ABSTRACT
In Athens, and especially during the leadership of Pericles (495-429 B.C.E.), the animating spirit was that citizens should be able to take part in public affairs. Indeed, as George Sabine said, “This ideal of a common life in which all might actively share
presupposed an optimistic estimate of the natural political capacity of the average man.”2 Moreover, general participation was designed to encourage individuals to think of themselves as part of the larger community whose interest each individual served.
