Introduction In Athens, you would see the aristocrats doing their government duties, farmers working on their land, and women indoors doing their household duties. There would also be foreigners doing their trade, and slaves at work. This was how life was like Athens.
Question 1 : How were citizens in Ancient Greece grouped? In Athens, people were grouped based on their gender and social status. Up on top were the artiscracy, next came the farmers, and soon were the tenant farmers. They were male citizens who were free and had all the rights. Next came the women and children, after that were the resident aliens or foriengers. These people were not citiznes, but were free and had some rights. Last came the freedmen and slaves who weren't free or citizens and had little to no rights.
Question 2 : Was there a way to "move up" in Greece? Slaves who were freed in a way would "move up" and become freedmen. The freedmen would be having very few rights, but were better than the zero rights slaves had. Another move up was that the farmers would have to get more land. The bigger the land, the higher the status.
Artistocray - These people were a part of the "Upper Class" or on the top of the social scale. Athenians were wealthy and powerful citizens by owning big peices of land and being a part of the government. A citizen could be an aristocrat by hereditary or inheritance. These people handled government work, wars, etc. They used the leisure time for the city-state government work.
Farmers - Farming in Athen’s was difficult due to the limited amount of good soil and cropland. It is estimated that only twenty percent of the land was usable for growing crops. The main crops were barley, grapes, and olives. The Athenian farmers that owned large pieces of land enjoyed high status or rank in society. They were usual the rich families of Athens. Most Athenians were small farmers; they owned small plots of land and did not have enough land to raise livestock or produce extra food. Farmers were adult males, who were citizens of Athens.
Tenant Farmers - If you don’t know what a tenant farmer is I’m here to tell you. A tenant farmer are people who pay rent, either in money or crops, to grows crops on another person’s land. These tenant farmers were called thetes.
Women - Women didn't have the opportunity to commit most crimes as were not in the public sphere. Girls got married in their teens, often to a man in his 30's or at home.They learnt important household skills-spinning, weaving, sewing, cooking and other household jobs. Women had only a few rights, They had no rules in the government. Children - There Survival was very difficult for infants born in ancient Athens. The mortality rate was very high so babies were not given a name until they were between 7 – 10 days old. Sometimes they abandoned infants were taken in and adopted by a wealthy family, but most of the time they became a slave of the adoptive family.Boys in They learned how to read-write-. They trained the children sports. Soccer,Swimming, and other sports.
Resident Aliens or Foreigners (metics) - These people were non-citizens who were free. They usually came to a different city-states because the were often merchants, traders, and other jobs involving travel.
Slaves - The slaves were in Greek society and were seen as a necessary and perfectly normal part of city-life. Slaves came into Athens typically through war and conquest, kidnapped, and/or purchase as servants for the home. The relationship between slavers and owners were good and bad because sometimes slaves may have attempted to steal from the home, or owners may have treated their slaves poorly. For slaves there was, at least for some, a glimmer of hope to one day achieve their freedom. Slaves had a variety of different jobs and did many things for the city-state. These include working in the home, in agriculture, industry workshops, making shields, food, clothes and perfumes, mines, transport, retail, banking, entertainment. Slavery played a major role in ancient Greek civilization. Slaves could be found everywhere. There may have been as many, if not more, slaves than free people in ancient Greece.