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A polis is “A city-state, as the central institution in Greek life and the Greeks’ colonization of the Mediterranean and Black seas (Spielvogel 60). Before the emergence of the poleis, there was a dark age in Greece. A time where “Greece entered a difficult period in which population declined and food production dropped” (Spielvogel 60). Trade was not a frequent sight, and farming became a main source of economy. An organized type of government was not present during the dark age. Due to a lack of government, I believe that is why the polis became very successful throughout Greece. The emergence of the polis gave Greece a sense of unity. An organized form of government led to a greater military. Men in the military were simply cavalry units – men on horseback. After the end of the 8th century, the poleis improved their militaries, and turned cavalry units into hoplites. Hoplites are “heavily armed infantry men who wore bronze or leather helmets, breastplates, and greaves” (Spielvogel 60). The Greeks began to expand overseas and create civilization in many areas. Expansion reduced the “Poverty and land hunger created by the growing gulf between rich and poor, overpopulation, and the development of trade were all factors that led to the establishment of colonies” (Spielvogel 60). Success …show more content…
“The Greeks of Sparta and Athens spoke different dialects and developed different political systems. The Spartans sought stability and conformity and emphasized order. The Athenians allowed for individual differences and stressed freedom (Spielvogel 63). I personally believe that the Spartan polis was more successful than the Athenian polis. If Solon was able to maintain power in Athens, I would argue that they were more successful than the Spartans. However, Solon was taken over by Pisistratus, “an aristocrat and a distant relative of Solon (Spielvogel
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.
Before Solon was name to reform the laws of the city, Athens was in great chaos. Solon had to tackle issues that were within the city itself. Because of the fact that only aristocrats and nobles were given the power to elect man, many of the “common people” were against that notion; as a result, quarrels between the common people and the aristocrats arose. Furthermore, due the the war that the Athenians just finished, and the accumulation of debts, the poorest of the poor had their lands seized and either sold themselves as slaves or their children and family members.
Lykurgos and Solon, the lawgivers of Sparta and Athens, passed distinct legislations in their attempt to save their poleis from destruction; Solon established a state solely based on wealth, whereas Lykurgos founded a nation of absolute equality and justice within Sparta, making Lykurgos the more effective reformer. Sparta, under the verge of economical bankruptcy, nearly fell to destruction. Government in corruption, army in crumble, and slaves in uprisings gave Lykurgos the chance to save the state from panicking. Athens, on the other hand, suffered from an extreme inequality between the rich and poor, stimulating an outrage of civil war. Facing these problems, Lykurgos and Solon responded differently in their endeavor to rescue their state permanently, which then eventually proved that Lykurgos’ reforms were more effective and long-lasting.
In assessing Du Pont’s capital structure after the Conoco merger that significantly increased the company’s debt to equity ratio, an analyst must look at all benefits and drawbacks of a high debt ratio. The main reason why Du Pont ended up with a high debt to equity ratio after acquiring Conoco was due to the timing and price at which they bought Conoco. Du Pont ended up buying the firm at its peak, just before coal and oil prices started to fall and at a time when economic recession hurt the chemical industry of Du Pont. The additional response from analysts and Du Pont stockholders also forced Du Pont to think twice about their new expansion. The thought of bringing the debt ratio back to 25% was brought on by the fact that the company saw that high levels of capital spending were vital to the success of the firm and that high debt levels may put them at higher risk for defaulting.
Polis’s are small urban communities that numbered in the thousands during the time of ancient greece. they had a small government system that allowed them all to vote and be involved in their democracy. These small city states made up the great empires of the Greek and Roman cultures. They could not have been governed better with the concept of democracy. With all the city state's governing themselves then when the bigger political decisions came around that is when the central government, or head of all the other city states, was given the power to decide what would happen to these polises. That is how the founding fathers of the United States of America created their government that lasts even today. They modeled it after two great
Both Sparta and Athens were Greek city-states. Sparta was a strict military ruled city-state where the people established themselves as a military power early. However Athens was more of a political city-state that was more involved with their economical stature than their military forces. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them.
Sparta's polis was the most extensive military land forces during the classical Greek. It is during the classical period that Sparta administered, dominated and even influenced the whole of Peloponnese. Also, the defeat of Athenians
The polis emerged out of the scattered villages of early Greece, as a way of building unified states, and centralising government. The establishment of the Greek poleis was a significant political innovation throughout history because it gave rise to new government systems which have become models to the modern state structure. It was characterised by its ability to unite citizens, and through this, resulted in the growth of larger states such as Athens and Spart. Within the poleis there were constitutions, which were developed in conjunction with the purpose to achieve a unified system of government for each state. In addition, this new form of government allowed for citizens to greater participate in political and social matters, which had not been the case in previous ruling powers. Thus, both the development of the constitution and the introduction of a new political structure have both influenced and changed the nature of the state.
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
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
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.
The population size of the polis were small, and each male citizen was cognizant of their role and value within the community, and developed a strong spirit of independence. This sense of independence is what led the citizens within the polis to choose their own leaders, and overthrowing leaders that had done wrong by the greater populist or that the populist felt had abused their power. Athens, furthered this sense of independence by creating a democratic Athens, where full citizens were expected to run the governme...
Differences aside in their ruling structures, Athens and Sparta equally believed that the people should have a voice in governing themselves. It is unfortunate that their forward thinking views of political structure and policy were not picked up and applied until the 18th century. Had there been more civilizations around and after the time of Athens and Sparta, surely mankind would be much different than what we currently know. It certainly makes one wonder what is further along the political timeline in terms of policy and global mindset. Athens and Sparta were in no way perfect utopian societies to live in, but had their models for democracy been further developed by those who came after them, where would that have lead us to today?
The older of the two, Ancient Greece was a civilization for three centuries, from 800 B.C. to 500 B.C. Ancient Greece advanced in art, poetry, and technology. More importantly, Ancient Greece was the age where the polis, or city-state, was invented. The polis was a defining feature in Greek political life for a few hundred years (Ancient Greece).