Athens And Spart Ancient Greece

Sparta’s government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. While Athens seems to only have a democracy. In Document 2, an excerpt from “The Spartan Constitution” by Aristotle there’s a quote that states “they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy..” This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. It’s also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from “Funeral Orations” by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states “it is true that our government is a democracy, because it’s administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many..” This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a

Athens and Sparta were similar in some parts of their governmental structure. One of the ways that they were similar is that they both had an assembly for eligible voters. In Sparta it was the popular assembly and in Athens it was called the people’s assembly. Both countries also had the power distributed. Sparta had the kings, the ephors and the gerousia while Athens had magistrates, a council and jurors. Athens was different from Sparta’s governmental structure in the way that they had no king or someone that appeared to hold the executive branch. Sparta had no court or jurors for those who infringed the

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.

Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.

Athens and Sparta are two powerful city-states, different from each other in such way that

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and well known cities among all the Greek nations. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. But there are some differences between these two power houses. For instance the way that these cities were governed and their political procedures and functions were quite different from each other.

     As we look back upon the two significant differences in the governmental systems of Sparta and Athens, there are also many other characteristics that distinguish the differences and similarities of these two city states. The difference in land as well as population perceives a relative historical comparison. Sparta lacked land area and was forced to seek other land in the fertile plain of Messenia. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory.

Both Athens and Sparta had an Assembly, the members were elected by the people. Sparta who was ruled by two kings, the Agiads and Eurypontids, these two kings who mainly served as generals and high priest. Though they had no real power, they were known for their great influences. They ruled until they died or were forced out of office.

Athens and Sparta are two rivals of ancient Greece. Athenians and Spartans lived their lives different, and they valued different things. Athenians and Spartans had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta were ruled by two kings, those two kings either ruled until they were died or forced out of office. Athens were ruled by archons, they were elected annually. Athens in the birthplace of democracy. Spartans focused on war and obedience. Young boys were trained to be warriors. Young women were trained to be mothers and warriors. Athenians could get good education and could pursue several kinds of arts or sciences. For many years Spartan armies provided much defense of the Greek lands. The Spartans bravery and courage at the “Battle of Thermopylae” during the Persians Wars, inspired all of Greece to fight back with all their might against the invading Persians. Athenians and Spartans fought side by side in the “Battle of Platea”, which ended the Persians invasions of Greece. Spartans provided assistance for Greece when necessary. Athenians wanted to control land around them. That led to war between all the Greeks, this was the “Peloponnesian War”. After many years of fighting the Spartans won. In Greek spirit Sparta refused to burn the city of Athens. The culture and spirit of Athens was allowed to live on, as long as Athenians no longer desired to rule Greek. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Sparta is known as Sparti in Greek. Sparta is

Politically these areas share hardly anything in common from the way each ran their governments: Athens that which ran a Democracy, Sparta ran an Oligarchy and The Persians ran a Monarchy. Economically Persia sought more wealth and power through the threats of other areas that includes both Athens and Sparta who refused in the end to submit. Both Sparta and Athens treated their women differently as Sparta exercised and trained, keeping their breasts in shape, unlike the Athenians. During this time all had their own city-states or polis in their control, some will create walls and others will make ports. In the day to day life of Athenians, Spartans or Persians, they hold festivals or contests for their people.

According to Knights (2007) “Sparta was an “Oligarchy.” The Ancient Greek “oligos” translates to “few,” while “archia” means “rule” – ‘rule by the few.' Five Ephors were elected annually, accompanied by two kings, who passed on the crowns to their chosen sons...Athens was a democracy, which meant “rule by the people” – “demos” (people, or the masses) and “kratis” (rule).

Ancient Greeks lived around 3,500 years ago and their legacy shapes the world we live in today. Ancient Greece was compromised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece. Athens was known as a place of wisdom and learning and their main goal was to create a society with well-balanced attributes, whereas Sparta was renowned for its military as their goal was to build an elite state of soldiers. Both city-states included social structures including three levels. For Athens, the highest place on the social structure were citizens which was equivalent to Sparta’s Spartiates. Next were the Metics and Periokoi who where not as privileged as the upper class but considered luckier than the Slaves and Helots. Men were the main participants in these structures as women in either polis had little to no rights and were expected to become a wife and have children. But the question is, which polis was a better place to live in? It all depended on where you were placed on the social structure.

Sparta and Athens have been rivals for several years in Greece. The two cities are very similar culturally and socially. Geographically the two are very similar to each other but what sets these two a part is not only politically, also their life styles, core values. Athens and Sparta were different in population. Athens had 140,000 that were located in the Attica region and Sparta had 100,000 people in the Laconia region.

The reforms of Cleisthenes established the basis for the Athenian democracy. All citizens enrolled in ten tribes and each tribe chose 50 members by lottery each year for a new council of 500 people. These 500 people had the responsibility to take care of foreign and financial affairs. There was also an assembly of all male citizens, and they had the final authority in passing laws through free and open debate. In Sparta there were two kings who led the army and ruled their city-state. There were five ephors elected each year and they were responsible for the education of the youth and the behavior of citizens. There was also a council of elders that consisted of two kings and 28 citizens over the age of 60. They decided on issues to present to the assembly who were also all male citizens. There was no debate on resolution to these issues, only voting.