Athens Vs Spartan Government Essay

Doc E states, “Two kings who were generals in command of the armies and with some religious duties.” In Sparta you might like this government because if there were two kings they could make two decisions and then meet in the middle if you like one and not the other. Doc E also states, “The Assembly of all Spartan males aged 30 or over could support or veto the council's recommendations by shouting out their votes.” Since the Spartan assembly was 30 and older they could make wiser decisions and not have some 20 year old come and make terrible decisions. Finally, the Government Document Set states, “Usually classified as an "oligarchy" (rule by a few), but it had elements of monarchy (rule by kings), democracy (through the election of council/senators), and aristocracy (rule by the upper class or land owning class),”(Doc E).

Supposedly formed by Lycurgus, the government in Sparta is very unique in that it is an Oligarchy; combining monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.

The Spartan government was rather distinctive; as it was ruled by four governmental bodies – each possessing they’re own military and judicial power. These forms of government demonstrated elements of an oligarchy, monarchy and democracy and were established in order to ensure individual power remained in check. Due to this aforementioned division of power, it is hard to form a definitive judgement, as to which government body possessed the most power. However, one could argue that the Ephors and the Gerousia were the dominant government bodies in Sparta.

Spartan’s government was far superior to the government of Athens. Sparta had elements of an oligarchy. The two kings were part of the government for tradition were the Council of Elders, or Gerousia, a group of twenty-eight Spartiate men and the two kings that who create bills, that the Assembly, or common man, vote on. . There were extensive checks and balances to make sure that no part, or branch, became too powerful. The Assembly was composed of every adult male in Sparta, but theoretically anybody could participate.

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

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.

Quite a few different government systems were present in ancient Greece and varied tremendously. Among the many government types functioning in the city states were the monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Though some governments were vastly dissimilar, some shared things in common. A notable monarchy was present in Sparta. The city state had an unusual dual monarchy that was comprised of two members of different royal tribes called the Agiads and Eurypontids.

The government The government in Sparta was different from Athens in almost every way, beginning with is government. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy. In an oligarchy the ruling power is in the hands of a few people. Like Athens, Sparta has an assembly.

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.

Government Unlike its rival city-state Athens Sparta was an oligarchy. The city-state was led by two unrelated hereditary kings. Besides ruling the city-state they would also lead the spartan troops during campaigns. AND they sat on the council of elders known as the gerousia.

Sparta was ruled by a king or at some point two kings. These two kings were from two separate families of royalty and neither of them had absolute power. The king or kings had to be consulted by the Ephors. The Ephors had a lot of power and authority in the Spartan government. They were a group of five elders, men over the age of 30 who would serve in this position for a year. They had the power to bring up charges against anyone in Sparta, including the king. Unlike Athens who was set on trying to establish a peaceful democratic atmosphere; Sparta was a lot more militaristic and strict. One of the Spartan government’s main priorities was the strength of the Spartan army. They believed that strength, endurance and numbers were a key part in a successful and powerful army. Therefore every Spartan boy at the age of seven would be taken away from their mothers and put into training for the next 13 years.

Ancient Greece was comprised of over 1500 city-states, their sizes varying from 200,000 to barely a town (in modern times). Each city-state had its own type of government; there wasn’t one to rule them all. The majority of governments were an oligarchy. This is defined as “a small group of people having control of a country, organization or institution.” Sparta was the most famous and powerful Greek oligarchy. It was made up of a council with their two kings, 28 members who were elected for 1-year terms by the citizens, and 5 officials who served their whole life. This council made every decision for the city-state and wrote the laws. They were also the ones making sure people followed them. Another part of Sparta’s government was the Assembly, a group of citizens that approved laws. They were expected to do this without debate.

Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.

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.

In Sparta the political structure was mixture of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. There were 2 two kings, one to go to war and