182 Outlines of Europeaji History Fig. 89. The Fxvx, the Athenian Place of Assembly The speakers' platform with its three steps is immediately in the fore- ground. The listening Athenian citizens of the Assembly sat on the ground now sloping away to the left, but at that time probably level. The ground they occupied was inclosed by a semicircular wall, begin- ning at the further end of the straight wall seen here on the right, extending then to the left, and returning to the straight wall again behind our present point of view (see semicircle on plan, p. 173). This was an open-air House of Commons, where, however, the citizen did not send a representative but came and voted himself as he was in- fluenced from this platform by great Athenian leaders, like Themisto- cles, Pericles, or Demosthenes (p. 216). Note the Acropolis and the Parthenon, to which we look eastward from the Pnyx (see plan, p. 173). The Areopagus is just out of range on the left (see Fig. 91) A long struggle of the people for power had brought about changes in the constitution providing that all citizens holding state office should receive pay for such service. The people were in the saddle (Fig. 89). It was now possible even for men of very limited means to hold office, and all were permitted to
