Sioux Falls Atheists endorse Athens for describing how democracy got its start,
but men ruled, women had no rights, and brutal slavery was allowed.
It was democracy for the few at the expense of everyone else.

Athens
The Dawn of Democracy

Athens (2007) - 120 minutes
Athens at Amazon.com

In the sixth century BC, Athens was an authoritarian society until one young aristocrat decided to use the "power of the people" to defeat a rival. In a single stroke of political genius, democracy was born. Athens has since been renowned as the birthplace of freedom, equality, and free speech.

Yet Athenian freedom was not without contradiction and conflict. The fledging democracy might not have survived without slavery, voting restrictions, the discovery of silver mines and the Battle of Salamis.

In Athens, historian Bettany Hughes explores the "Golden Age" of Athens at the dawn of democracy. She examines how the people now hailed as the originators of democracy rose to become the leaders of all Greece, and how they exported their ideas to a burgeoning empire.

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Athens
The Dawn of Democracy

Sioux Falls Atheists endorse Athens for describing how democracy got its start,
but men ruled, women had no rights, and brutal slavery was allowed.
It was democracy for the few at the expense of everyone else.