There are many great societies throughout history. However, Sparta provided the best life for its people. Though Sparta was located in Greece it had a different government than the other city-states. Similarly, Sparta had a different social structure than the other city-states. Also, compared to the other city-states Sparta’s way of life was remarkably better .Spartan society was dominated by the military which is why Sparta provided the best life for its people.
In Greece each polis had its own governmental style. Sparta’s government was dominated by the military. Sparta had an oligarchy which meant it was controlled by a small group of people. There were also two kings. One king controlled the military and the other one ran the day-to-day business of Sparta. With a government dominated by the military, the people who lived in Sparta felt protected. Also, the government was divided into parts or sections. Each part had their own roles. For example, under the kings was a council. The council was made up of 28 wealthy, male, citizens. The council proposed laws and served as the court. Furthermore, every male over the age of 30 made up the assembly. The assembly would reject or approve the laws created by the council. Finally, ephors were selected. The ephors were selected by assembly and their main job
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The people in Sparta were divided into three groups. The highest class were the equals. They were descendants of the families who first founded Sparta. Then, there were half-citizens. Half-citizens had to pay taxes and serve in the army. Most importantly, they were free. The lowest class were the helots. They were the slaves. Since there was no moving between classes and since each class had specific roles everyone knew where they belonged and what they were supposed to do within their class. Sparta’s rigid class system provided the best life for its people because it allowed Sparta to run smoothly and with little
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,
When discussing the Spartan economy, it is essential that the structure of Spartan society is explained. This structure directly effects Spartan economic production and its primary agrarian focus. The social structure of ancient Sparta was made up of three classes of individuals, the Spartiates, the Perioikoi, and the Helots. The Spartiates were native Spartans, those who had ancestry back to the first inhabitants of the settlement. The Homoioi—peers and equals—were at the top of the social pyramid, they were citizens with full rights, Spartiates.
My first reason to support that Sparta is a better place to live in is that I could be the leader of the army. I could because in Sparta they used oligarchy which means that the rich will have more power than the poor. This is
There were three classes of people in Sparta. Spartan citizens or Spartiate, or Native Spartan, who could trace is ancestry back to the original inhabitants of the city. Who lived in the city-state itself and, who alone had full political and legal rights and also having a voice in government, devoted their entire time to the military training.
Firstly, the rejection of luxury and avarice invariably results in a focus on military pursuits. Secondly, the apparent equality belies a vast slave network (common in antiquity, but the unique brutality of the Spartan kind can only bring to mind the Gulag). Lastly, intellectual sterility sets in. Sparta, intellectually, seems to be only good at cracking jibes (Athenian: “I can imitate a sparrow” Spartan: “So what, I have heard the real thing” upon approaching the walls of a city, a Spartan said, "What kind of women live here?"). Their poetry is stale and militaristic; their women are absolutely free; children are encouraged to steal; sex is made to resemble rape; parents mourn when their children return safe from war, and celebrate when they die: this is the weirdest state ever. The book “On Sparta” is a well written book as well is most of Plutarch’s
Like most Greek states of the Archaic and Classical Era, the Spartan city-state was a militaristic one. Sparta, however, took the idea to its extreme. In order to become the best soldiers, Spartan citizens had to dedicate their entire lives to the occupation. In fact to be a soldier – a hoplite – was the full infrastructure of Spartan society. While most Greek city-states looked down on labor, physical work, and even working for profit, they still had to work for a living, produce something. “The Spartans a...
Sparta was a war-like Greek city-state that had 2 main ranks of society. There were the Spartans, who were citizens that would receive an education that emphasized self-control, courage, obedience, and discipline. They both have the upper class, which are the citizens of the city-state. They were usually wealthy, and they didn’t spend much time at home or around their families.
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Sp...
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
Sparta, an ancient Greek city-state, was most well-known for its militaristic lifestyle and its soldiers’ prowess in battle. Though war was an essential part of life in Sparta, many other aspects contributed to its society. Sparta’s origin, unique government, slaves, bold women, and elite warriors all shaped the legendary city-state and defined its culture.
It is amazing that the leaders of Athens would trust their citizens, albeit a select few, to make decisions and choices about their life style. It is also incredible to contemplate the discipline required to establish a military force when Sparta had no physical infrastructure to fortify their city-state. It is important to respect our past and learn from it. However, we also must recognize the limitations and not romanticize the past to the point we ignore its shortcomings and not forget that it took nearly 2000 years to abolish slavery. These ancient city-states neglected a large number of their people, and approved of slavery and the subjugation of women. As long as one class dominates and discriminates against another, as a world society, we still have work to do to ensure peace and basic freedoms for all of
Spartan government consisted mainly of oligarchy, or the rule of society by a small group of people, which was represented by the Spartan military. Although Sparta did possess a dual monarchy of two kings, these kings were soldiers first. The laws of Spartan civilization were decided upon by its military class, a small class that was outnumbered by the minority slave-class, the helots. In his essay “Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship”, Dr. Peter J. Brand states, “This serf class outnumbered the Spartans many times over, so to keep the helots under control and suppress rebellions, the Spartans organized their entire society along military lines (Brand,
...poorer citizens would also be able to exercise their democratic rights and not be penalised because they could not take off from earning their livelihood. Sparta had an element of democracy in that citizens were able to vote in the assembly. However, the Gerousia and Ephors were able to veto its decisions and therefore the democratic element of Spartan society was very superficial.
Ancient Greece today is most known for the culture: the gods, the dramas, how people lived. What most people do not realize is that there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of different civilizations spread throughout Greece that all had different forms of government. The three main ones were Athens, Sparta, and Miletus. Each was very different from the other. The most powerful out of all three was Sparta: a military based society. The Spartan government had a strong foundation that was all torn down by one bad leader.
These governments came in different styles such as a monarchy which was led by a king. Another form of government that was seen among the Greeks was aristocracy in which the polis was ruled by a small group of noble, land owning families. One of the more notable polis of ancient Greek was that of Sparta in which they used the oligarchy as there form of government. This type of government is where the people are ruled by a few powerful people. Finally, there was democracy which means “rule of the people” (The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome 1-7). This was the government that Athens utilized and helped establish. These varying types of government can be seen throughout governments today, however, it is the government established by the Athenians and their political structure that had a greater impact on the west than that of its Greek polis counterparts.