It's a false legend promoted by today's democratic governments.
In fact democracy in Ancient Greece wasn't how we know it today:
-It was only limited at the city of Athen
-Only adult rich men born in Athen with both the parents citizens of Athen could vote, in fact that was a minority
Most important
-People absolutely didn't like democracy, not who couldn't vote, they didn't care, but philosophers like Plato.
If you want I'll link sources in the comments, now I'm not at home.
The time needed to form a soil depends on the latitude: in enviroments characterized by a mild climate, it takes 200-400 years to form 1 cm of soil.
