Compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states.
Introduction
In ancient Greece, the Greeks lived in city-states as to each of their own and there was no central government at that time. Each city-state has their own culture, made their own laws, and their own monetary system. As a result, Greece was made up of many city-states such as Corinth, Athens and Sparta. Thereafter, each city-state formed their own government according to their preferences: monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.
Monarchy
The Greek word “monarkhia’, monarchy, is a form of government relative to ancient Greece, “ruled by one”. Macedonia, a Greece city-state, was
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the most famous for a monarchy ruling during the times of King Perdicas, who granted hereditary kingship to his brother, Phillip, who bore a son, Alexander the Great. In addition to the hereditary kingship, a monarch candidate should possess a set of characteristics. Like King Phillip of Macedonia, he exhibited a character of indigenous leader. In addition, a monarch should be characterized as charismatic, who was capable of adapting of various social structures and endures dynamic cultural and geographical conditions. In a monarchy, it was one king who was the head of the state and made decisions associated to the welfare of his city-state and the citizens. Contrary to Macedonia, Sparta’s unusual monarch political system was based on a dual kingship, originated from two Gerousia. One king who went to battle was more respected and powerful than the king who stayed at the home front. Eventually, a monarchy governing of small city-states could evolve into large empires. For instance, a warrior leader, Augustus, who later became a monarch king of the Roman empire or the Pharaohs of Egypt. By 2000 BCE, most city-states were ruled by monarchs and among them was the Corinth. Tyranny By definition, a person who seizes power unconstitutionally either by force, or by terrorizing, which could lead to as far as murdering, anyone who is obstruents.
Tyranny is an opposite of democracy and a complementary to monarchy. Some monarch could turn into a tyrant king, whose best interest was their own and their ultimate goal to gain power and greed. For instance, the Persian kings, Darius and Xerxes, were in pursuit to seize Athens that led to the battle of Thermopylae and Salamis. Although Sparta and Athens were united during the Persian Wars, the two separated, which culminated the Peloponnesian Wars, thus Sparta Hegemony over Athens. Thereafter, Athenian’s replacement of democracy was embedded by Sparta called the “Tyrant of 30,” the pro-Spartan oligarchies. During their reign of terror, these tyrants went into a killing spree of Athenian citizens, seized their property, and banished and executed a few democratic supporters. An important exiled democratic supporter, Thrasybulus, formed an alliance with other Greek cities, which were displeased with the Tyrant of 30, besieged the city of Piraeus, Athens’ chief port. By 600 BCE, most city-states were ruled by …show more content…
tyrants. Oligarchy The ramification of the Tyrant of 30, the Spartan oligarchies, after the Peloponnesian Wars forced Athens to accept an oligarchic government, replacing their precious democracy. Oligarchy government was a representation of a “few” or selected groups who regulated the city-state. Athens had an oligarchy ruling within their democratic governance during Solon’s Era, who reformed the political system of Athens by the wealth. For instance, the “500 bushels of men”- the richest, held the highest political office in Athens. A lesser position in politics were the “Horse Men”, worth 300 bushels of men. This group was wealthy enough to provide their horses in the military. Thereafter, a minor position belongs to the group of “middle class”, worth 200 bushels of men. The “middle class” group were prosperous enough to equip themselves with weapons and were qualified to be Hoplite soldiers. The poorest of group in Athens were the “Thetes”, worth less than 199 bushels of men, who could participate in the People’s Court, but were ineligible to serve as soldiers. By 800 BCE, most city-states were ruled by oligarchs. Democracy The guiding principle of the Athenian policy was based on “the power to the people”, a rendition and the birthplace of democracy. In Classical Athens, this ancient Greece city-state, formed a government that made up of: the Assembly (Ekklesia), People’s Court (Heliaea), Council (Boule), and Magistrate. All citizen’s vote was made from the Assembly, the place where discussion of matters related to laws, wars, maintaining food supply, and selecting members of the Boule, Magistrate, and Heliaea. The 500 council members made up the Boule, whose functions were to prepare laws to be presented at the Assembly. In times of war, the Boule had the authority to make decisions without the assembly meeting. Thus, the members of the Magistrate, consisted of 10 Strategoi or army generals, were leading the army during war. Meanwhile, in the home front, in the People’s Court, the Heliaea, 6000 jurors were selected, to serve as judges of the people who violated the Athenian laws. By 500 BCE, most-city states were ruled “by the people” in a (direct) democracy. Aristocracy Critics of government structures during ancient Greece was Aristotle, an admirable writer and philosopher as well as the teacher of “Alexander the Great”, was the greatest supporter of Aristocracy, meaning the “rule of the best”. He firmly believed that the state could benefit the governance of aristocrats better than any other form of government in ancient Greece. Aristocracy was based on the guiding principle of the leaders of the city-state should be housed and leisured so that these aristocrats can focus on fulfilling an absolute self-sufficing state. Aristotle further argued that the head of the state should consist of people based on their merit, not by wealth or hereditary rights. Some guidelines to a self-sufficient aristocratic government—a state had a duty to seek revenue and maintain food supplies; developed a system for education requiring reading and writing, gymnastic exercises, music, and arts. In Aristocracy government, people had the right to bear arms and a place to worship. A quote below from Aristotle, in a nutshell, explained an aristocratic government. “And so states require property, but property, even though living beings are included in it, is no part of a state; for a state is not a community of living beings only, but a community of equals, aiming at the best life possible.” - Aristotle (Halsall, 1998). Conclusions Despite the governing differences in forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states, each had a few things in common. They all spoke the same language, worshipped the same gods, and they all referred themselves as Greeks. For one thing, they were loyal to their own city-states as a Spartan, Athenian, Corinth, or Argos and would correspond as such. In Sparta, their unusual triple government structure consisted of a monarchical element, a dual kingships, combined with an oligarchic component, which included the Ephors and Gerousia and a democratic element of the Assembly. The critics of democracy, Thucydides and Aristophanes, argued that the “demos” could be easily influenced by a voting decision of a popular leader (demagogues) or the best speaker.
Due to the Athenian democracy, a death sentence was given to the famous philosopher, Socrates, in 399 BCE. On the contrary, Aristotle firmly believed that the three types of government in ancient Greece exhibited some good and bad features. For instance, democracy in an extreme form was a “mob rule”. Tyranny was a type of a monarch ruling, which serves their own self-interests. Since oligarchy ruled by the “few,” or by the wealthy, oligarchy was the worst kind of aristocracy. Nonetheless, Athens stood by their invention of democracy in accordance to Pericle’s
quote. “Athens’ constitution is called a democracy because it respects the interests not of the minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. (Pericles, 431 BCE)” (Cartwright, 2013). Resources Brand, P.J. (n.d). Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship. Retrieved from http://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/91744/mod_resource/content/4/Athens%20%20Sparta%20dictatorship%20%20democracy.pdf?forcedownload=1 Cartledge, P. (2011). The Democratic Experiment. Retrieved on September 11, 2015 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml Cartwright, M. (2013). Ancient History Encyclopedia: Definition. Retrieved on September 11, 2015 from http://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Government/ Fordham University. (1999). Ancient History Sourcebook: 11th Britanica: Sparta. Retrieved on September 11, 2015 from http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-sparta.asp Halsall, P. (1998). Ancient History Sourcebook: Aristotle: from the Politics, c. 340 BCE. Retrieved on September 13, 2015 from http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/aristotle-politics1.asp WORD COUNT: 1361 [excluding resources]
In comparing the Ancient Athenian system of government, and the Modern Day American political system, there are many similarities. In Ancient Athens, democracy was developed in response to a long history of oppressive rulers who used their position of power for their own benefit. Ancient Athenians sought a government where all citizens were considered equal under the eyes of the law, and all had a fair say in the running of their country. Following a series
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It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
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Sparta and Athens - Explain and Contrast 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.
Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
Government and its different forms appears many times throughout Herodotus’s Histories, sometimes its positive and other times its negative, however in the readings Herodotus demonstrates that it is not the Athenian democratic values that makes freedom but rather the absence of tyranny along with equality among men. Herodotus’s assessment of Athenian democracy is overall a positive development to Greek cultural identity in the eyes of Herodotus.
Sparta contained a four branch government system that was considered among the most unique in all of Greece. Unlike the democracy of Athens, Sparta was based on an oligarchy structure. The diarchy, which consisted of two kings, was the first division of this government. These figures held little influence over the state and served more as a symbol of royal heritage (Kennell 83). The second branch was the Gerousia council which acted as an advising body and hel...
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.
The Greece’s Classical Society was about 800-300 BCE. This society has caused a huge movement in human history. Greece’s society has arisen the questions and ideas of which form of government is best? Since Greece has many city-states which
Ancient Greece was not a country in the way modern countries are organized today. This is because, rather than one unified government throughout the land, each city state in Ancient Greece had its own form of government and laws, quite independent of their neighbours. The poleis even created their own colonies. This paper will outline some of the similarities and differences between the various governmental styles in Ancient Greece.
In the ancient Greek city-states, the monarchy was rare as a form of government. Sparta did have a form of monarchy in that there were 2 kings, but there were elements of different forms of government within Sparta, including oligarchy, democracy, and aristocracy. The Spartan monarchy kings were from two different families. However, Sparta also had a council of elders called the Gerousia to contribute to its oligarchy; there was also a bit of democracy in that there was an assembly of people. (Gill, 2008).
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One of the more fascinating aspects of Ancient Greek city-states were the various forms of government which spanned throughout its period. There was democracy, monarchies, a dose of tyranny, and oligarchies. Many of these forms of government varied throughout specific territories. At times, these forms of government will resemble each other with respect to certain features incorporated. In certain aspects however, they will be noticeably different as well. Analyzing these forms of government, many of which were attributed to Ancient Greece, plays a critical juncture in understanding their importance in 21st century life. Throughout this essay I will discuss, compare,