{{Short description|Assembly of the democracy of ancient Greek city-states}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Constitution-of-the-Athenians-in-the-4th-century-BC.png|thumb|Constitution of the Athenians, 4th century BC. The ecclesia is represented by the small blue box in the top centre of the image. This diagram is based on Aristotle's ''[[Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle)|Constitution of the Athenians]]''.]]
[[File:Pnyx-berg2.png|thumb|The ekklesia in Athens convened on a hill called the [[Pnyx]]]]
{{otheruses|Citizens' assembly (disambiguation)}}
The '''ecclesia''' or '''ekklesia''' ({{langx|el|{{lang|grc|ἐκκλησία}}}}) was the assembly of the citizens in city-states of [[ancient Greece]].

==Ecclesia of Athens<span class="anchor" id="Ekklesia of Athens"></span> ==
The ecclesia of ancient [[Athens (polis)|Athens]] is particularly well-known. It was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens as soon as they qualified for citizenship.<ref>In the fourth century, this would have been after two years of military service, i.e. at 20 years of age rather than 18.</ref> In 594 BC, [[Solon]] allowed all Athenian citizens to participate, regardless of class. The assembly was responsible for declaring war, military strategy and electing the [[strategos|strategoi]] and other officials. It was responsible for nominating and electing magistrates ([[archon|árchontes]]), thus indirectly electing the members of the [[Areopagus]]. It had the final say on legislation and the right to call magistrates to account after their year of office. A typical meeting of the Assembly probably contained around 6,000 people, out of a total citizen population of 30,000–60,000. It would have been difficult, however, for non-wealthy people outside the urban centre of Athens to attend until reimbursements for attendance were introduced in the 390s. It originally met once every month, but later met three or four times per month. The agenda for the ecclesia was established by the [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule]], the popular council. Votes were taken by a show of hands, counting of stones and voting using broken pottery.

A police force of 300 [[Scythians|Scythian]] slaves carried red ochre-colored ropes to induce the citizens who loitered in the [[Ancient Agora of Athens|agora of Athens]] to attend the meetings of the assembly. Anyone with red-colored clothes who was not in the meeting was liable to a penalty.{{sfn|Osborne|2008|p=206}}{{sfn|Moore|1975|p=279}}

A quorum of 6,000 members was required sometimes to do business. The ecclesia elected the Boule annually by lot. Some of their power under [[Solon]] was delegated to the Court by [[Pericles]] in his reforms.

==''Ekklesiasterion''==
In ancient Greece, an ''[[ekklesiasterion]]'' or ''ecclesiasterion'' was a building specifically built for the purpose of holding the supreme meetings of the ecclesia. Like many other cities, Athens did not have an ''ekklesiasterion''. Instead, the regular meetings of the assembly were held on the [[Pnyx]] and two annual meetings took place in the [[Theatre of Dionysus]]. Around 300 BC, the meetings of the ecclesia were moved to the theatre. The meetings of the assembly could attract large audiences: 6,000 citizens might have attended in Athens during the fifth century BC.{{sfn|Hansen|Fischer-Hansen|1994|p=51–53}}

==See also==
* [[Ecclesia (Sparta)]]
* [[Areopagus]]
* [[Athenian democracy]]
* [[Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle)|''Constitution of the Athenians'' (Aristotle)]]
* [[Heliaia]]
* [[Mytilenian Debate]]
* [[Boule (ancient Greece)|''Boule'' (ancient Greece)]]

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}

;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation | last1=Hansen | first1=Mogens Herman | last2=Fischer-Hansen | first2=Tobias | year=1994 | chapter=Political Architecture in Archaic and Classical Greek Poleis | editor-last=Whitehead | editor-first=David |  title=From Political Architecture to Stephanus Byzantius: Sources for the Ancient Greek Polis | series=Historia: Einzelschriften, vol. 87 | location=Stuttgart | publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag | isbn=978-3-515-06572-6 | pages=23–90 }}.
* {{citation | editor-last=Moore | editor-first=J. M. | year=1975 | title=Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy | location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, California | publisher=University of California Press | isbn=978-0-520-02909-5 }}.
* {{citation | editor-last=Osborne | editor-first=Robin | year=2008 | title=The World of Athens: An Introduction to Classical Athenian Culture | location=Cambridge, United Kingdom | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-69853-5 }}.
* {{citation | last=Sinclair | first=R. K. | year=1991 | title=Democracy and participation in Athens | location=Cambridge, United Kingdom | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-0-521-42389-2}}.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Ecclesia | volume= 8 |last1= Mitchell |first1= John Malcolm |author1-link= | pages = 847–849 |short=1}}

{{Ancient Greece topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecclesia (Ancient Athens)}}
[[Category:590s BC]]
[[Category:Historical legislatures in Greece]]
[[Category:Society of ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Athenian democracy]]
[[Category:Popular assemblies]]
[[Category:6th-century BC establishments]]