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
Ancient Greece is commonly acknowledged as one of the greatest societies to ever exist. Two of the most known civilizations in ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. However, both of these civilizations were known for completely different reasons. Sparta was recognized for its military above anything else. The Spartan military was an unparalleled fighting force of its time, with its high-end weaponry, organization, and impressive methods of fighting. This is primarily because the Spartan military was the only full-time fighting force in ancient Greece which compelled it to sustain an elite status.
Athens city state is “open and friendly” (doc 5, Thucydides). People in athens obey the laws and are kind to eachother. There is no rudeness in the city state. Unlike Sparta, who is completly isolated from other city-states. They do not allow
Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.
Following on from the preceding discussion, then, it is possible to explore the types of constitution in existence. From the aforementioned distinction, we can observe correct – rule with a view to the common good – and deviated – rule with a view to the private advantage – constitutional arrangements. Within each of these are three types of constitution. The three correct types of constitution comprise a kingship, an aristocracy, and a polity; the three deviated types of constitution consist of a tyranny,
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.
usage within these city-states and briefly looked at, in conclusion, regarding their similarity to today’s
In Greece, monarchies were found when the Mycenaeans ruled Greece during the period 2000 to 1100 BC. Monarchy is defined as a system of government where a single ruler has supreme power. The word “monarchy” comes from the Greek words “monos” meaning “single” and “archo” meaning “rule”. This single ruler, known as a king, ruled for life and passed the rule on to his heir when he died. The most famous monarchy was that of King Alexandra of Macedonia who ruled all of Greece from 336 BC.
aristocratic social structure is similar to the government that we have in place today. They had a select
b. Monarchy – rule by one where power rests in the hands of a king or queen
The term aristocracy comes from the Greek word aristos, meaning the best. Aristocracy therefore is roughly translated into meaning ‘rule by the best’ (Hooker R 1997). This encompasses the ideas of an aristocratic society. Within Plato’s book, The Republic, he outlines the basis of an aristocratic society being split into three groups. Socrates describes them as being the gold, silver and bronze or iron (Plato 380 BC). Though the gold class rules over the others it is not considered and more valuable than the others classes. Whether someone was a warrior or a blacksmith they all had a key job to uphold within society and none were considered above an others for things like status and wealth, unlike that of an oligarchic society. In an aristocracy people are placed into careers and hierarchies almost from birth, normally, but
Let’s see what is Monarchy? It is a king or queen who gets all the powers of authority from inheritance and power stays in the same family, usually the bloodline from father to son. In Ancient Greeks, there weren’t too many monarchies, but there was some present and even Athens went under the monarchy at the end of the classical period which ended with the death of Alexander the Great. His father Phillip II of Macedon who became king after the deaths of his two brothers conquered Athens after the Peloponnesian war and ended democracy in the great city of Athens. (Wasson, 2014)
Socially, the society depended on a rather strict division between nobles and free commoners, both of which were themselves divided into elaborate hierarchies of social status, responsibilities, and power. Economically
Within each regime, there are the farmer, the working element and craftsmen, the marketing element and traders, the laboring element, the warrior element, the priests (Aristotle skips this sixth element but suggests this possibility), the rich, and the magisterial (1290b:40; 1291a:5-35). Within regimes are two distinctive classes and forms of government which are the
Monarchical Government - this is a government by one person or monarch. However, it degenerates into tyranny which is a bad type of government.
The Athenian government evolved from a monarchy into an aristocracy. A monarchy is when a King or Queen exercises central power. In Greece, the government was headed by a privileged minority or upper class, which ruled his or her own city-states. They created a system based on the right of each individual citizen to speak out about issues.