Essay On Athens Vs Sparta

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 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.

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.

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 Spartan government was considered an oligarchy (“oligos” translates to “few” and “archia” translates to “rule”), whereas the Athenian government was a democracy (“demos” translates to “people or the masses” and “kratis” translates to rule). Therefore, the governments differed but had some similar aspects. One major difference was that Sparta’s government was exclusive to only members of a high social standing, while Athens’ government was more inclusive. The Spartan government was very unique in that it had two kings. It also had a council of elders consisting of twenty-eight males over the age of sixty, an assembly which was open to citizens, and an executive committee of five ephors chosen by lot from the citizens. The office of ephors was created in order to control the kings even though the kings still retained military and religious leadership. The Athenian government went through many changes as their civilization developed. It went through all four stages of government: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and, finally, democracy. The Athenian’s “democracy” was very different from the form of government we are all

The poleis of Athens and Sparta both had similarities and differences to each other, because of this, these poleis make excellent candidates to compare and contrast. For one thing, Athens and Sparta both had starkly different governments, Athens had a government where Athenian land-owning males could voice their opinions, while Sparta had an oligarchy. Athens had one of the best navies for the time period, while Sparta had one of the strongest land forces, the Spartiates. Also, Athens cared more for luxury items than Sparta and Athens pursued knowledge instead of military power, unlike Sparta. Although Sparta and Athens had many differences, they also had some similarities, such as how both poleis had very strong armies.

Even though the Athenians and Spartans have similarities such as sharing the same language, religion, and both living in Ancient Greece they have several differences. For example, Sparta focused on military training, whereas Athens focus was on education, and the roles for men and women such as their responsibilities and daily life. For Spartans their military was one of their main priorities. It’s focus was on their army and loyalty to their state.

Sparta and Athens societies and values were different as well. As stated in Document E Lycurgus, lawgiver of Sparta, did not allow Spartans to leave the city. This was done because he did not want them to adapt to foreign influences. All of these values/beliefs were based on one thing, to keep the Spartan soldiers strong and disciplined. In Athens Pericles boasts about how Athens is open to all which results in cultural diffusion (Document F). When Athens had festivals everyone except for slaves

Spartan’s political stance was oligarchy that vested in the authority of the Council of Elders which consist of twenty-eight men who were over sixty years old, who served for life. The idea of freedom for Athens and Sparta was vastly different. Athens believed in political freedom, Sparta was more concern in keeping the land free from invasion. Athens was concern in enrichment of life, culture flourishment, Sparta was not. Sparta was considered culturally sterile.