Athenian democracy one in four residents citizens

About 1 In 4 Residents

Athenian citizenship excluded most residents

Only about one in four residents qualified as citizens in ancient Athens. Citizens governed directly through assemblies, courts, and public offices, while women, enslaved people, foreigners, and youths below military age were excluded.

9,000-year-old Chinese flutes were made to play specific notes

Bone flutes from the ancient Chinese settlement of Jiahu were made carefully enough to produce particular musical notes. Their makers therefore appear to have understood how to shape an instrument to control its sound.

Cretan place-names helped decode Linear B

Michael Ventris noticed that some sign combinations appeared only on tablets from Crete. He thought they might be Cretan place-names, and that clue helped him identify Linear B as a script for writing Greek, against the prevailing view that it was not Greek.

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Athenian democracy one in four residents citizens

Athenian citizenship excluded most residents

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