Proposed laws needed approval from a much larger group, the Assembly of Athens. The Assembly met on a hill called the Pnyx every ten days. According to law, at least 6,000 citizens needed to be present for a meeting to occur. If fewer people attended a meeting, enslaved people armed with ropes dipped in red paint would be sent out to collect more citizens. Athenian men were said to be embarrassed to appear in red-stained clothes at these meetings.
The Assembly debated issues and voted on laws that the council proposed. Every citizen retained the right to speak at Assembly meetings. Some speakers were more skilled than others, and some spoke longer than others. Sometimes, a water clock was used to time a speaker. It worked by placing a cup filled with water above another cup. The top cup had a small hole drilled into the bottom. A speaker was permitted to talk only during the time it took for all the water in the top cup to drain into the bottom cup.
Most Athenian men enjoyed participating in the city’s democratic government. They liked to gather and debate the issues and were proud of their freedom as Athenian citizens.
