to lead in the
councils with the chiefs and, when occasion requires, discuss matters
with the people. Gradually passing from the ancient hereditary power,
he reaches a stage when it becomes a custom to consult with all the
chiefs of the tribe in the management of the affairs. The earliest
picture of Greek government represents a king who is equal in birth
with {231} other heads of the gentes, presiding over a group of elders
deliberating upon the affairs of the state. The influence of the
nobles over whom he presided must have been great. It appears that the
king or chief must convince his associates in council before any
decision could be considered a success.

The second phase of Greek government represents this same king as
appearing in the assembly of all the people and presenting for their
consideration the affairs of the state. It is evident from this that,
although he was a hereditary monarch, deriving his power from
aristocratic lineage traced even to the gods themselves, he was
responsible to the people for his government, and this principle
extends all the way through the development of Greek social and
political life.

The right to free discussion of affairs in open council, the right to
object to methods of procedure, were cardinal principles in Greek
politics; but while the great mass of people were not taken into
account in the affairs of the government, there was an equality among
all those called citizens which had much to do with the establishment
of the civil polity of all nations. The whole Greek political life,
then, represents the slow evolution from aristocratic government of
hereditary chiefs toward a complete democracy, which unfortunately it
failed to reach before the decline of the Greek state.

As before related, the Greeks had established a large number of
independent communities which developed into small states. These small
states were mostly isolated from one another, hence they developed an
independent social and political existence. This was of great
consequence in the establishing of the character of the Greek
government. In the first place, the kings, chiefs, and rulers were
brought closely in contact with the people. Everybody knew them,
understood the character of the men, realizing that they had passions
and prejudices similar to other men, and that, notwithstanding they
were elevated to positions of power, they nevertheless were human
beings like the people themselve