In 507 BC Athens sent an embassy to Persia to negotiate a pact between the two nations to subdue threats from Sparta. At first the Persian rulers did not know who the Athenians were because they had not heard of Athens. The Persians asked the Athenians to give them tokens of water and earth as a symbol of the Persians supreme authority over all the seas and earth before they would help them. The Athenians gave it to them not knowing what the symbols meant. After they returned from Athens and realized this they were horrified at what they had done. In 499 BC the Greek colony of Ionia, which was under Persian rule, began to revolt against their Persian overlords. They sent ambassadors to Athens and Sparta to ask for help. Sparta refused but Athens sent 20 ships of her 50 ship navy. The Ionian revolt ended in 493 with the Persians winning, but the Persians were furious that Athens had helped the Ionians and gone against their treaty. This lead to the beginning of the Persian war in 490 BC.
The city state of Athens was a democratic state. The beginning of Athenian law began under Draco with reforms under Solon until in the 5th century BC we see the Athenian government that we see today. The Athenians had the assembly the counsel of 500 and the court of 600. The counsel of 500 decided what issues would be brought before the assembly and were chosen by lot from the citizens of Athens each year. Only Athenian citizens were allowed to participate in government, Which meant that you had to have two Athenian parents. Women, slaves and immigrants to Athens could not participate in government. From the court of 600, 501 were chosen to be jurors for a case, because it would be hard to bribe 501 people and so that there could not be a tie. In the assembly matters of politics would be decided and anyone who was a citizen could attend. To Athens democracy meant that the people would choose what to do instead of choosing the people to represent you.