The Fate Of Athens

Democracy is a system of government where the people equally run a country. For example, America practices a form of government where the people have the right to elect those who are in power when they become eighteen years of age. In addition, a citizen of this country can practice a religion of their choice along with several other freedoms. In my opinion, Athens was not a democratic society by today’s standards.

“The Restoration of the Athenian Empire” Our walls are crumbling and our fleet is minute. We here in Athens are unable to collect tribute from other city-states and are often in threat of being attacked. Our fleet is defenseless and weak. The Democratic fraction, propose that we spend our time and hard earned money on the rebuilding of our walls and fleet. That way Athens can dangerously collect tributes from other Greek city-states. The Democrats also would like to commence in hazardous military voyages with our insubstantial navy. Hoping the result brings forth great rewards.

During the fifth century bc, Athens had war with Persians, the result of this war had make establishment of democracy to Geek. Acropolis of Athens is an important

It really flourished during the Fifth century and we have a lot of stuff due to them. Athens is arguably one of the oldest democracies that we know of and especially one of the most successful during that time. Because of them we have a government that’s very similar to what theirs was. I also think that Athens was a just society. They didn’t really go out of their way to pick on cities like Persia did, they were more so interested in protecting their way of life and all Greeks. They looked out for other Greek states and kept them safe, when they really didn’t have to. They did get greedy at times, but that’s understandable because they were anxious about the threat Persia posed to them. But I think most of the time they went out of their way to do the just and noble thing. You can tell my their democracy, everyone had a chance to be involved, it was about making the rich richer and the poor poorer. They wanted to make the standard of living for all Greeks

Equally significant in containing Greek power early on was the tradition of rule by tyrants, who, as a result of their “habit of providing simple for themselves…made safety the great aim of their policy, and prevented anything great proceeding from them…” (I.17). Here too, however, a sweeping change took place just before the Persian invasion as Sparta put down Greek tyrants and set up democracy in Athens. It was these two significant changes—the construction of a navy in Athens and the institution of democracy as its government—that put Athens in a position to assume the role of major Mediterranean power, and it was the Persian invasion that gave it the chance to take advantage of that position (I.18).

Citizenship is a status given by a government to some or all of its people. Rome and Athens had notably different views when it came to their policies on this concept. Due to these separate opinions, Rome and Athens each developed a unique system of citizenship, one focused on citizen responsibility, and the other on individual rights. In Athens, citizens prioritized responsibilities such as voting, participating in political debate, and holding office. In contrast, Romans were judged by how he interacted with his family, his neighbors, and his property. Although comparing Athens and Rome is difficult because of the drastic size difference, it is clear to see that Rome had an advantage over

Because of the large mountain ranges in the area where ancient Greece was located Greece could not have one system of government because information could not Passed along in a timely manner. There were two main Greek city-states Athens and Sparta they both had different views politically and Military wise that in the end led the war. The Athens The city of Athens during the classical period of greece (508–322 BC)[1] was the major urban center of the notable polis of the same name, located in Attica,Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. According to wikipedia.The Spartans were Sparta was a warrior society in ancient

In roughly 460 BCE, Epilates and Pericles launched an attack and changed their approaches of conservatism at home and positive relations with Sparta abroad. For around fifteen years (461-445 BCE), Athens, in cooperation with Argos, went to war with Sparta for control of the Greek territory; this was the First Peloponnesian War. At first Athens was triumphant, however, she was soon compelled to make peace with Persia (449 BCE) and afterwards with Sparta. An enduring consequence of the war was that Athens practiced stricter control over her partners: the Delian League turned into the Athenian Empire. Ruled by Pericles, Athens sought to keep traditions and maintain peace with Sparta. During this time, Athenians created the freest government the

“Pericles expanded the Athenians’ involvement in democracy which was what Athenians had come to call their form of government” (Spielvogel 57). Power was now in the hands of the people, not just one person. Aristocrats held the most important offices but the people of Athens got say in the affairs of the state. Although Athens was growing, so was Sparta. Sparta and Athens had built two very different societies and neither state like the other state’s form of government. This lead to many difficulties and fights between the two city-states which eventually had lead to the Peloponnesian War. Disputes weren't the only cause, “...the great Greek historian Thucydides pointed out that the fundamental, long range because of that war began in 231 B.C.E. was the fear that Athens and its empire inspired in Sparta” (Spielvogel 57). In the war, both sides believed that they were going to win. The Spartans eventually defeated the Athenians after twenty-seven years, destroying the Athenian empire. The Athenian empire might have been destroyed a lot earlier if the Persians defeated

man married off his daughter, he gave a dowry to the son-in-law to promote political

Following the Peloponnesian Wars and the plague, the chaos eventually forced Athens to give up their democracy. The democracy later regained strength and

The city of Athens is the capital city of Greece and is also Greece’s largest city. The city is full of rich history dating back to 3000 B.C and still stands to this very day. Athens is full of amazing archeological landmarks, beautiful views of the mountains and oceans. Many people visit Athens or Greece in general for the history that it holds. Athens, with many of the historical sites still standing, shows the ability of the ancient athenian people to make long lasting builds to stand against time itself.

Greek democracy was a complex and new idea to the world. While not operating like the democracies we see in the world today it is credited with having introduced the idea to the world and showed that it could work to create a nation that can experience great wealth, generate innovative art and architecture, and enjoy relative peace for long periods of time. It wasn’t to last however and I’ll investigate here some of causes that led to its collapse.

The first settlement of Athens was about 3000 BC, and it was located on the rock of Acropolis. According to the tradition, Athens was founded, by King Theseus united in several state settlements of Attica. According to the Greek Mythology, Athens is named after the goddess of wisdom, after she defeated Poseidon in a competition for patronage in the city. Poseidon gave the city a spring of water and Athena presented and olive tree. The citizens accepted the olive tree as a symbol of peace and prosperity. Athena became the patroness of the city, and several temples were built in her honor.

Aristotle’s teachings in The Politics and the Constitution of Athens leads us down the path of his thought journey as he lectures on the ideal State and populace. Aristotle focuses in on the distinctions between different constitutions, or governments, in a major way in this grouping. These distinction are very important to his final ideal State. Going through the teachings one begins to wonder how one’s own constitution would be categorised by Aristotle. Aristotle would classify America as a constitutional democracy, or Polity, based on the original framing of the constitution as well as how our government stands today.