How Did Sparta Get The Right To Participate In Public Life

Ancient Athens allowed all of its people to vote and participate in the community.(Doc A) If there is a man of low class or low wealth wanting to vote or be a part of the community, they would not say no to that person. (Doc A) For example, if there was a man in Ancient Athens who was of low class I society and wealth, he would be able to still vote on laws or be part of his community and his financial problems would not

The most distinctive feature of Greek political culture lay in the extent of popular participation in political life that occurred within the city-states. This participation was based on the unique ideas of “citizenship,” of free people running the affairs of state, and of equality for all citizens before the law. Political participation in Greek city-states was much wider than in Persia, but it varied considerably between city-states and over time. Early in Greek history, only the wealthy and wellborn had the rights of full citizenship, but middle- and lower-class men gradually obtained these rights in some city-states.

The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life” (Pericles’ Funeral Oration, Thucydides). In other words, it doesn’t matter what your social rank is, if you are a citizen of Athens, you have a right (and duty) to serve in the government. This is known as a direct democracy today, and it is where we, citizens of the United States, took inspiration for our current system of government. Pericles is right to praise the city-state in this regard, as its legacy still has effect on the world millenniums after its time.

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

The city-state of Athens had a better system of citizenship because they cared more about who became a civilian, everybody who was a citizen had equal rights and the citizens had a democracy. With the population of around 300,000 people, including slaves only 13% were considered citizens. Athenians emphasized citizen responsibility more than citizen rights. In Athens, participating in government and making the city-state work was considered the honorable act to accomplish.

“Virtue can only flourish among equals.” - Mary Wollstonecraft. In Athens, all citizens were equal, therefore a strong community thrived. Starting in 500 BCE a new idea of citizenship was starting to form. This idea was used by Athens and Rome, and included giving citizens a balance between rights and responsibilities. This paved the way for modern day citizenship in our countries and many others. Athens had a better system of citizenship because they chose government offices by lottery, to keep a strong democracy they made sure no one had too much power, and citizens in all social classes could participate in government.

・How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? In Athens case, its citizens, consisted of all adult male, 20 years and older, participated in their government. Additionally, it doesn't include the economic condition. Pericles, a democratic leader insisted the importance of the service to the city state, therefore though the poor, if he satisfies to be called the citizen, it can join to participate in.

Ancient citizens from Athens and Sparta are representatives of what the ideal polis is. For the citizens as representatives, to be contingent in an ideal polis there must be loyalty and pride. The Spartans, between itself and Athens has a stronger polis due to their fearless citizens. Athens has an ever changing constitution that does not allow for consistency to flow. A constitution that continuously revamps itself every time there is someone or a new group of people in power does not set the credentials for there to be a respected polis. With an emphasis on the word polis there is an emphasis on the word “equality”, because in order to have the same goals on a large scale there needs to be an equal respective treatment between citizens

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.

Most Greek city states were ruled by a small elite group, also known as an aristocratic oligarchy (cite text book). Pericles explains that the Athens government is a democracy because the administration is in the hands of many and not just a few people. This will cause the government to have equal justices exist for all people. This is confirmed by Pericles stating, “When a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as a reward of merit”. This means that a citizen has to earn their privileges, they don’t just get things because of who they are in society. Athens not only takes pride in their government, but is also very proud of their military. Athens considers their military training to be better that their enemies in many ways. The people never try to hide anything from enemies or prevent them from seeing or learning anything that might benefit them. While their enemies are undergoing difficult exercises to make them brave, the people of Athens live the easy life. Although they live the easy life, the people of Athens are equally ready to face the challenges which their enemies face. The people of Athens would rather meet danger with a light heart and not intense training like their neighbors. They also want to do this with courage not enforce by law, but instead gain by habit. When the Lacedaemonians come into Athenian territory they bring their whole confederacy,

A few sessions ago, the topic on the table at the Assembly was the composition of the electorate. At this Assembly, you heard me speak on the subject of allowing metics who openly contributed themselves or their wealth to Athens to become citizens. Fortunately, my measure passed, and I am able to stand before you today. However, today I wish to bring up this subject again, but today I am asking to expand the electorate to all metics. The metics that are now a part of the citizen body are the wealthy ones who could afford to publicity support Athenian interests.

After the wars, Athens emerges as the center of all activity amongst each city-state in Greece. One of the key features within the Athenian society was the arrangement of public assembly and the rule of the people, democracy. In the assemblies, any male citizen could actively vote

Ancient Athens was a highly polarized society in which citizenship meant everything. Citizenship permitted individuals to not only participate in the democratic

If I had a choice to live in ancient Athens or Sparta, I would choose to live in Athens. There are a number of reasons why I would choose to live in Athens and not in Sparta. One of the reasons I would choose to live in Athens is that it had a direct democracy of government, though foreigners did not participate in it or politics (Brand, P.J., 2010). This means there was no mistreatment of all people like what used to happen during the rule of Athenian tyrants from the rule of Peisistratus, who was an Athenian tyrant, to his eldest son when Athenian democracy was first introduced by Cleisthenes (BBC, 2017). The second reason I would choose to live in Athens is because foreigners in Athens had the right to own property and could obtain some

Athenian citizen makes more contribution to government rather than Spartans. The Athenian government allows citizen to be a member of the government except for the military position, as its stated on an article that ” each citizen can be voted for each legislation”(Echos in the past, page, print). Which signify that being in the government position means having the capability and not the wealth. In the athenian