Hellenism In Ancient Greece

For most of it’s history, ancient Greece was composed of small city-states, that had little economic opportunity and prosperity, and could barely sustain a functioning government. Additionally, many Greek people were not confined to one region, and were spread out all across the western world(Ionian-Greeks, Mycenaeans). In spite of this, many city-states and Greek people had a great sense of identity, pride and communality. The binding force between these unrelated city-states was the belief in Hellenic culture/Greek customs. All Greeks believed in Hellenism, and it is one of the things that defined them as Greeks. In small Greek communities and City-states, Greek customs were the biggest legislative force. The most notable Greek city-states

Sparta and Athens both had Oligarchies between the 7th century B.C and 5th century B.C. Until Cleisthenes reformed Athens and installed a new council of 500, that proposed laws that the assembly would vote on. Spartan oligarchy had a council of elders that consisted of two kings and 28 men over the age of 60 who had served in the Spartan military. This differed from a democracy because the assembly did not make laws, but just passed them. There was also no open debate or discussion. These governments and political institutions although we're both expressions of hellenic culture, manifested because of the virtues and cultures of Athens and Sparta as well as their history. Athens became a democracy because of its openness to new ideas and great education, as well as the enslavement of the Athenian farmers via debt. In the Age of Pericles, Athens flourished culturally and politically. They had a direct democracy and had seen the growth of the arts and intellect divisions. When the

Most people provided for themselves and did not engage in any sort of trade. Most Greeks had small plots of land, and even the wealthy Greeks had a small amount of land compared to today. But the wealth and monetary value of Greeks was not based on size, but it was a relative spectrum. Where your “value” was compared to others. This is a phenomenon known as relative wealth, and was seen throughout Greek, Sparta and especially Athens. The economy of Sparta and Athens however had many resources, and impacted and reflected the fundamental institutions of their culture. The Spartan economy was mostly government controlled entity. With most of it’s productivity coming from the Helots and from military conquest. Free trade was also banned and not feasible as most men worked in the military or government. Athens had a sort of free-market and free-trade system, though they did have things socialised by the state. Athens was near the sea and traded very frequently with neighboring regions. It was not only the state that traded but the Athenian citizens, whom were free to become merchants. The economies of both Athens and Sparta reflected upon the essence of freedom and tradition which they both had liked. One economy was built on freedom and trade. The other based on tradition and military venture. These economies expressed the virtues that the two cities