What if Athenian democracy had gone differently?

Athens hands real decisions to an assembly of ordinary citizens chosen by lot.

If it had gone differently: Self-rule by citizens is never even attempted in the ancient world; the moderns have no example to point back to.

The real history on Wikipedia ↗

Later turning points that leaned on Athenian democracy. Change it in the game and the ripples reach all of these.

1. -509The Roman Republic. Without it, Italy stays a patchwork of small kingdoms; there is no republic, no Senate, no working model of citizenship for Europe to inherit.
2. -400Greek natural philosophy. Without it, Reasoned enquiry into how the world works never takes hold; there is no classical canon for medieval scholars to recover.
3. 1720The Enlightenment. Without it, Absolutism keeps its intellectual cover; 'rights of man' never enters common speech.