What Are The Differences Between Athens And Sparta

1185 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comparisons of greek and modern democracy

In this essay we will be going over life in Athens and Sparta and how their governing systems worked. We will discuss how the people of Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community, who held public office, and what rules governed the selection of public office holders . We will also go over how the two city-states were similar in their governmental structures, and how they differed.

First lets discuss Sparta and how their governmental system worked. The Spartans were divided into three different groups, there were native-born Spartans, there was a group of non-Spartans called the Periokoi, and there was the slaves called the Helots. "The Periokoi were free non-Spartan men that …show more content…

" (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 9) Though there were two kings, the kings were not true monarchs. " The kings were often subject to the will of the Gerousia and the Ephors." (Brand.P, n.d, Pg 9) An elite elder council of Spartan men age sixty or over was the Gerousia, the only members under the age of sixty were the two kings." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 10) Once a member of the Gerousia you were a member for life, but there were only thirty members at a time. There were five Ephors and they were elected annually by the assembly, they were meant to balance the power of the kings. When there was a war only one king would go to battle and one king would stay in Sparta, two Ephors would accompany the king on the battle field to keep his powers in check. " The Ephors had duties including military organization, foreign relations, and judicial affairs. For non Spartan citizens, becoming an Ephor was the only route to political power." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 10) " There was a mutual exchange of oaths of loyalty between the Ephors and the kings monthly." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 10) The popular assembly was made up of every free male Sparta age twenty or over, and the assembly met monthly to discuss laws and war decisions. " The assembly could pass laws and makes war decisions, but their power …show more content…

Athens is often described as the birthplace of democracy. " Philosophers and aristocrats both denounced the system and described it as mob rule when political power fell into the hands of the Athenian people." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 17) A man named Solon was chosen by the aristocrats to reform the political and economic system in Athens. " Solon divided the population by wealth. There were three groups, the men of the plains which were wealthy aristocratic farmers, the men of the coast which were prosperous merchants and traders as well as poorer fishermen, and the men of the hills which were the poor smaller framers and landless laborers." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 18) As a result of the division of the three groups there was a political and social gridlock, so the wealthy aristocrats once again chose of of there own to reform the governmental system.This time they chose a man named Cleisthenes ,a popular aristocratic politician. Cleisthenes called called his system isonomia, which meant equality before the law. " Cleisthenes recognized that having three social factions could sabotage any broad consensus among the Athenian population, so he deliberately broke up the factions by devising a complex artificial system of tribes which the Athenian citizens were able to divide into." (Brand.P, n.d,Pg 18) There were ten tribes created, each tribe had members from each of the old factions. This policy broke up the old factions and the power the old

Show More
Related

  • Dbq Compare And Contrast Sparta And Athens

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Athens: The Superior Polis Compared to Sparta

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Athenians created the idea of Democracy which is a widely used form of government today. Solon was credited as the man who created the foundation for Athenian Democracy. He changed the whole game. He threw out the debt of the poor so they would not be slaves anymore, he outlawed the slavery because of debt so that it would never happen again, he divided the Athenian population into four different classes, and three of the richest could rise to power instead of the one before. He allowed the everyman to have a chance at power. Later Cleisthenes rose to power and he put democracy in motion. He threw away the four classes and created a council of 500 to decide things in the government. Everyon...

    Read More

  • Essay on Spartan Culture and Politics as it relates to the Battle of Thermpylae

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    The spartan laws, created by Lycurgus, caused obedience to be of the utmost importance and a source of pride for the Spartans. It was one of the defining characteristics of the Spartan ethos; any disobedience to the law was punished severely and without hesitation. The Spartan political system showed great insight by Lycurgus, as it was a mixed government, consisting of kingship, aristocracy, and democracy and provided stability to Spartan politics. “The first and of greatest importance was the establishment of the senate, which, having a power equal to the kings.” (Plut. 5) Spartan citizens are equal under the laws of Lycurgus. Although Kings are considered demi gods and the old revered, their privileges are no greater than a normal Spartan. Spartans, essentially, do not have political equality to the Ephori, the senate, or the Spartan kings, to whom they must remain totally obedient. They are equal in that they are all subject to the law. The senate can counteract the kings giving stability to the commonwealth, the ephori are the supreme power in Sparta, bu...

    Read More

  • The Spartan Economy

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Historical Overview Of The Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BC)

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Slavery in Sparta vs. Slavery in Athens

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    The definition of the word slavery encompasses a vast array of connotations, meanings, and values; in order understand slavery conditions in Athens and Sparta, it is important to decipher exactly what the word both means and implies. For all intents and purposes, in this essay the word slavery will refer to the non-citizen people of both Athens and Sparta who are enslaved by either the state or an individual person, depending on the state they live in. Slaves are the lowest class of citizens in each of the two states, and are often used for hard labour and general housekeeping, depending on the city in which they live. Forming the largest number of people in the community, slaves play a vital role in the economy of their state.

    Read More

  • Athens vs. Sparta

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    Four rulers, Draco, Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleithenes, greatly influenced the political development of Athens. However, Athenian democracy cannot really be called a true democracy since there were several flaws in the government and the way in which it functioned. Upper class male citizens over the age of thirty were the only Athenians who held any right to vote. The democracy in Athens consisted of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Together, nine anchors, a Council of five hundred, an Assembly, and a court chosen by lot governed the city-state with limited power. The Assembly was made up of five hundred men who were chosen from a list of those who were eligible to serve on the council. All branches of the government were capable of vetoing one another. It was also customary to expel from the country any speaker who became too powerful. This rule could easily be abused and often infringed on the freedom of speech that most democracies have. However, as stated in the Athenian Constitution, male citizens were equal and the government’s focu...

    Read More

  • The Suppliants By Euripides

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ancient Athens was, at first, rule aristocratically and this benefited a small group of elites. However, there began a major demand for political equality by the wealthy merchants and working class; therefore the aristocrats were forced to compromise or face a major civil war. The aristocrats gave political power to the people of Athens and this restored the power balance within the state. These events lead to the birth of democracy. In Manin’s The Principles of Representative Government, he discusses the creation of the assembly where people would come to vote on local political issues (Manin 11). Along with the assembly, they created mechanisms to avoid demagogues (ostracism and ‘graphe para nomo’) and a lottery system to choose political figures so there is equality among all citizens. Athens functioned and flourished on two core beliefs in the polis: “1. We all have an understanding of what is happening around us and fix it. 2. No one person can take away our right to govern” (Breaugh). Everyone has the ability to rule and must rule, was an essential part of the polis. Additionally, every citizen was equal to one another, within the polis. In the lecture, Breaugh mentioned, “the community would help to define you as a citizen, and the citizen helps define the community” (Breaugh). Political participation was believed to be a vital part of every man’s self-development and, most importantly,

    Read More

  • Differences Between Sparta And Athenian Women

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Athens and Sparta are both infamous Greek city states. Both could not be more different, yet similar in the way they governed their own city state. Another, main difference was the women’s rights and roles in the system. Athenian and Spartan women both were considered to be second to their male counterparts. Spartan women had more rights than Athenian women. Through, research realizing that the Spartan women were slightly greater role than Athenian women.

    Read More

  • Gender-Based Life Differences in Ancient Athens and Sparta

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we think of Greece today, we think of one united nation. However, Greece was not always this way. In ancient times, Greece was divided into over a thousand city-states with Sparta and Athens being two of the most prominent ones. Due to the division of Greece back then, each city-state had their own laws, their own government, their own military and their own way of life. As a result of these differences between Athens and Sparta, daily life was very different between the two city-states and because of their laws, governments and military, your quality of life in each state was very much dependant on which gender you were. For men, Athens was most likely the city-state that you’d want to be living in during this time and on the other hand,

    Read More

  • Athenian Democracy and Pericles

    3286 Words  | 7 Pages

    The march towards developing a democratic society is often obstructed with societal unrest due to the influence of the status quo on the instruments of power. Before the rule of Solon, Athens underwent this same rule, as there was much discontent among the social classes in Athens. The society suffered financial disparity that often was the trigger for the war among the rich and poor in the society. This was a major factor that forced Solon into power to institute policies that would see a reformed Athens. By so doing, the society was looking for an avenue that would guarantee democracy and a society that is fair for everyone. The city-state of Athens was the epicenter of the revolution for the Athenian democracy during the fifth century BC. In the Athenian democracy, the electorate voted for the legislation of bills instead of a direct democracy where the electorates are tasked with electing representatives who later developed the bill. Among the first people who made significant contributions to the development of the Athenian democracy were Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), Pericles (495 – 429 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). Pericles was the longest serving democratic leader who contributed much development in democracy in the city. This paper will give an account of the age of the Pericles.

    Read More

  • Essay On Sparta

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    Spartan society was one of the most unconventional of all time. Men dedicated their lives to war, and women devoted their lives to bearing a strong child. Helots provided a source of labor for the citizens, while the government controlled almost every aspect of Spartan life. Each group had a distinct role in society, and in turn, helped to shape the state’s culture. The fertile lands of the Eurotas valley helped determine the agricultural lifestyle of the state, while the Taygetus mountain range provided natural borders to Sparta. Without any one of these factors or the parts they played, Spartan culture would have been tremendously different, and would not be the legend it is today.

    Read More

  • Justice In Plato

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    Athens in Plato’s time provides an apt description of turmoil and numerous political shifts in a short period of time. The Peloponnesian War ended with Sparta as the victor, while Athens became a picture of the devastation of the war. The disparity of Athens became heightened by an onslaught of the plague, the devastating loss of humanity, as well as economic difficulties due to of the cost of the war. Furthermore, the political arena of Athens became controlled by the Thirty Tyrants, who “appointed a Council of 500 to serve the judicial functions formerly belonging to all the citizens” (Gill). Critias and Theramenes, the leaders of the Thirty Tyrants, eliminated the powers of a democracy and began to rule as an oligarchy, executing any who opposed their rule. Plato juxtaposes the oligarchic regime with the concept of justice in his vision of a perfect society. He understands that the imperfections of the human need to be subdued or hidden by organizational efforts. Plato highlights structure and organization by dividing the population into three spheres: guardians, auxiliaries and producers. Each class structure is designated a task, the leader must make fair decisions and decide fairly amongst the population, the guards m...

    Read More

  • “To face the blood and the slaughter” Spartan Society and Values according to Tyrtaeus and Xenophon

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    To look at this epistemologically, there is an understanding that almost every aspect involved in this culture was derived for the good of the polis. This seemed to be a very proud and arrogant people. A city with no walls, and in almost certainty, only natural born were allowed to earn citizenship. To even be called a Spartan meant years of fighting, service and status. Tyrtaeus states this argument best in the last line of his work. “Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.” These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion.

    Read More

  • Democracy Outlined by Plato and Aristotle

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were essential in order to free up time for the citizens to participate in the matters of the state. The development of Athenian democracy has been fundamental for the basis of modern political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity.

    Read More

More about What Are The Differences Between Athens And Sparta

Open Document