The City States of Spart and Athens in Ancient Greece

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Around the year 500 BCE many poleis existed in ancient Greece. Two of the main poleis, or city states in Greece, were Sparta and Athens. Although both of the city states were located in the same area of the world; they had different ways of living. Sparta and Athens had many differences in how they ran their city states. There were many political, economic, and social differences between the two city states. Sparta and Athens may have had their differences but they fought side by side against the Persian invaders. The city states fought off the Persians and brought in the “Golden Age” of Greece. The fate of Greece would be very different if they wouldn’t have fought together against the Persian Empire. In today’s world some countries share a few similarities to the ancient polis of Sparta and Athens.
Politically Sparta and Athens had different ways of governing their city states. Sparta had a mixed Constitution. The city state of Sparta also had a monarchy. The king had little authority over civil matters such as creating laws for its people. The king of Sparta was mainly a commander on the battle field. The foundation of the Spartan government was a group called the Gerousia. The group consisted of 28 elders, over the age of 60, which the people of Sparta elected. The Gerousia came up with all of the laws and political policies in ancient Sparta. The political decisions that the Gerousia made were carried out by five executives known as euphors. The euphors were also put into power by the people of Sparta. The citizens of Athens had very little influence in their government. Athens government was an oligarchy, meaning ruled by few. Only the rich citizens of Athens had power in the government. The lower class had a large disadva...

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...tering their country. This limits trade and relationships with other countries. Sparta did not do much trading and did not have much to do with other poleis. Cuba and North Korea also stay in isolation. Athens can also be compared to Cuba and North Korea. Although these two countries are officially communist, very few people have a say in the government similar to the oligarchy of Athens. Like Athens, lower class people are at a large disadvantage in these countries. Athens and Sparta have set examples that some countries still follow today.
The poleis Sparta and Athens had many different ideas on how to run their societies. They overcame their differences and fought off the Persian invasion to defend their homeland. Without this victory our history would look very different. Sparta and Athens have influenced the world that we live in today tremendously.

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