Athens Vs Ancient Sparta

The ‘Ephor’s’ were a part of the Ancient Spartan constitution. The Ephor’s were an order of five high magistrates elected by the people to represent the will of the people; they were replaced on an annual basis by vote to prevent one person becoming to power hungry or powerful.

The Spartans were a military force to be rekon with, in part their entire lives were focused upon developing and training their people into excellent soldiers. In order to have a society that had such a presence, their way of life was drastically different from any other city- state of this time. Politically, there was no hierarchy within Sparta, all men were seen as legally equal. The government leaders were made up of two hereditary kings, who would often be prominent leaders within their military. There was a council that was referred as, the “Gerousia”. The council was only made up of men who had reached a certain age, around sixty years. This was to ensure that only men with experience and knowledge would be able to deliberate the important issues that were being discussed. These men also were retired from the Spartan military, thus having knowledge in military strategy. This group mainly reviews foreign and domestic issues, which ultimately is preparation for the council made up of Spartan citizens(73-74).

In Sparta there was an assembly made up of recognized free male citizens. Periokoi, Helots and Spartan men who lost their citizenship rights were not allowed to join the assembly. The Assembly decided who to elect into the Ephors and Gerousia, made legislation and decisions for war. The power of the assembly was limited to what Ephors and Gerousia would allow, they decided what decisions the assembly were allowed to make and who had the power to veto their decisions.

The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that

The Ephors were next in power, below the Gerousia, but considered one of the most powerful bodies of government. The Ephors were a body of 5 men aged 30 and above who had full Spartiate citizenship. These men were supposedly representatives for every village in Sparta. The roles of the Ephors were monitoring the kings’, interactions with the Ekklesia, controlled the education and the Krypteia. As a part of the Ephors, or Ephorate, the citizen had an enormous power over the king. As such, they could monitor the king in his own home, 2 members would join a king should warfare occur and bring could bring him to an account, should he fail to have a successful war campaign. During a time of war, it was also the responsibility of the Ephors to

How did the people in Sparta and Athens obtain the right to participate in public life. In Sparta the Assembly was the first step of participating in public life. According to (Brand n,d) , free male citizens of Sparta were members of the popular assembly. The assembly met monthly and had electoral powers to choose the annual Ephors and new members of the Gerousia when spots became available among the 30.

The government in Sparta followed a very different coarse than that of the Athenians. It was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was held by a group of five men called ephors. Working below the ephors was the Council of Elders and an Assembly. Male citizens over age sixty could serve on the Council while anyone, male or female, over the age of twenty could be a member of the Assembly. Though the citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government, the system worked effectively. Over the years, the Spartan's brutal reputation in war grew so great that other nations and city-states were too frightened to attack Sparta even though the Spartan army was no larger then eight thousand men. The Spartan Constitution called for all men to begin their military education at the age of seven, where they were trained to be tough and self-sufficient. Every man in the army fought with a great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may have been rough, but the rest of the Greeks envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straight forwardness, and fanatical dedication. The beliefs of Sparta were oriented around the state. The individual lived and died for the state. The combination of this philosophy, the education of Spartan males, and the discipline of their army gave the Spartans the stability needed to survive in Ancient Greece.

As the social studies textbook says, “Spartan women were raised to be strong and vigorous. They participated in sports....[They] had a good deal of freedom and responsibility...they had greater independence than women in other city states.” When other city states treated women like unequals, Sparta was the one that gave women rights. By giving women the right to participte in sports and get an education, the city-state of Sparta coud ensure that the women could give birth to smart and healthy children.

In Sparta, all things were centered around the military. There was an executive branch of the government run by “Ephors” who were elected annually and were accompanied by two kings who passed down their crowns to their offspring. For non-wealthy Spartans, becoming an Ephor was the only path towards having a political role.

Although they were not allowed to vote, Spartan women typically had more rights and independence than women in other Greek city-states. They were permitted to own and inherit land, they were encouraged to keep up an exercise program to remain healthy and to bear children.

recognized free male Spartan citizens were the members of the popular assembly who had the electoral power

Sparta and Athens had topographical differences; Athens was mountainous while Sparta had a flatter, dryer climate. Sparta’s economy was based on farming and conquest, while Athens relied heavily on international trade. In 431 BC their cultural differences and economic rivalries led to a war between the Delian League (Athens and its allies) and the Peloponnesian league (Sparta and its allies). This was later called the Peloponnesian Wars and it was essentially a 28-year on and off again war between these two nations. Using many of the cultural resolution techniques we’ve learned, these two nations were able to have lulls in the wars and negotiate short-lived peace agreements.

The Spartan Gerousia is similar to the Athenian Areopagus. They determine what issue is presented at the popular assembly.

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.

Females had to give birth to strong children. Women also had to wear plain clothing, cut their hair short and did not wear make-up, perfume or jewellery. They trained to keep fit, and exercised and danced naked, they did not have that much freedom, but unlike other city states they could vote, where as the men had to fight in the military and be brave warriors. At the age of 7 Spartan boys where taken away from there mothers and trained as loyal and disciplined soldiers for military uses, they were hospitalised in dormitory's, the boys were deprived and endured harsh punishments in order to raise them strong. The Spartans were very selective over there choice of baby's and infants and if they were born with disability or of Ill health they were to be