No just normal men whose minds were not crippled by heavy metals and drugs.
They took time to think about the outcomes a set of behaviors lead to logically over a long time period.
Look at Socrates and Plato, they feared the democratic individual taken to an extreme would become a selfish, self-centered, shallow person with no loyalty except to themselves.
Many discussions amongst the founders led to the representative republic. This system only works with a moral citizenry.