Athens and Sparta were great cities in ancient Greece time. Most of today’s countries owns some of their success to the ideals and examples left behind by those great cities. Even though these cities were similar in greatness, they were different in some ways. Athens was opened to other ideals while Sparta was focused on the path of a warrior. But how were their government structured to have such impact on modern society?
Before democracy in Athens, wealthy aristocrats were the one to hold power and take decisions. They rose to such power by monopolizing the best lands in Athens (Dr. Brand, n.d.). By doing so, the poor farmers and middle class couldn’t possess any right to make decisions for the community. While the poor and middle class didn’t
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 is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. Athens government is a democracy which means all citizens get to take part. In Athens “ all men are on an equality” which means “ Not of the few but of the many” (doc 3 pericles). Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. Not everyone gets to participate.
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 had a better government in my opinion. I think Athens had a better government because they created a democracy. According to the Athens and Sparta Document Set, a democracy means “rule by the people”. The Athens also got to abolish politicians they did not like. Athens also had ten generals, meanwhile, Sparta has two kings. In my opinion, I think that having ten generals is better than two kings because they understand you more. Sadly not all Ancient Athens were citizens, but if a free male would be a citizen if his father was a citizen of Athens. Later on, they changed that law, it was then bothering the father and mother had to be a citizen for the child to be considered a citizen. Sadly the women didn’t get that many rights but they soon they got more status. The Athens also made it to where not only the wealthy can engage in the jury service. In the Athens, you have to be an 18-year-old man to complete military training. On the other hand, in Sparta, you have to be a 30-year-old to complete military training. Basically, I’m trying to say that the Athens had a better
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.
The wise oligarch notes the helpfulness and power of the poor, yet the Athenian government provides the poor with little freedom of society. Even when Athens has a lower population than Rome, Athens drastically lack variety in the people they elect or give power to. Judging by Rome’s guidelines and statistics, one of the Roman citizenship system’s best qualities are the wide distribution of power in the common people. A content plebian population results in a quiet and prosperous
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.
In ancient Greece there were two major polises which allowed the Greek culture to achieve greatness during the 400-500 B.C.E. era. These two polises were Athens and Sparta; both city states differed in many ways before the start of the Persian War. There were low rugged mountains that separated these two city states so communication and travel were difficult. The government of these two city states can be seen as a primary difference between the two. Draco, Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleithenes were four leaders that greatly influenced the political development of Athens. Athens and Sparta differed primarily in their political, social, and economical aspects. But there were other difference that Athens and Sparta share which I will examine in this essay.
The political organization of the ancient Greece city-states Sparta and Athens of are very similar to those existing today. Through the following questions we will try to go into detail in what way they were organized and how they worked, who could be part of political life and how they carried it out.
On the other hand, athens was a democracy which meant ruled by the people. In athens they usd a thing called lot voting. Which is basically voting. In the passage “ athens and sparta” it states “ Each would take a charge for a month, and ten generals were automatically elected due to experience.” Likewise, different people would get a chance to make a change or to do something they believed was helping athens.
Between the city-states Athens and Sparta, Sparta is superior geographically. To start with, Sparta is superior because of farming. For example, Sparta farmed crops like grapes, olives, barley, and wheat. Another example is Sparta produced broad beans, chickpeas, and lentils. In fact, they had fertile soil.
The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Sparta was focused on their military, discipline, and to have a strong state. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. How do these two city-states differ?
Ancient Athens and Sparta were neighboring regions of Greece yet they were worlds apart in political views and rule. Athens was run under dictatorship rule while Sparta were followers of Democracy. Observing history and how it all unfolded, the birth of Democracy was born in Athens and the Western Culture has much to owe Athens for this huge milestone in our Modern times.
The Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations were the first two cultures to evolve in Greece. The Minoans occupied the island of Crete. The Mycenaean’s began in Southern Greece before acquiring more land. They were both located around the Aegean Sea which they learned to sail to trade with other cultures and for fishing.
The first section of this piece will attempt to explore the conflicts that occurred between the aristocrats and the peasants in Solon’s Athens on the basis of land and slavery, and the solutions that Solon posed in the form of laws, as well as the effects that they had on the citizens of the time. There were city of Athens was divided into three parts; there was the Hill, the Plain, and the Shore (Plutarch: Solon, 54). Each division contained it’s own people with different political views. The Hill supported an extreme democracy, whereas the Plain supported an extreme oligarchy, and the Shore wanted a government that wasn’t quite an oligarchy, and wasn’t quite a democracy. The Shore wanted a government that was modeled after, and was a mix of both democracy and oligarchy (Plutarch: Solon 54). The presence of this third party made it very difficult for either extreme party to rise above the other (Plutarch: Solon 54). The land quality of the peasants was very poor and it was located in the barren part of the city, however the rich owned vast amounts of good quality land (Trumbach). It was very common to find peasants in debt to the aristocrats because of their bad quality land. Many times, commoners would cultivate on the land owned by the aristocrats, and pay them one-sixth of the produce that was harvested (Plutarch: Solon, 54). It was also apparent that peasants would use themselves as collateral, and were often seized as debt slaves by their