Summary: The absence of formal requirements for quorum in the assembly in the fifth century
conforms more to our sources than Hansen’s assumptions of a quorum of 6,000 already
in force before 403 BC. Accordingly, it seems that a quorum in the ekklêsia was a deliberate
innovation, and the introduction of the ekklêsiastikon was meant to extend the participation,
not only to preserve it at the fifth-century level. We have reason to believe that the Athenians
wished to encourage attendance generally, not only in those cases where an exact counting
of ballots was required.