The Athenians, the natural leaders of the Hellenic Civilization, valued political freedom and sought the full development and enrichment of the human personality.
The Athenian state was a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves, not elected representatives, made the laws. In an assembly, which was open to all adult male citizens and which met about 40 times a year, Athenians debated and voted on key issues of state: they declared war, signed treaties, and spent public funds. The lowliest cobbler, as well as the wealthiest aristocrat, had the opportunity to express his opinion in the assembly, to vote, to hold the highest public positions, and to receive equal treatment before the law. By the middle of the 5th c., the will of the people expressed in the assembly was supreme.