Athens and Sparta: Two Political Systems
Like 18th century Italy, classical Greece (5th and 4th century BC) was divided in rival city-states that were frequent at war with each other. To the modern people this situation might look both foolish and inefficient; yet, one has to understand the times. First of all, the European population is estimated to have been only 30 million people (Livi-Bacci, 2012)—and this means that vast tracts of wilderness separated the various cities. Then, geographical isolation was exacerbated by the infant state of transportation and communication technologies; for example, there were no state-maintained roads. One can get an idea how long and perilous trips were back then by reading the myth of Theseus; in his travel from Corinth to Athens—a distance of only fifty-miles—Theseus almost lost his life six times to bandits and beasts. This semi-hermitic state of existence allowed the city-states to experiment and develop their own political and social structures; by the fifth century BC, the Greek cities have tried every political arrangement imaginable, with two main systems competing for Greek-world dominion: democracy represented by Athens, and militocracy represented by Sparta.
In both systems, there were three common prerequisites to enter public life:
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Indeed, ritualized vendettas («γδικιωμός») between families persisted in the area until the 1960s. In Athens, the executive power was invested in a committee called the boulē (βουλῆ) which was composed of 500 citizens who represented the 139 districts of Attica. In turn, the boulē had its own executive committee of fifty citizens called prytaneis (πρύτανεις) under a chairman (ἐπιστάτης). This convoluted power structure sounds like death by committee, though it was meant to ensure fair
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.
Supposedly formed by Lycurgus, the government in Sparta is very unique in that it is an Oligarchy; combining monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.
Athens and Sparta fought from 431 to 404 BCE which is known as Peloponnesian War. Athenians held a funeral for the people who were killed in the war after the first year. Pericles’s
The Athenian and Spartan governments had extremely different approaches to life. The democratic views of the Athenians were open minded and curious, focused on development. The oligarchic views of the spartans were more narrow minded and restricted, focused on constancy. The athenian democracy distributed power very well and gave everyone a fair share in the decision being made. Athenian life was comfortable and free, the polar opposite to the cruelty of Spartan life. The Athenian democracy also used their wealth very wisely inciting the development of their civilisation. Based on the information below, the Athenian population lived a happier life.
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 the early fifth century BC, Greece consisted of many city-states allied in various factions or leagues. The alliances between these cities are difficult to understand. The alliances created a patchwork where
Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. Sparta apparently didn’t agree with this statement. Sparta had many weaknesses compared to strengths. To begin with they lacked education in many ways, they had slavery and killed many slaves that could have retaliated ,and their children were very abused and taken from their families at young age to go to training camp for the Army.
Spartan oligarchy was an unfair form of government because it withheld information from its subjects, it prohibited them from discussing what they did know, and its effects hurt the economy. We know this because Sparta was a very militia based society and it discouraged its people from art and literature interest. Oligarchies also tend to have less freedom for their citizens.
In the last few years I avoided playing 'freemium' games, because they usually require a certain amount of money to play at a reasonable pace. When I played Sparta: War of Empires for the first time, I also thought that. But I was wrong because the game was able to provide high speed even if it was played for free. The Sparta: War of Empires was developed by Plarium who has so much experience in the MMO, stands for Massively Multiplayer Online. This game is highly recommended by so many players around the world for being able to bring any player into the medieval world with amazing details.
Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and well known cities among all the Greek nations. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. But there are some differences between these two power houses. For instance the way that these cities were governed and their political procedures and functions were quite different from each other.
How do Athens and Sparta behave in adherence to the concepts of political realism? Both in general and with their military approach to the war as well as specific key incidents in the first 3 books.
According to Brand (n.d) the political system of Sparta had many layers in the decision making process and consisted mainly from the Assembly, the Gerousia and the Euphors. Only male and free citizens were allowed to be a part of the decision making process and the relevant bodies while at the same time people who lost their citizenship were not allowed to be members to either the Assembly, Gerousia or the Euphors (Brand, n.d). According to Brand (n.d) the Spartan Assembly was the least powerful body followed by the Gerousia and the Euphors however mostly the Gerousia and the Euphors had significant powers and members of both bodies they had to be older than 60 years old. Apart from being the most powerful bodies of public governance in Sparta the requirement for both bodies was that other people would nominate candidates (Brand, n.d).
The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.
Athens and Sparta are two powerful city-states, different from each other in such way that
The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Sparta was focused on their military, discipline, and to have a strong state. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. How do these two city-states differ?