Full Idea
It is essential to fix the number of citizens who can participate in assemblies. Otherwise it would be uncertain whether all the people had spoken, or only a part of it. At Sparta the number was fixed at ten thousand.
Gist of Idea
A democratic assembly must have a fixed number, to see whether everyone has spoken
Source
Baron de Montesquieu (The Spirit of the Laws (rev. 1757) [1748], 02.02)
Book Reference
Montesquieu,Baron de: 'Selected Political Writings', ed/tr. Richter,Melvin [Hackett 1990], p.116
A Reaction
This looks like an immediate injustice to the citizen who came 10,001 in the rankings. 10,000 is just a smallish football crowd, so we could manage it today. We could pick the 10,000 by sortition (by lot). Most people are fairly sensible!