law and to punish the offenders. It was formed by noble families form their own members.  Ostracism: is probably the most strict measure of the democratic political system according to which Athenian civilians voted for a co-civilian to be exiled for 10 years judging by their reputation. The voting procedure took place in the “Agora” where Athenians threw in highly secured place a piece of broken pottery, on which they wrote the name of the candidate to be exiled. Despite the changes in the political system, it seemed to be functioning correctly, keeping Athenians satisfied in a degree that led other towns to embrace this system. Sponsorships Sponsorships (“leitourgiae”) were established in Ancient Greece by Clisthenes and flourished during the Golden Era of Pericles. Sponsorships in Ancient Greece were a way of taxation, but also a movement of love towards arts. The sponsor was a wealthy Athenian who covered some public expenses as a way of serving his city. These leitourgiae also took the form of paying the expenses of a theatrical performance. In this way the rich citizens spend a part of their wealth for the city. The expenses that were covered by the sponsor where called sponsorships (“leitourgiae”). On the other side, the state paid for the deprived citizens the 29