Sparta And Athens

The city-states Athens and Sparta were rivals in ancient Greece. Geographically the two were very close to each other, but they had a very different economy, cultural values, and way of governing. Both city-states had two very different ways of doing things. I will be highlighting the major differences.

Spartan’s government was far superior to the government of Athens. Sparta had elements of an oligarchy. The two rulers were a piece of the administration for convention were the Council of Elders, or Gerousia, a gathering of twenty-eight Spartiate men and the two lords that who make charges, that the Assembly, or basic man, vote on. . There were broad governing rules to ensure that no part, or branch, turned out to be too intense. The Assembly was made out of each mature male in Sparta, yet hypothetically anyone could take part. They voted whether to pass bills into law, and against normal conviction, they could vote more than yes or no. These individuals from the Assembly were picked, by the fair evaluators, who sat in an alternate room and tuned in for the loudest cheer for every hopeful. This technique gave everyone a shot, and in the event that you truly needed a specific competitor, you could simply shout louder. The Ephors, were a gathering of five individuals, who settled on everyday choices, and were chosen yearly.

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.

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.

In contrast to the Spartan oligarchy Athens was governed as a democracy or "ruled by the people”. The general assembly in Athens was made up of male adult citizens aged thirty or above. Approximately 5000 to 6000 men were reduced to groups of 500 which were then divided in smaller groups of 50 each (Knight 2007). Of these each would take charge for a month and then ten generals were elected from their experience or through the process of voting. The general assembly in Athens met 2-3 times in a month and votes were cast on that day on decisions affecting the community (Brand 2015).

During the late Archaic Greek and Classical periods, two particular city-states were in existence with significant similarities as well as differences. These two city-states, Sparta and Athens have unique formations of government, histories, goals, as well as societies.

Athens and Sparta were two powerful city-states, different from each other where Athenian democracy focused on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focused on military force. Democracy is a system of government where citizens have the right to vote, whereas oligarchy is a system of government where only a group of people is in control and only their opinion or decision that were taken into consideration. Leading to the thesis statement that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, supported in three evidence points. Firstly, Athenian democracy allowed citizens participation in government that gave them freedom to vote and take part in legislation. Secondly, the Athenian government provided Athenian men better education, by being taught how to read and write to reach their academic advancement. Lastly, the Athenian democracy’s contribution to Athens military advancement that protected its citizens.

"The Gerousia was similar to the Roman Senate or the Athenian Areopagus. It was an elite assembly dominated by wealthier and more conservative elements of Spartan society (Brand, n.d., p.10)."

According to Dr. Peter J. Brand (n.d 31) in Athens, to be able to get a public office a citizen had to be at least 30 years old and have the required amount of wealth for that office.

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

Spartan government also allowed for its citizens to participate in decisions that would affect the community on a whole. If you were a free male citizen, you were part of the Assembly. The Assembly had monthly meetings and would pass laws and make decisions regarding war. To be considered eligible for the assembly, a Spartan man must first join a Syssitia. A Syssitia was a small group (about 15) of Spartan men who would share meals with each other. At the age of 20 a Spartan man would try to join a Syssitia. This required a vote of yes from all members of the Syssitia the Spartan man was trying to join. Failure to join a Syssitia would result in loss of citizenship and the ability to participate in the Assembly (Brand).

Similarly, these two-city states do not extend political rights to women, slaves, foreigners and non-citizens. They both believed in the concepts of “demos” male citizenships. Therefore, the governmental structure of Sparta’s Popular Assembly is similar to Athen’s Ekklesia or People’s Assembly. These two assemblies support all the male citizens of Athens and Sparta to their right to vote or elect government officials, to pass or reject laws or policies, and to make decisions regarding the wars. Finally, the Sparta’s Ephors and the Athens Strategois have an identical governing rules to serve in office annually or a one-year term.

Athens and Sparta both have lots of historical value for Greece. They both had an Assembly, in which the members were elected by the people. However, the top rulers of Athens were elected, while Sparta’s were not. Athens and Sparta were both military strong and both had very large populations of slaves.

Sparta and Athens though being both Greek city-states, they shared some common characteristics, similarities and differences in their system of government.

The polis encompassed a group of men deemed to be equal. In contrast to tribal or feudal societies, ancient Athens boasted no priestly class. The males who made up the citizen body participated in the face-to-face, directly democratic politics of the city-state, not merely by voting but also by speaking in the assembly and by serving themselves through active and intimate interaction with others.