2.One of the most important changes in Greece during the period from 800 B.C.to 500 B.C.was the rise of the polis, or city-state, and each polis developed a system of government that was appropriate to its circumstances. The problems that were faced and solved in Athens were the sharing of political power between the established aristocracy and the emerging other classes, and the adjustment of aristocratic ways of life to the ways of life of the new polis. It was the harmonious blending of all of these elements that was to produce the classical culture of Athens.
1.polis ---古希腊处于哲学目的思考的一个理想的国家
2.city-state 城市-州
3.was appropriate to适合的
4.he established aristocracy and the emerging other classes新兴贵族
5.blending融合
The problems that were faced and solved in Athens were the sharing of political power between the established aristocracy and the emerging other classes,
Entering the polis age, Athens had the traditional institutions of other Greek protodemocratic states: an assembly of adult males, an aristocratic council, and annually elected officials. Within this traditional framework the Athenians, between 600 B.C.and 450 B.C.,evolved what Greeks regarded as a fully fledged democratic constitution, though the right to vote was given to fewer groups of people than is seen in modern times.
1. proto democratic states 原始的民主国家
2. an assembly of adult males. 男性的集会
3.an aristocratic council 贵族的议会
4. annually elected officials. 每年当选的官员
5.regarded as a fully fledged democratic constitution, 被认为是成熟的宪法
6. traditional institutions传统的机构
Entering the polis age, Athens had the traditional institutions of other Greek protodemocratic states: an assembly of adult males, an aristocratic council, and annually elected officials.
The first steps toward change were taken by Solon in 594 B.C., when he broke the aristocracy's stranglehold on elected offices by establishing wealth rather than birth as the basis of office holding, abolishing the economic obligations of ordinary Athenians to the aristocracy, and allowing the assembly (of which all citizens were equal members) to overrule the decisions of local courts in certain cases. The strength of the Athenian aristocracy was further weakened during the rest of the century by the rise of a type of government known as a tyranny, which is a form of interim rule by a popular strongman (not rule by a ruthless dictator as the modern use of the term suggests to us). The Peisistratids, as the succession of tyrants were called (after the founder of the dynasty, Peisistratos), strengthened Athenian central administration at the expense of the aristocracy by appointing judges throughout the region, producing Athens' first national coinage, and adding and embellishing festivals that tended to focus attention on Athens rather than on local villages of the surrounding region. By the end of the century, the time was ripe for more change: the tyrants were driven out, and in 508 B.C. a new reformer, Cleisthenes, gave final form to the developments reducing aristocratic control already under way.
1.然后接下来就是变化了，solon打破了贵族官员的世袭，通过创造财富。
废除大众对贵族的经济义务。并且准许普通民众的议会推翻法律的一些case。
2.overrule 否决，驳回
3.tyranny 暴政，专制政府
4. ruthless dictator独裁者
5. as the succession of tyrants 暴君的继承者
6.appointing judges throughout the region任命整个地方的法官
7.the time was ripe for more change:改变的时机已经成熟
从贵族--P暴君专制--C改革
Cleisthenes' principal contribution to the creation of democracy at Athens was to complete the long process of weakening family and clan structures, especially among the aristocrats, and to set in their place locality-based corporations called demes, which became the point of entry for all civic and most religious life in Athens. Out of the demes were created 10 artificial tribes of roughly equal population. From the demes, by either election or selection, came 500 members of a new council, 6,000 jurors for the courts, 10 generals, and hundreds of commissioners. The assembly was sovereign in all matters but in practice delegated its power to subordinate bodies such as the council, which prepared the agenda for the meetings of the assembly, and the courts, which took care of most judicial matters. Various committees acted as an executive branch, implementing policies of the assembly and supervising, for instance, the food and water supplies and public buildings. This wide-scale participation by the citizenry in the government distinguished the democratic form of the Athenian polis from other, less liberal forms.（高的公民参与程度，比其他地区来说没有那么松散）
1. clan structures家族结构 family structure = family tree
2. locality-based corporations本地公司
3.the point of entry for。。。 入口点。。
4.artificial tribes 人工部落
7. jurors 陪审员
8. commissioners专员
9. The assembly was sovereign in all matters 集会大小事务都是自主主权的
10. delegated its power to subordinate bodies 委托给下属机构
11. judicial matters.司法事项
12.Various committees acted as an executive branch, 委员会充当执行部门
13. citizenry 公民
Cleisthenes' principal contribution to the creation of democracy at Athens was to complete the long process of weakening family and clan structures, especially among the aristocrats, and to set in their place locality-based corporations called demes, which became the point of entry for all civic and most religious life in Athens. C的改革继续发挥作用。
This wide-scale participation by the citizenry in the government distinguished the democratic form of the Athenian polis from other, less liberal forms.
The effect of Cleisthenes' reforms was to establish the superiority of the Athenian community as a whole over local institutions without destroying them. National politics rather than local or deme politics became the focal point. At the same time, entry into national politics began at the deme level and gave local loyalty a new focus: Athens itself. Over the next two centuries the implications of Cleisthenes' reforms were fully exploited.
1.National politics became the focal point变成焦点
2. Cleisthenes' reforms were fully exploited.
During the fifth century B.C.the council of 500 was extremely influential in shaping policy. In the next century, however, it was the mature assembly that took on decision-making responsibility. By any measure other than that of the aristocrats, who had been upstaged by the supposedly inferior "people," the Athenian democracy was a stunning success. Never before, or since, have so many people been involved in the serious business of self-governance. It was precisely this opportunity to participate in public life that provided a stimulus for the brilliant unfolding of classical Greek culture.
1. extremely influential in shaping policy. 极具影响力
2. mature assembly that took on decision-making responsibility. 成熟的会议承担了决策
3.upstaged by the supposedly inferior被认为是下等人来取代
4.was a stunning success.惊人的壮举
5.self-governance. 自治
6.the brilliant unfolding of classical Greek culture.古希腊的文化展现
7. provided a stimulus for提供刺激
8.precisely = exactly
self-governance. It was precisely this opportunity to participate in public life that provided a stimulus for the brilliant unfolding of classical Greek culture.
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