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Ancient greece government essays
Athens and sparta compare and contrast
Athens and sparta compare and contrast
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In 500 BC, the two most powerful cities in Greece were Athens and Sparta. Athens was on the sea. Its citizens had the ability to explore, trade and form relationships with other city states in Greece. Sparta was more secluded and kept to itself. Though they were both of the same country, spoke the same language and worshipped the same Gods, these cities differed largely in many ways.
Both Athens and Sparta formed a government that consisted of assemblies and voting. Athens allowed a large number of citizens to participate and vote on new laws. Every day the Council of 500 would meet. If the council wanted to pass a new law, they proposed it to The Assembly. The Assembly could not pass a law unless 6,000 citizens showed up to vote. Men were allowed to voice their opinions and debate issues. This type of governing gave all citizens a chance to have their voices heard. Unlike The Council of 500, Sparta had a small group, the Council of Elders, making their decisions. This group was made up of 30 men, including two kings. Their elected assembly, also meeting outdoors like Athens, wer...
The governments of these two city-states were not alike in many ways. “It is true that our government is called a democracy, because its administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of the many,” (Document 3). Athens’ government was what we would consider today a direct democracy. This means that their government was run by the people, or in other words “the many”, rather than a couple government officials, or “the few”. Although Athens was running their city as a government by the people, Sparta had a different form of government. “it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy,
Ancient Greece today is most known for the culture: the gods, the dramas, how people lived. What most people do not realize is that there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of different civilizations spread throughout Greece that all had different forms of government. The three main ones were Athens, Sparta, and Miletus. Each was very different from the other. The most powerful out of all three was Sparta: a military based society. The Spartan government had a strong foundation that was all torn down by one bad leader.
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.
Sparta and Athens had different governing systems; Sparta was an Oligarchy and Athens was a Democracy. Sparta’s government consisted of two kings whom had different powers; one served as the commander in chief of the armed forces, while the other supervised domestic matters at home and took charge if his co-king was killed in action. The kings’ judicial powers were shared with the members of the gerousia, as well as with the ephors (overseers). The members of the gerousia served for the rest of their lives, while the ephors controlled the education system and were in charge of the secret police, designed to control helots—this was a system present only in Sparta. The government aimed at training their army to the “highest degree of skill possible,” which would create a strong military to preserve their “domination over their helots,” while also obtaining a military advantage over their enemies. Sparta’s vision consisted of two main goals: “freeing male citizens from all but military obligations, and socializ...
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.
Athens is better than Sparta because Athens has a better trading system. Athens economy was based on trade. It was near the sea, and it had a good harbor. They traded with other city-states and some foreign lands to get the goods and recourses that they needed. Athens bought and sold goods at a huge marketplace called the agora. They also bought and sold slaves at the agora. They traded: honey, olive oil, silver, and painted pottery. In return, they received items such as grain and wood. Athens made its own coin system to make trading easier. Coins were made out of gold, silver, and
Sparta contained a four branch government system that was considered among the most unique in all of Greece. Unlike the democracy of Athens, Sparta was based on an oligarchy structure. The diarchy, which consisted of two kings, was the first division of this government. These figures held little influence over the state and served more as a symbol of royal heritage (Kennell 83). The second branch was the Gerousia council which acted as an advising body and hel...
In Sparta, only citizens could be members of the assembly. Sparta’s assembly was not a democracy it was a dictatorship. Sparta was a unique dual kingship, one king went to war and the other king stayed home. I would venture to describe them more like Generals
The citizens of Athens could vote on the ways that their civilization was run; everyone decided who was responsible for different tasks of running the government, in other words they were a Democracy. People in Athens were not held back from government decisions because of their wealth. Athens was so accepting of people’s wealth to the extent that slaves were respected and got small amounts of money for work they completed. This was entirely different in Sparta. Spartan people had very little say in government matters; their government was made up of 7 truly powerful people. Slaves in Sparta were also mistreated and unlike in Athens where they only slaves from far off lands; Sparta had slaves from all around Greece. This acceptance of all people and their wealth goes to show that the Democracy of Athens treated its citizens better than the Spartan
Athens and Sparta were two city-states in Greece, but which city-state was actually better? Athens and Sparta were enemies in everything that they did. They always argued which then caused many wars to occur. In Athens they focused on getting a good education, but in Sparta they focused on war and military training. Although they each were good city-states in their own ways, Sparta would be the better city-state to live in rather than Athens.
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
Spartans were Oligarchy, which means they were run by a small group of men, 28 to be exact (compared to the hundreds in Athens). Most of the political authority rested in these men, all over the age of 60, who served for life, and “were the wealthy and more influential people in society.” Athenians on the other hand were a democratic society, which meant the citizens debated and voted on the issues. Many thoughts this may not be the best way to run the government. “Athens had been described as a government run by amateurs.” (Ibid) This gave the people power to make decisions that might not be the most wise due to inexperience. There were critics who called democracy the “mob rule” and had “no confidence in the common people to make important decisions.” (Ibid) While this method of government worked for Athens, Sparta could not consider it as an option, as they led the way in their Peloponnesian League as the major oligarchy government, believing that freedom came from “preserving the independence of their fatherland” (Ibid), not political
These governments came in different styles such as a monarchy which was led by a king. Another form of government that was seen among the Greeks was aristocracy in which the polis was ruled by a small group of noble, land owning families. One of the more notable polis of ancient Greek was that of Sparta in which they used the oligarchy as there form of government. This type of government is where the people are ruled by a few powerful people. Finally, there was democracy which means “rule of the people” (The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome 1-7). This was the government that Athens utilized and helped establish. These varying types of government can be seen throughout governments today, however, it is the government established by the Athenians and their political structure that had a greater impact on the west than that of its Greek polis counterparts.
Greece is a country united by its name, but divided by its ways. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, their societies were different. Sparta was focused on having a perfect military, whereas Athenian daily life revolved learning and knowledge. When Spartan boys were being trained for an army, Athenian boys were being trained for life. Both of these societies revolved around different government, education from when kids to teenagers, the responsibilities each individual had to keep their spot, and how women played a role throughout each city state.
In the year approximately 500 B.C., the Greek civilization came upon a time of peace. 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