| The Athenian Constitution by Aristotle 
Written 350 BCE Translatated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon The Constitution of the Athenians or of Athens (or "Athenaion Politeia", or "The Athenians") is the name of either of two texts from Classical antiquity, one probably by Aristotle, the other attributed to Xenophon, but not by him.
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Aristotle - by Raphael - School of Athens | The Aristotelian text is unique, because it is not a part of the Corpus Aristotelicum. It was lost until it was discovered in Egypt in 1890 by an American missionary. The British Museum acquired it later that year. Its authorship is disputed, with some scholars attributing it to Aristotle and others to his students. If it is a genuine writing of Aristotle, then it is of particular significance, because it is the only one of his writings existing today which was actually intended for publication. The main sources for the Athenian constitution are Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution, the Epitaph speech of Pericles in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War and the many contemporary speeches of Attic orators and inscriptions. | The reforms of Ephialtes (462/1 BC) and of Pericles (451/0 BC) completed Cleisthenes' work on the democratisation of the Constitution. The political, social and economic conditions that obtained during the establishment of the Athenian hegemony in the eastern Mediterranean were contributing factors in this process. The increasing involvement of the thetes, usually as rowers, in Athenian naval expeditions as part the Athenian League, strengthened their conviction that they contributed substantially to the development and dominance of their city, and they demanded participation in the political affairs. | | | | 
Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer - by Rembrant van Rijn | The Athenians were much concerned with reinforcing and maintaining their democracy. In order to deal with aspiring tyrants, the systems of ostracism and graphe paranomon (the law against unconstitutional proposals) were instituted. Councillors swore an oath to denounce anyone who tried to undermine democracy, or who was implicated in any attempt to promote tyranny. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), who was the first great collector of knowledge, set some of his students to examine the constitutions of different Greek states. The Athenian Constitution, probably written by a pupil between 332 and 322 B.C., is the only work to have survived. It is a factual history and constitution of classical Athens, the model of democracy in a world in which states lived under a variety of different kinds of government. The author produced a work of a kind which no one had attempted before, and he has left us a book of great interest and importance. Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Aristotle If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost. Aristotle 
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Ballot Box found in ancient Agora 3rd century BC Athens Museum of the Ancient Agora | "The jurors cast in their tickets, each into the chest on which is inscribed the letter which is on his ticket; then the servant shakes them all up, and the Archon draws one ticket from each chest. The individual so selected is called the Ticket-hanger (Empectes), and his function is to hang up the tickets out of his chest on the bar which bears the same letter as that on the chest. He is chosen by lot, lest, if the Ticket-hanger were always the same person, he might tamper with the results."
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