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Composition of the greek city state
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Following Greek’s “Dark Age,” the Archaic Age (circa 800-500 B.C.E.) led to important political changes for the region, with the most important one being the development of the city-state called a polis (plural poleis). While there were a number of developments during the Archaic Age, perhaps the most valuable lessons that can be drawn from Greek civilization and from the formation and evolution of the Greek poleis. “With the Polis, the Greeks established a new type of political structure” (McKay 119) where poleis with it’s own distinctive system of government. While the Poleis were not the first forms of city-states to emerge, they were more than a political institution. Communities of citizens with their own customs and laws and after 800 …show more content…
Sparta became the leading military power within Greece and expanded their territory by conquering Messenia, after which they turned the conquered Messenians into helots (unfree residents who were forced to work the lands of the state), until they rose up in a rebellion, which spurred significant political change for Sparta. All citizens were made legally equal, and Sparta was led by two kings fulfilled the role of military leaders, a council of nobles, and five ephors who were elected by the citizens. The Helots continued to work the land, while Spartan citizens devoted themselves to military training that began at the age of 7. Athens also faced important changes at the time, but reacted much differently than Sparta. The Athenians created a democracy. In 621 B.C.E., Draco published the first law code of the Athenian polis. The code was harsh, but “embodied the idea that the law belonged to all citizens” (McKay, 122) and soon led to reformations more in favor of the common people of Athens, and allowed common citizens to both participate and vote on issues within the government and encouraged all full citizens to participate within the
Athens’ governmental shift in 501 BC was unprecedented and innovative, being the first notable implementation of democracy in an ancient world inundated in monarchy. This form of government, founded by Cleisthenes, has been instrumental in Western Civilization, especially since the modern age. Democracy gave Athens life, providing not only a well functioning governing system, but also enabling the city-state to grow and survive multiple Persian invasions. However, at the dawn of the Athenian empire and the rise of Pericles, democracy began to die, and Greeks lost their love of freedom when they sought power and glory through their military conquests. I argue that Athenian’s rejection of democracy can be seen through their mistreatment of other states and their lust for power and glory.
Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities is a concise and surprisingly refined assessment of the Ancient Greek world, from the early dark ages to late Antiquity, told uniquely through the history of eleven city-states or “polis”. Paul Cartledge’s Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities, details the cultural traditions, trade, and politics that laid the foundation of the sprawling Aegean civilization. By examples of the successful polis Cnossos on the island of Crete, and continuing through to the rise of iconic Sparta, it is easy to trace the development of Greek civilization. The emergence of Classical Greece is examined in the accounts of Athens, Syracuse, and Thebes while the descriptions of Alexandria are symbolic of the transition into the Hellenistic age. A final discussion of the rise of Byzantium notes the decline of city-state independence. Arguably, Cartledge’s paradoxical title of the book surprisingly captures the key events detailing the history of the Greek civilization.
Sometime around 750-600 B.C.E., the Greek poet Hesiod produced what is generally thought to be the oldest surviving Greek poetic works. During this time, Greece was near the middle of its Archaic period, a period of technological, social, political, and cultural innovations. This was the period in which the first true alphabet system arose, the system which allowed Hesiod and other poets like him to record permanently the oral stories and lyrics so important to Greek culture. This was also the time in which the Greek polis emerged – what is today translated as “city-state” – as a result of increases in population size. Hand in hand with the increase in population and formation of political bodies like the polis comes the colonization of foreign land which marked this period. Colonies arose all around the Aegean Sea and onto the coast of North Africa, spreading the Greek culture well beyond its homeland (Earth 128-131).
Sparta contained a four branch government system that was considered one of the most unique in all of Greece. Unlike the democracy of Athens, Sparta had a diarchy which consisted of two kings. These figures held little influence over the state and served more as a symbol of royal heritage. The second branch was the Gerousia council which acted as an advising body and held influence over court decisions. This council was comprised of the two kings and of twenty-eight elected elders who served a life term. The minimum age of an elder on the committee was sixty. The Ephors, the third b...
The polis emerged out of the scattered villages of early Greece, as a way of building unified states, and centralising government. The establishment of the Greek poleis was a significant political innovation throughout history because it gave rise to new government systems which have become models to the modern state structure. It was characterised by its ability to unite citizens, and through this, resulted in the growth of larger states such as Athens and Spart. Within the poleis there were constitutions, which were developed in conjunction with the purpose to achieve a unified system of government for each state. In addition, this new form of government allowed for citizens to greater participate in political and social matters, which had not been the case in previous ruling powers. Thus, both the development of the constitution and the introduction of a new political structure have both influenced and changed the nature of the state.
In the era of Ancient Greece, numerous city-states emerged throughout the country. Among the seven-hundred individual communities, two stood out the most: Athens and Sparta. Since both cities were created from the same initial idea, they had several similarities between the two from speaking the same language, to practicing the same religion. However, because each community was its own entity, there were many differences between Athens and Sparta as the two did not see eye-to-eye on most matters. This included government types, treatment of citizens, and even the fate of each inhabitant’s life work. What follows is an attempt to describe a fraction of the characteristics between Athens and Sparta that make them both so unique, yet still somewhat the same.
Ancient Greece has a long history dating back to around 3000 B.C.E, but it is with the beginning of the polis in the Hellenic age in approximately 800 B.C.E. that we see a more organized institution and form of government. With several poleis throughout the Greek world, each polis cultivated the surrounding countryside in order to provide food for their society. At times conflict would arise between different poleis over territorial disputes, and a battle would...
Ancient Greece was not a country in the way modern countries are organized today. This is because, rather than one unified government throughout the land, each city state in Ancient Greece had its own form of government and laws, quite independent of their neighbours. The poleis even created their own colonies. This paper will outline some of the similarities and differences between the various governmental styles in Ancient Greece.
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.
People have always recognized the need for an authority to exercise control in society. This has taken shapes in many different ways from small groups to formal organizations. The ancient Greeks were no different. The Greeks established cities known as polis, and they had their own governments, which were systems for controlling their local societies.
The development of an empire is a change strongly emphasized in the Archeology as a radical departure from the Hellenic tradition, and consequently a major source of conflict among the Greeks. Prior to the adven...
This essay will describe the different forms of government in the ancient Greek. These government ruled at different times in the ancient Greek and to be specific we will look, compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. We start the ball rolling with:
The Ancient Greeks had many values that made their civilization successful, but one of the most important was their sense of community. The Greeks, especially in Classical Athens, considered their community in the decisions they made, and they were interested in the affairs of the state. It was important to them that their society was functional and productive, and their personal needs often came second to those of the state. Community was a central value in Greek culture, and the individual’s contribution to the community strengthened the state and benefitted each person. Some philosophers disagreed, with this, however, and valued independent thinking over obedience and loyalty to the state.
First lets discuss Sparta and how their governmental system worked. The Spartans were divided into three different groups, there were native-born Spartans, there was a group of non-Spartans called the Periokoi, and there was the slaves called the Helots. "The Periokoi were free non-Spartan men that
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.