Athens Vs Sparta Essay

Athens vs. Sparta DBQ Athens and Sparta were two of the world's greatest ancient civilizations. Though they were both city-states in Greece they had their differences. Some of the largest contrasts were education, government, and the roles girls and women played in their societies. In Sparta the schools for children were very harsh and military based.

The right to vote and hold office was limited to male church members. In local affairs, the General Court developed powers and a structure similar to England’s Parliament. It had two houses: the House of Assistants and the House of Deputies. Also,

Camille Sicat #26 3/16/16 Writing/Social Studies Power of the People: Athens vs. Rome Essential Question: Citizenship in Athens and Rome: Which Was the Better System? Prior to the idea of people being “citizens” of a nation, people were subjects, with no rights and forced to serve under the iron fist of their ruler. The idea of people having rights and responsibilities to their country originated in Athens, Greece circa 500 B.C. (Background Essay). Rome, however, far surpassed the Greeks in their social contract theory of citizenship (Background Essay) for the following reasons: 1) More people were considered citizens i.e. females and sons of freed slaves; 2)

Understanding Athenian and Spartan Governmental Structures Introduction Though both powerful and influential, the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta had very different governmental institutions. The purpose of this document is to investigate the differences between Athens and Sparta in terms of how people obtained the right to participate in public life, the composition of public office holders, the rules governing their selection, and the similarities and differences in their overall governmental structures. Obtaining the Right to Participate in Public Life and Make Decisions: Athens: The right to participate in public life was extended to adult male citizens of Athenian descent in Athens. Women, slaves, and foreign residents

Pericles popularity is well known for harnessing that mob power to steer Athenian society, while Thucydides is known for claiming weaker demagauges (rabble rousers) that followed are what lead to Athens eventual downfall (Brand, 2013, p. 34). Sparta, being a oligarchy, had a much clearer set of public offices consisting of two kings, a weakly empowered assembly of all male citizens, powerful elders over age sixty called the Geriousia, and five annually elected magistrates called Ephors whose powers often contested the kings during their one year terms (Brand, 2013, p. 9). Much like the Metics of Athens, Periokoi were foreigners of ATHENIAN VERSUS SPARTAN GOVERNANCE 4 Sparta who could gain much wealth filling tradesmen roles, but would never participate in Spartan governance (Brand, 2013, p. 3). The only people allowed in public office were native born Spartans who met specific requirements.

The way Spartans participated and affected the community was by becoming part of the Assembly. The Assembly was a group that gave the ability to people become able to make important decisions for their community and be part of the public life in this way. But it was not for all the people. Only males could become member of that group. There was also another type of group, better than the previous, the Gerousia.

In Sparta on the other hand political rights was somewhat opposite. Firstly, only Spartan warriors were allowed political rights. The majority of them made up the general assembly which was relatively weak in political power. Although they could vote on matters such as going to war, it was in actuality down to the will of the elder council which makes up the Gerousia. The Ephors that were selected by the popular

Also, there were the Horse man, which were a kind of rich man whose product, horses, were expensive and useful for the army, so they could be part of the public offices if they were willing to serve the military offices and the army. The last ones were a sort of middle class, or the 200 bushel men, which worked producing bushels, which would grant them the right to take minor political offices (Brand, n.d). In Sparta: Since they were a military society, only military men could take part in the offices, with the exception of the kings who were illegible because of their families, but regardless of that, they also must come from the army.

Each council would have a kind of leadership group within it. 4 members would be chosen who would lead, and out of those there would be the leader of the city. This leader would not only control the city but the surrounding area to. Although the nobility provided leadership, they weren 't automatically put in government

Therefore, their parents must be full-blooded Spartans. The form of government of Spartan was military totalitarian. The government governed by the selected few among the legitimate male citizens. In short, to obtain the absolute right to take part in running the political system, one must be born with Spartan parents and it should be an adult male ages 30 and above. On other hand, to the Athenians all free adult men

There were many cases of bribery in the government that wasn't taken seriously by the court. In Sparta power was given to citizens through the assembly which consisted of all male citizens in Sparta, but in theory anyone could participate. The government had an elaborate system of checks and balances to make sure that no branch had more power than another. Also contrary to popular belief the Spartans treated there slaves bette than the Athenians. The slaves in Sparta were actually known as helots who were lower class citizens.

Sparta is a great city-state to live in. Spartans focus on military and have a great form of government. Oligarchy is the form of government Spartans used, wich means ruled by few. Sparta’s military was very strong, when Spartan boys were to the age of seven they were sent to military training, since the Spartans started training so early when men were at the age of thirty they could join the professional army. Sparta was ruled by an oligarchy because it seemed to work better than previous forms of government the Spartans used.

Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.

What are two Greek city-states that you know? I know two popular city-states of Ancient Greece: Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens are known as city-state with many contrasting beliefs. Sparta was a strict military society while Athens was a free democracy. Sparta prohibited any new ideas while Athens accepted it.

In their democracy, every male was required to participate regardless of his social standing. In the Athenian government, “no one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state is kept in political obscurity because of poverty.” This represents the Athenians belief that the people should have a role in politics and not just officials. The Athenians wanted to ensure equality and respect throughout the polis. Like the Athenians, the Spartans supported the idea that wealth should not limit a person.