Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Monarchies in ancient Greece
Greek influence on western politics
Politics in the hellenic world
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Monarchies in ancient Greece
This essay will describe the different forms of government in the ancient Greek. These government ruled at different times in the ancient Greek and to be specific we will look, compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. We start the ball rolling with:
Monarchy
Monarchy is from the Greek word monos (meaning single ) and arkhein ( Meaning “rule” . This is the kind of rule where power is in the hands of one person. This person is usually called the king and has got a council of advisors in Africa usually called ‘Indunas’. The powers are usually hereditary and the kingship is passed on to the next person in the inheritance linage of the royal family after
…show more content…
Power is in the hands of the people. Democracy developed around the same time as the tyranny government somewhere 500 BCE when the people opposed the Tyranny type of government. The pioneer city was Athens which established the governing body of Athenian democracy called Citizens Assembly which comprised of 30,000 to 40,000 eligible citizens by birth Adult men of the city of Athens. Usually 5000 attended the council of Assembly and they met close to 40 times in year, where they presided over foreign policies, revised the laws and looked at the public order behavior of the leaders. The decisions where reached at through public debate and voting and a small group of 500 people was chosen to run the day to day governance activities.
Conclusion
Ancient Greek systems of government took many forms monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Because the Greek city-states were self-governing entities and not bound together by any type of central control or an empire, as in other ancient civilizations, various different governing formats developed independently and allowed for experimentation and change. However it must be mentioned that Greece is the mother of the democratic government being used today by so many
Greece and Rome’s governments included many democratic aspects that continue to be used in modern
By the fourth century B.C.E. there were hundreds of Greek democracies. Greece was not a single political entity it was a collection of about 1500 separate poleis or cities scattered around the Mediterranean and black sea shores. The cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies or monarchies (often times called tyrannies). Of the democracies, the oldest, the most stable, the most long-lived, and the most radical, was Athens.
Socrates and I grew up alongside the Athenian democracy, and experienced her vicissitudes in the past seventy years. We have both heard and experienced cycle of five types of governments that Socrates had mentioned. (Plato, Republic 8.547e) Our democracy was established hundreds years ago under Cleisthenes and turned to tyranny under Isagoras. In our childhood, Athens was a timarchy, and then Pericles ruled Athens with the
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.
Greece was the very first place where there was evidence of a democracy. During that time monarchies, aristocracies, and oligarchies were much more common because the governed people were not educated enough to make decisions. In Greece citizens were able to make educated decisions about the government. Most western civilizations work under the same key principle, rule by the people. Other important principles that we value today are touched upon in the speech of Pericles concerning the government, “Our plan of government favors the many instead if the few: that is why it is called democracy….As for social standing, advancement is open to everyone, according to ability. While every citizen has an equal opportunity to serve the public, we reward our most distinguished citizens by asked them to make our political decisions. Nor do we discriminate against the poor. A man may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scale”(Doc.3). Of course the U.S made some tweaks to the system that are necessary to fit the needs of their country, but the core values remained the
Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
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...
The Athenian government was a democratic government, which means it was ruled by the people to vote and have a voice in society. The democracy was slowly formed by leaders Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon took over when Athens was in political turmoil. He introduced new reforms to forgive debts, outlaw new loans, free people that
In Greece, monarchies were found when the Mycenaeans ruled Greece during the period 2000 to 1100 BC. Monarchy is defined as a system of government where a single ruler has supreme power. The word “monarchy” comes from the Greek words “monos” meaning “single” and “archo” meaning “rule”. This single ruler, known as a king, ruled for life and passed the rule on to his heir when he died. The most famous monarchy was that of King Alexandra of Macedonia who ruled all of Greece from 336 BC.
The term democracy is ambiguous, but Abraham Lincoln (1863) defines it as the “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” This modern take of democracy should guarantee basic personal and political rights to every individual person, everywhere, every day. Josiah Ober (2007, p.4) points out that “the Greek word dêmokratia conjoins kratos, a term for ‘power’, and dêmos, a term for ‘the people’.” It therefore means ‘power of the people’. But the Athenians did not call it democracy at the time, “they called it ‘isonomia’ or “equality in law”, writes Bernard Randall (2004, p.86). The earliest forms of democracy were formed by the ancient Greeks around 510 B.C in Athens.
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.
Democracy was a revolutionary development for the Ancient Greek society it was an innovative idea which gave the citizens of Ancient Greeks the freedom to participate in the governmental system and contribute in the processes and decisions, this in turn helped Ancient Greece succeed politically and economically. This democratic society not only helped Greece succeed in the Mediterranean region but also influenced modern day society. The Ancient Greeks succeeded significantly and were highly advanced for this period, the progressive thoughts and ideas demonstrated by individuals in this society contributed to the development of democracy in Athens which has become one of the most beneficial forms of government created.
The Greeks system of democracy was an entirely new concept when it was created, and one that has had lasting affects as it continues to influence present day politics around the globe. Modern day democracies may very well not exist if it wasn’t for the success the Athenians had with democracy. Today we look back at these ancient civilizations and we try to better our current society by learning from their mistakes and building on their success.
The Ancient Greeks or the “Hellenes”, as they called themselves, did not have a united government. Each group of people in their particular location developed their own states. These city-states, or “polis” were all independent from each other and had their own governments. Polis would typically include some area around the city that had outlying towns and farms. Among these polis, one of the most well-known is the city-state of Athens1.
This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.