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Thesis of Athens Democracy
Thesis of Athens Democracy
Political system of athens and sparta
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4. “Explain the different political systems in Athens and Sparta.”: The Athens had a controlled political life but very little power. However, by the seventh century the Athens got under control by the aristocrats and weren't controlled by a king. Sparta had two kings, five men who were the ephors. The Spartans are a military state.
The governments of these two city-states were not alike in many ways. “It is true that our government is called a democracy, because its administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of the many,” (Document 3). Athens’ government was what we would consider today a direct democracy. This means that their government was run by the people, or in other words “the many”, rather than a couple government officials, or “the few”. Although Athens was running their city as a government by the people, Sparta had a different form of government. “it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy,
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
In contrast, Sparta was largely an agrarian society and more isolated. Sparta's political system was oligarchic and militant. Sparta's hereditary monarchy of two kings held the right to military leadership. Five ephors elected by the Assembly served as the executing agent with wide powers. The Assembly acted only by acclamation, unlike the Athenian Assembly that depended on debate.
Spartan culture is a great example of how a society’s infrastructure will directly affect both, its social structure and superstructure. It also serves as a warning that any society that becomes too rigid in its structure and too static in its values will not last long when confronted with more agile and adaptable cultures. This paper will explore why Sparta became the Hellenic army par excellence, how this worked to create a very specific social structure founded on martial values, and, finally, how that social structure would ultimately be the undoing of the culture.
The two city-states had different governments from each other. Sparta had an oligarchy government, where two kings are in command of armies. They also had a council that acted like judges and proposed laws. Athens had the world’s first
In Athens, only male citizens were able to hold public office. In Sparta, the society was organized like the military, so only soldiers (who were male) were in the political circle.
Greece is a country united by its name, but divided by its ways. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, their societies were different. Sparta was focused on having a perfect military, whereas Athenian daily life revolved learning and knowledge. When Spartan boys were being trained for an army, Athenian boys were being trained for life. Both of these societies revolved around different government, education from when kids to teenagers, the responsibilities each individual had to keep their spot, and how women played a role throughout each city state.
In modern day, when people think of powerful nations, they think of China, The United States, and Russia. In the early ages, some of the strongest civilizations were the Athenians, Persians, and the Spartans. All three nations were unique, but nothing quite compares to the Spartans. From their military, how they raise their kids, and their women, no civilization can compare. The Spartans focus was to become a perfect nation. To fulfill their goal, they created a powerful army that begins military training at the age of seven. During the rigorous military training, the ideas of discipline, courage, and trust were burned into their skulls. The end result created one of the most dominant forces in their era.
During the Classical Age of Greece, two powerful city-states emerged, each governed by a different system. Athens was run by democracy, whereas, Sparta, a military state, was governed by oligarchy. Athens' democracy served its people better. Since all had a say in the government and everyone was included in a state was ruled by many. In Sparta, the state was controlled by a select few, kings and ephors, who had absolute power. In Athens plenty of time was spent on architecture, to ensure that Athens would forever leave behind a cultural legacy, whereas in Sparta it was believed that there was no need to build extravagant buildings, therefore leaving very little of a cultural legacy. Finally, Athenian slaves were treated very well, often paid, and had a chance to buy their freedom, unlike Sparta, where slaves were treated as though they were not people, and could be killed for any reason at all.
“Athens and Sparta” by Mr.Duckworth states, “Where they differed was that while the Spartans had militaristic values, Athenians were democratic. Sparta only focused on military related things. Athens focused on more things than just military. Sparta would have been a better place to live because the woman had more freedom than the people in Athens, they focused on military only, and they helped other states out during war.
Not only did city-states have different governments, they had different cultures too. Athens and Spartans lived very different lives in many ways, such as their geography, government, and education. The Athens lived in central Greece, only four miles from the Aegean Sea. They could just hop on a boat, travel to the outside world and learn new things. Sparta was more isolated, on a plane between the mountains and the sea. They were suspicious of outsiders and their ideas, they grew what they needed and took what they couldn’t grow from their neighbors. They could not get along. Another difference was government. Athens became a democracy in 500 B.C.E. All free men over the age of 18 were considered citizens and a council of 500 men over the
To analyze the difference and similarities of the two most predominant city states in ancient Greece. Extensive research has been done on the social and military aspects of both Athens and Sparta. Though not much is know about Sparta there is an expendable amount of research on Athens that will be useful in analyzing the two.
Sparta and Athens were two sides to a very powerful coin; on the one hand, the Spartan corporeal political system and on the other, the Athenian democratic prowess. Each culture chose to approach their legislative, judicial, and military systems differently. On the one hand was Sparta, which highlighted military service and sacrifice. On the other hand was Athens, which prioritized culture and established early democracy. While these city-states had many leadership styles, they differed in other ways, regardless of belonging to the same country.
The Greek city states of Athens and Sparta pioneered two uniquely different systems for administering the everyday lives of their citizenry. In many ways each was uniquely shaped by the cultural nuances and specific challenges they faced. For Sparta the key concern was a system that most efficiently protected them from the perceived threat of a massive slave population that outnumbered the Spartans as greatly as seven to one at some point. For the Athenians it was the need to balance the demands of the general citizen population versus the interests of the Aristocratic elite.
Ancient, or Archaic, Greece was the time period between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C., in which Greece experienced development in colonization and experienced advancements in government, society, and economy. Ancient Greece was composed of numerous poleis, or city-states. However, there are two major cities that Greece is mostly known for today: the cities of Athens and Sparta. Athens, named after the Greek goddess, Athena, was a polis located in a region called Attica. It had a population of 140,000 people, making it not only Greece’s capital, but also its largest city. Sparta, named after the wife of Lacedaemon, a son of Zeus, was located in the region of Laconia. It eventually acquired 8,500 km2 of territory and reached a population