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Sparta Vs Athens

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Obtaining the right to participate in a public life in Greece would depend on which city, Sparta or Athens, a male citizen was born. Certainly, being a male free citizens share a common similarity between Athens and Sparta. For public officers, they will have an opportunity to participate in the decision-making to benefit their communities. Perhaps, their history would show that the governing structures, which are based on dictatorship or democracy, will prove that without a system balancing the power of the people and their government will culminate a fall of empires. To illustrate, all the “demos,” in Sparta are naturally-born male citizens, who are free and eligible to participate in a military and/or hold a position in a public office. …show more content…

The level of political office is in accordance to their wealth level called the “bushels of men”. For example, the wealthiest Athens individuals were called the “500 bushels of men”. This group, including the 10 strategoi, held the highest position in the Athenian political system. The strategoi were valuable to Athens their military service as generals and they are service members of the Magistrate in the government of Athens. They enforce the Athenian laws like the modern day “police officers”. The men who own horses were called the “Horse Men,” worth “300 bushel of men”. The horsemen serves in a lesser political office and they provide their horses to the military. The next group is the “Middle Class,” worth 200 bushels of men, were eligible to be elected in a minor political office such as the jurors of the People’s Court or Heliaea. Equally important, the middle class are owners of weapons and armors, which were utilized during their service in the military as the hoplite soldiers. Finally, any “bushels of men” that had less than 199 were called Thetes. These men do not own lands and were categorized as the poorest among the Athenian citizens. Although, they were poor, they could participate in public office as members of the Ekklesia, where they have the right to vote or elect public officials. The Thetes were not eligible to …show more content…

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. On the other hand, some differences in governmental structures after the public officers were elected by the Assemblies. In Sparta, the hierarchy structure extended to the Ephors and Gerousia, whose political power was more potent than the kings and it’s citizens. Meanwhile, in Athens, the structure extended to the Magistrate, Council, and the People’s Court, where the majority rules by it’s citizens. Hence, the Sparta’s dictatorships vs. Athen’s direct democracy laid the foundation of two different governmental structures which still exist in modern

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