How Did Greek Cities Differ

The economy and politics of Greece were extremely complex. Most importantly Greek commercial expansion through new trade markets around the Mediterranean with the non-Greek world made it possible for more men to purchase land and power. At the same time the concept of a polis (city) and demos (common people) and the idea of discussion of public choices and possible outcomes with collective concern were born in the city-state. Two of the most well-known to us today are Athens and Sparta, but there were many more. The mountainous terrain as well as a deeply entrenched sense of independence probably allowed the system to remain more of a loose confederation than a central republic, like that of Rome.

The Greek’s did not invent the idea of a city-state. Other societies, such as the Sumer, had city-states themselves, but these city-states were only political centers (HWS 119). The Greek poleis were more than political, which is why citizenship started. Each individual polis contained laws and customs that directly related to the citizens of that city-state (HWS 119). In addition, the whole Greek civilization came about through multiple poleis with each one

In the period known as classical Greece in the years 800-323 BCE, Greece comprised of small city states (poleis) which were considered and operated as independent small countries. Amongst those city states Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and considered in Greek history as the most influential states to western civilisation. These two city states shared some common characteristics whilst in some instances they were very different from each other. Sparta and Athens had differences and similarities in the way they governed their city states, in how they established their military forces, how they treated women, their marriage customs and social gatherings

A Greek city-state was known as a polis. Some factors that determined a polis was the acropolis and agora.

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

These self-governed city-states were governed by the natural laws of the universe. The polis also had a psychological pull to the point where it was infested into the art, religion, literature and philosophy (Document 1). In a way similar to India though, everyone identified first and foremost with their polis identity, like the Indians did with their caste system (Document 1). The way to gain power in Greece was not though money, but through family names and heritage, but in 330 BC, Cleisthenes created the basis of his reform for Greece: the demes (Document 2). By doing this he takes out the powerful noble families and gives the lower class the power to decide what happens with their government and therefore became more “deme-ocratic.” He did many things to change the structure of Greece to make it fairer. For example he took the original four tribes of Greece and redistributed them into ten different tribes so now the tribes can have more “civic rights.” Another example of what Cleisthenes did to fix things was that he increased the Council members from 400 to 500. Now each tribe was only sending fifty representatives, instead of the original hundred. Finally, one last example is that Cleisthenes divided Greece up into thirty parts. Ten urban and suburban, ten costal and ten inland and each of these contained its own special number of demes. Now, men were to be identified first by their demes name, which is very similar to India’s recognition of their caste name or level (Document

Together with religion, the way each empire ran their government was a major difference between the Greek and the Persian Empire. In fact, Greece was originally a monarchy, but later on, Athens, one of the city states of Greece, started the first ever democratic. During this time Greece also sets up individual towns called city states. A few of the most powerful city-states include Athens, Sparta and Argos. Persia on the other hand was always a monarchy. In Persia, governors called Satrap govern each province called Satrapies. Although it was a

Sparta and Athens were two of the most dominant and influential city-states in Greek history. The social and political evolution of these two city-states are intriguing and provide insight into different types of government.

The major ancient Greek city-states -Athens and Sparta, depict different forms of government which are; monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Aristocracy and democracy were found in Athens whereas monarchy and oligarchy were more established in Sparta. Both cities, in a way, they demonstrated a tyranny form of government. However, in reality, these forms of governments were controversial and one could debate their existence in each city-state.

In ancient Greece rose two of the greatest city-states of its time. These city states were the first of their time to display characteristics of a true society of people who collaborate with each other and the first to form an official government. The two major forms of government in Greece were democracy and oligarchy; which was best represented by the city states of Athens and Sparta. The government chosen of Athens is the key reason to the fall of Greece and the reason Sparta is the superior of the two city-states. The democratic form of government which is great and needed today was not the type of government needed at the time for Greece because its main priority should have been survival and war.

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.

Societies and politics were different in many aspects but also similar in Greece two most powerful city states Sparta and Athens. This paper will answer the following questions: How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were the two city-states similar in their governmental structures? How did they differ?

Unlike huge empires, Ancient Greece was made up of small city-states that each consisted of a walled city and its bordering territory in the countryside. These separate city-states developed in Greece near the Aegean Sea at around 800 BC. Each city-state had its own beliefs with differing forms of government. Although the individual establishments were usually peaceful with one another, rival city-states also waged wars. Athens, the largest and most powerful city-state in Greek civilization, was the first place in the world to develop a type of democracy.

Athens and Sparta are two different cities in the ancient Greek era. Those two cities have marked a great deal of havoc in their time and even nowadays numerous references are made to those two. Today we will try to compare and contrast life in those two cities back then.

Shortly, economic, political, and social cooperation between the Greeks and those around them became compulsory and similar. As shown in the Greek Colonization Map (chapter3) the procedure of Greek settlement became stronger on the coasts of Anatolia lastingly changing the cultural geography of the Mediterranean world and the swap of cultures from the Greek to others and vice versa, as a fast result of trade. The western shores of Anatolia held the Greek culture strongly for the following thousands of years. A large amount of Greeks settled in southern parts of Italy which the Romans called Magna Graecia “Greater Greece.” The hunt for bazaars, possessions, and trade paths indorsed more understanding between cultures. Trade involving long distance was significant for a new arising economy but also the pipeline for concepts, and technical growth. Egyptians admired Greek’s pottery and wool while, the Greek’s revered the Egyptians Canaanite glass, and amulets. As seen in Egypt And Its Neighbors Map (Chapter 2) this led to a greater mutual