What tyrants in (ancient) Greece worked for democratic reforms? Why was public debate important to Greek democracy? THANKS[:
History - 2 Answers
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1 :
I am Greek so this qualifies me elgible to answer this. Tyrants in ancient Greece did not work for democratic reforms, they took advantage of the people like a dictator. The public debate was important to Greek democracy because at that time Greece was a Direct Democracy, meaning all people vote on every issue. It was important because their democracy controlled their government and society.
2 :
Tyrants at first had a meaning very similar to "kings". Some of them were benign rulers under whose authority their people flourished and some of them were closer to the term dictator as we mean it today. One of the most famous tyrants was Pisistratus of Athens. During his time Athens gathered power and was responsible for creating the infrastructure that helped Athens fight the Persians in Marathon a few years after his death. Public debate was the only form of democracy in the ancient times. All the major decisions had to be a result of referendum. The idea of representation of political fractions wasn't concidered due to the structure of the city state. It was relatively easy for the citizens to gather in one place and vote. Today something like that would be impossible to do on a regular bases.
