The two great cities of Greece - Sparta and Athens, have adapted similar, yet different laws that shaped them differently. Although Lycurgus was the first lawgiver of Sparta, little is known about his history today as he is overlooked because of the other great known heroes from Sparta. Lycurgus took the first step towards law making that dealt with inequality and injustice, and brought relief among the Leconian citizens. He was seen as a natural leader, and that was one of the major reasons for the citizens to follow his laws as they were applied. Solon, from Athens, was famous for writing the Athenian laws, which also assured justice and equality among the citizens of the Salamis While both Lycurgus and Solon innovated new laws to reinforce equality and justice into the Greek cities, there lied strengths and weaknesses. Lycurgus’ reforms were bounded by the needs of solely the citizens, whereas, Solons’ reforms thrived to prosper the city itself, besides guaranteeing equality among the citizens.
One of his first and foremost innovations of Lycurgus that affirmed the notion of equality among the Leconian citizens and their rights was the idea of an institution of Elders. By establishing the twenty-eight Elders, Lycurgus ensured that there was a safe and steady balance between the senate and the power of the kings that was inclining towards tyranny. The significant part of this innovation was the idea of having equal votes and rights to contribute to important matters within the city (pg.8). By giving people the right to elect the members who would serve them, the law provided flexibility and security among the citizens. A second of Lycurgus' reforms, which was revolutionary yet played a major role in dealing with ine...
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...e’s leisure and essential needs by taking out luxury and distributing and allocating rich people’s properties. It seemed injustice to the rich people because they, more or less, earned their wealth and it the poor did not have to do much to have access to the lands. Even though Solon did not secure the poor people’s future, he did as much as he was capable of without being unfair to either group.
The laws in both cities were eventually established and were meant to deal with inequalities and injustice within. But with strengths, there were weaknesses in the laws for both leaders, which more or less influenced the steps towards equality. Yet, despite the short or long term faults, what stood out most was Lycurgus and Solon’s emergence as leaders and their lawmaking process, which brought equality and justice among the people for a long period of time.
The Athenians created the idea of Democracy which is a widely used form of government today. Solon was credited as the man who created the foundation for Athenian Democracy. He changed the whole game. He threw out the debt of the poor so they would not be slaves anymore, he outlawed the slavery because of debt so that it would never happen again, he divided the Athenian population into four different classes, and three of the richest could rise to power instead of the one before. He allowed the everyman to have a chance at power. Later Cleisthenes rose to power and he put democracy in motion. He threw away the four classes and created a council of 500 to decide things in the government. Everyon...
The main architect of Athenian law was Solon. It is unknown when Solon was born. He died in 559 BC. (Plutarch). Solon allowed everyone to participate in court (Stockton 19). He created a code of laws based on justice, balance, and good order (Muller). Solon abolished the practice of debt bondage (Muller). Solon created the Council of 400 (Boule), and a court called the Heliaia. (Muller) Solon divided Athenians into classes in accordance with their income (Plutarch). The lowest class, the thetes, was ineligible for election to office (Plutarch). However, they could still come into the assembly and act as jurors (Plutarch). The other classes, from lowest to highest, were zeugits, hippies, and pentakosiomedimnoi (Muller).
Athens and Sparta were all very big, successful city-states in the ancient world that conquered many lands and won many battles. Ancient Athens and Ancient Sparta seem similar they have very different functioning societies. Athens was known for its impressive art and culture while Sparta was a very war-like city-state and their society was completely based on having a great military. The thing they had in common was that social status and the jobs that each rank of society had was very important. The social status was crucial to Sparta and Athens because, without it, both Greek city-states would not be able to function.
Politically, Lycurgus instituted elders in Sparta and Solon based political power on wealth in Athens as an attempt to alleviate social injustices. Lycurgus intended to make Sparta a more just and equal city as he strikes a balance between the people and the king to resist democracy and prevent the development of tyranny. Unfortunately, the council of elders did not carry out an equal or just city as Lycurgus intended. The elders turned out to be richer and much more powerful than any other person in the city, including the king. When an elder was to pass away, “whoever was met with the most shouting and the loudest” was selected to be the next elder (Plutarch 31). This is not a just reformation because votes were not based on an objective measure, such as having each citizen poll about their elder preference. Instead, it was based off a subjective measure – shouting. In contrast, Solon changed the qualifications for political power from inheritance to wealth. This reformation was both just and relatively equal. Solon offered every citizen a fair opportunity to adv...
Sparta and Athens - Explain and Contrast Both Sparta and Athens were Greek city-states. Sparta was a strict military ruled city-state where the people established themselves as a military power early. However Athens was more of a political city-state that was more involved with their economical stature than their military forces. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them.
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
Sometime during the period of 594/3 to 570 B.C., the citizens of Athens gave one of their foremost statesmen, Solon, the task of creating new laws for them because of troubles that had been plaguing them. There are several theories as to when Solon's work was completed. The date of Solon's legislation has always been in question and a date that everyone agrees with has never been proposed. There is evidence for several different dates. The first is 594/3, the year in which Solon was the Eponymous archon in Athens. This argument has several claims to its defense but also many arguments against it. Another major date proposed is not so much a specific date as it is a span of time in which he may have started and/or completed his nomothesia. The span of time proposed is between ca. 580 - 570 B.C. The date of 580 - 570 B.C. is by far the more likely date for him to have completed his legislation. The arguments for this case are far more convincing than those arguing that he completed his legislation in his archonship during 594/3. The first is that it would be very difficult to complete a project so large as to write an entire law code in one year. The next is that it was recorded by Aristotle that Solon travelled for a ten year peiod and on his journeys, viewed the laws of other lands. It makes sense that he would then have written his laws after that. Another major argument in favour of the later date is that there was much trouble in Athens in the 590's and 80's. This was probably the trouble which spurred the people of Athens to have Solon create new laws, on the other hand if the situation in Athens was as bad as Aristotle would have us believe then why would Solon wait to lay down the law, it would have m...
The march towards developing a democratic society is often obstructed with societal unrest due to the influence of the status quo on the instruments of power. Before the rule of Solon, Athens underwent this same rule, as there was much discontent among the social classes in Athens. The society suffered financial disparity that often was the trigger for the war among the rich and poor in the society. This was a major factor that forced Solon into power to institute policies that would see a reformed Athens. By so doing, the society was looking for an avenue that would guarantee democracy and a society that is fair for everyone. The city-state of Athens was the epicenter of the revolution for the Athenian democracy during the fifth century BC. In the Athenian democracy, the electorate voted for the legislation of bills instead of a direct democracy where the electorates are tasked with electing representatives who later developed the bill. Among the first people who made significant contributions to the development of the Athenian democracy were Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), Pericles (495 – 429 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). Pericles was the longest serving democratic leader who contributed much development in democracy in the city. This paper will give an account of the age of the Pericles.
In 510 B.C the first known democratic constitution was created by Solon, lawgiver of Athens. Almost a century later, Solon’s reforms were modified by Cleisthenes. The laws in a particular city or state today should reflect on equality and human rights; but until the implementation of Solon’s and Cleisthenes’ reforms, the aristocratic families of Athens ruled over the poorer citizens.
In order to escape her wrath, Lycurgus traveled around the Medatrerian, learning about different governments. Throughout his travels, he knew that one day he would return to Sparta. The Spartan people were begging him to come back. The gap between the common people and the kings had gotten worse and there was inequality within the common people as well. Even the kings were not against him coming back. Finally, he did. He took what he learned from the places he visited and made the perfect government. The basis of the government was to create equality and a strong
Before Solon was name to reform the laws of the city, Athens was in great chaos. Solon had to tackle issues that were within the city itself. Because of the fact that only aristocrats and nobles were given the power to elect man, many of the “common people” were against that notion; as a result, quarrels between the common people and the aristocrats arose. Furthermore, due the the war that the Athenians just finished, and the accumulation of debts, the poorest of the poor had their lands seized and either sold themselves as slaves or their children and family members.
Athens and Sparta are both infamous Greek city states. Both could not be more different, yet similar in the way they governed their own city state. Another, main difference was the women’s rights and roles in the system. Athenian and Spartan women both were considered to be second to their male counterparts. Spartan women had more rights than Athenian women. Through, research realizing that the Spartan women were slightly greater role than Athenian women.
We have now examined Thucydides' strongest arguments for Athenian rule. It is clear that Athens had a stronger claim to rule than the Melians had to remain sovereign. We also know that Athens' claims hold up when we examine them for validity. Thucydides beliefs in Athens' claims were therefore well founded.
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.