Athens is widely known as the first democratic society; in other words, Athens was the first city-state in which the government was run by the power of the people. To be specific, it was a direct democracy: the people had a direct say in the actions of the government, with votes held for almost every decision. This influenced the framers of the U.S. constitution because one of the most basic aspects of the United States' creation was to create a free republic; a government in which everyone was free, and everyone had a say in the government (however, the U.S. is a representative, not a direct, democracy; people vote on representatives to vote on decisions)
