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Similarities Between Sparta And Athens

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Abstract:
Ancient Greece was made up of a number of sovereign city states, each one responsible for governing itself and establishing its own form of government. The two most renowned of these were Sparta and Athens – Sparta for its military prowess and its campaign to usurp other smaller city states, and Athens, renowned for its cultural influence on the world at large, from architecture and philosophy to art and language. This paper looks at the different systems of government in the city states and how each one influenced the status of the state.
Keywords: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Tyranny, Oligarchy, and Democracy
Introduction:
There four main forms of government that existed in Ancient Greece were monarchy
(rule of one), oligarchy (rule of a few), tyranny (rule by force) and democracy (rule by many). Aristocracy in the context of this paper, was not so much a system of government but more of a hierarchy which allowed a citizen to rule. It was rare to find a “commoner” rising through the ranks to become a leader – leaders were more often than not picked from the aristocratic class, those who by birth or social standing, became the elite of society.
Monarchy:
Monarchy is typically defined as rule by one person, often through birth right, who rules until death (in extreme cases a monarch can be deposed), wherein the first born son takes over the monarchy. The monarch – a king or a queen – in Ancient Greece, would have been an absolute ruler, meaning that their rule was law

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