Greek traditions of self-government were reflected in the fact that Greek cities under Roman rule formally resembled the democracies of the classical period, with assembly, council, and eponymous magistrate. The balance of power, however, was now quite different (de Ste. Croix 1981: 518-37). Though formal decrees always began, ‘‘It seemed best to the Council and the People...,’’ in the Roman period the assembly of the people lost the power to initiate legislation. And membership in the assembly, as we have seen in Menodora’s city, was not automatically available to every citizen. Membership in the council became a permanent privilege based on a property qualification, rather than an annual office determined by lot. In Greece this shift towards a more oligarchic government had been going on since at least 146 bce, when the Roman general who crushed the revolt of the Achaean League ‘‘put a stop to democracy and set up governments based on property qualifications’’ (Paus. 7.16.9). At Athens, the assembly kept on meeting for almost another 300 years, though it seems to have spent more time voting honorific decrees than formulating substantive policy. The mass of citizens was not entirely without political influence, however. Though formally deprived of political initiative, they could express their views via various forms of disorderly conduct. Dio, whose career as a Bithynian politician had its share of ups and downs, contrasts the decorous praise a politician hoped to receive in the assembly with the disrespectful treatment he might encounter in the marketplace (D. Chr. 51.2).
In some cities, participation in the elite Hellenic youth organization of the ephebeia was a prerequisite for entry into the Council. Since only youths of wealth and leisure could join the ephebeia, it may not have always been necessary to fix a specific property qualification for entry into the Council. In many places, being a magistrate was a prerequisite for joining, but since magistrates might have to provide expensive municipal services out of their own pockets, people of modest means were in effect disqualified.
World History
