[Agora Webpage] AgoraPicBk 4 2004: Military Service

http://agathe.gr/democracy/military_service.html

Military Service After the 18-year-old was registered in his deme as a citizen and was approved by the Council, he entered military service as a young conscript (ephebe) with other members of his tribe ... “The fathers hold meetings by tribes and after taking oath elect three members of the tribe of more than 40 years of age, whom they think to be the best and most suitable to supervise the ephebes. . . . These take the ephebes and after first making a circuit of the temples then go to Piraeus and some of them garrison Munichia, others Akte” (Aristotle). When the ephebes’ military service was over, it was customary for decrees honoring them for their faithful service to be inscribed on stone, with the list of their names appended.

[Agora Webpage] Birth of Democracy: Sources and Documents

http://agathe.gr/democracy/sources_and_documents.html

Sources and Documents Our understanding of the workings and history of Athenian democracy comes from a variety of sources. Most useful, perhaps, are the ancient literary texts that survive, many of which ... Over fifty such references in the ancient sources describe a full range of documents kept in the building: laws, decrees, records of lawsuits, financial accounts, lists of ephebes, sacred offerings and weights and measures.

[Agora Webpage] Birth of Democracy: The Athenian Army

http://agathe.gr/democracy/the_athenian_army.html

The Athenian Army From the very beginning, the Athenians were compelled to fight for their new democracy. Their dramatic victories over the Boiotians and Chalkidians in 506 B.C. led many to attribute Athenian ... Citizens received military training during their service as ephebes from age 18 to 20: The people elect two athletic trainers and instructors for them, to teach them their drill as heavy-armed soldiers and to use the bow, javelin, and sling ... They go on in this mode of life for the first year; in the following year an assembly is held in the theater, and the ephebes give a display of drill before the people and receive a shield and spear from the state and they then serve on patrols in the country and are quartered at the guard-posts.