Aristocracy In Ancient Greek Government

“The City of Sparta lies in the valley of the River Eurotas. Along with having a river close by; the Spartans were also enclosed by the mountains of Taygetos to the West and Parnon to the East.” Their society was a slave based culture, which allowed the Spartans to become the only full time fighting force in Ancient Greece. Their society was manned by two kings; one of which took the reins of the army in times of conflict or war, while the other king remained in Sparta and maintained society. However, the kings did not have complete power in ancient Sparta. They took two of the 30 seats of the gerousia, or the council of elders; this council of elders prepared possible legislation such as declaring war for a citizen assembly to reject or accept.

The upper class was very small and numbered out to have about 300 families . To be considered a part of the upper class, they had to be a citizen, but they could not have a job . They had to have free from economic tasks, for example-trading. The men had to have slaves or others to tend to their land and fortune; only with that can he have time for things such as government , war, literature, and philosophy. The upper class was quite full of themselves, which lead to them using all the classes lower than them as workers to do their ‘dirty work’ for them.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Sparta was governed as an Oligarchy where a few male citizens were elected to govern the city state in an annual

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

Athens and Sparta, the two largest and most powerful cities in ancient Greece (between 800 and 323 BCE) were two different models of polis, their social, political and cultural values and ways of life were dramatically different. (Brand, n.d.)

They would inherit land from their husbands if they died in battle. As Sparta became involved in more wars and more men died, significant amounts of land fell into the hands of women, to the point where by the fourth century, some of the wealthiest people in Sparta were women. The ability to own property meant that Spartan women were not wholly dependent on men as Athenian women were, and could exercise a degree of independence, especially if they were widowed. The ability to provide for themselves meant that they would not necessarily have to return to the protection of their father or other male relative. Spartan women exercised a much greater influence over society than their Athenian counterparts.

Historically the city state of Sparta had a social hierarchy that was different from many of its neighbours, it was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training for the male citizens. Its citizen inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (citizens, who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi or Perioeci (freedmen), and Helots (state-owned serfs, enslaved non-Spartan local population). Spartan society was ruled by two kings originating from the two ruling families, whose powers were checked by a council of elected Ephors or elders. These Ephors/elders were chosen from the ‘Spartiates’. Below this class was a middle class which was called the Perioeci. The lowest class, which was also the largest, was a group known as the Helots. The Helots were the subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia, basically Sparta. They were tied to the land and primarily worked in agriculture to support the Spartan society and its citizens. According to a number of sources the Helots outnumbered the Spartiates quite considerably. Figueira in his article in ‘Helots, Chapter 8’, gathers all the potential ratios of

On the topic of governmental standpoints Sparta was an oligarchy whereas Athens was a democracy. An oligarchy is a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique (Dictionary.com). Sparta’s government was set up into four branches: two co-kings, Gerontes or Gerousia, Ephors, and Appella or Demos. The co-kings were of two different family lines of limited hereditary monarchs who were kept in check by the other parts of government as well as by each other. One of the two kings was the commander in chief of the army. Gerontes were a council of 30 consisting of the 2 co-kings plus 28 others each were rich elders of noble birth. They would hold office for the rest of their life after being elected by the people. Gerontes acted as advising body and court of criminal justice in which

They had a great amount of influence despite not having a vote within the assembly. Daughters could inherit as much as a son or brother could and could inherit property. They acquired land through inheritance from their families and through marriage. The income from her own lands, she said with her husband and his income, he shared with her. Since men spent most of their time training or at war, they were granted full access and stake in the husband’s estate. Writing in the fourth century B.C., Aristotle indicated that, by the fifth century B.C., Spartan women owned two-fifths of the land (Jones, A.H. M., 136).  Her independence allowed her to express herself, be assertive, and had much more expected of them than other Greek women. Women’s tunics were worn in a way to give them a little more freedom of movement and the opportunity to reveal a little leg and thigh if they desired to (Michell, H., 47). Spartan women dominated the household, offered opinion on public matters, and held power in and outside the home. They were the forefront of society behind the man.

The Spartan social roles and government were very exquisite, proper and always knows their positions. At the bottom of the scale there where the Helots. The helots had so little to no rights that it was okay if their owners killed them. The helots were usually obtained or captured by the Spartans when out in battle. Helots were used as property and served their masters. Except they were not following what the man said. They followed what the women said due to the fact that men were fighting in wars and boys were training. Citizen males over the age of thirty were allowed to vote. The women were allowed to become citizen; as well they just did not receive the same rights as the men might have. Though the women in Sparta did have the most freedoms. They were allowed to own their own properties, they did not need permission to go out of the house; all because of the respect the Spartans had for mothers, also because the men were always in war. Lastly there was the Gerontes. They were the citizen males who were rich and over the age of sixty who had the most rights. One could only become a Genonte after surviving war. So, women could not become a Genonte due to the fact that they were not allowed to join the military and because they were not male.

(Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship, 2016) Spartan society & public office was made up of: The Kings: a dual kingship of two different royal tribes. The Kings were not true monarch because they were overruled by the Gerousia and the

In Sparta there are two factions that held office, the Ephors and Gerousia. The Ephors had five people elected annually by the assembly. The Gerousia is a council of Spartan aristocrats that were at least 60 years old and also had two kings.

Sparta was a warrior society centered on the loyalty of the state and military service, at Sparta the children used to begin their training to become a warrior at the age of 7, leaving their houses to join the barracks, where they also learned to write and read. The Spartan army was considered the best in the world, due to their commitment to the training and their battle strategy, they could overcome any opponent, to increase their power in the battlefield, the warriors were taught to fight until the death, because giving up was a dishonorable act towards Sparta (“300”, 02/27). The society was divided into 3 different groups; Equals, Half-citizen who were considered full citizens, and the Helots who were slaves. The Spartan government, different from the Persian Empire, had a decentralized government, splitting the power between the council, which consisted in 2 kings and 28 nobles (man over the age of 60).(Dr. Kaz, lecture, 02/24) Sparta had an strong and stable government, being considered the best in Greece. The woman in Sparta had much more freedom than in other place at that time, as the men were always training for the army, the woman had an important role in organizing and controlling the city, they were also treated very well, because they regarded them as the producer of the Spartan soldier. (Dr. Kaz, lecture,

In truth, beyond ruling the army and supervising worship, they did hold some limited powers over Sparta, being responsible for eunomia in Spartan policies and affairs, organising adoptions and marriages, holding a position of magistrate for exile and execution cases.