How Did Athens Get The Right To Participate In Public Life

Unlike the Athenian democratic system the Spartans believed in Oligarchy, meaning ruling by a few. Sparta came to reach the height of it power after defeating rival City Sate, Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) (Bailey). The oligarchy was a governmental system composed by a limited number of elite citizens such as: Ephors, five magistrates with executive and judicial privileges, elected by assembly; two kings, army leaders and chief priests; gerousia, council of thirty elders comprise of men at least sixty tears old, twenty-eight of which were elected by assembly and includes two kings; assembly of citizens, men over thirty years old, they do not vote, but shout acclamations supporting the decisions of the oligarchy above (Bailey). The Spartan governing system led to a military based society where male children from the age of seven would start going to a special educational institution, which was military based. This led to Spartans being warrior like people unlike the Athenians.

Only Spartiate men had the right to participate in public life because they were full citizens and sprung from old Spartan families (Cartledge & Spawforth, 2001). The majority of the people were barred from political decision-making, including helots (state-owned slaves) and perioikoi (non-citizen free inhabitants). Holders of Public Office: Athens: Public office holders in Athens were chosen from the citizenry by a combination of election and sortition. Many government positions, including as the council and the assembly, were available to all qualified residents. Some posts were filled through a vote, while others were filled through a lottery.

Before we talk about what public life in Athens and Sparta was like, lets take a moment to relate how it came to exist. Athens around 800-500 BCE was ruled by a rich aristocratic caste that bought much of the land and enslaved local farmers (Brand, 2013, p. 17). Problems arose that required a redistribution of power to avert catastrophe, so the politician Cleisthenes was enlisted to redefine social power. Through reforms which divided the Athenian people into ten diverse provinces responsible for electing fifty political representative each, Cleisthenes cleverly balanced the power of skilled tradesmen, rich politicians and the common masses in 507 BCE (Brand, 2013, p. 19).

Athenian democracy only lasted around two centuries, and the system was introduced in 507 B.C by an Athenian named Cleisthenes. The democratic political system of Athens was often referred to as the "demos", which translates to "the people". This meant that it was governed by the rule of the people of Athens. The three most important parts of the system included the ekklesia (the Assembly), the council of 500 men that represented the ten Athenian tribes (The Boule) and lastly, the popular courts (The Dikasteria) that were filled by citizens and jurors. Although Athens was democratic, this did not mean that there was equality.

Firstly, to participate, it was needed to b=have Athenian parents and to be male. Money were very important in Athens and this fact could show the position that every person helped in the community. For example, if someone was rich, he could participate in the group Thetes, a group that had an important role on the decision making and there were many rich participates. There was also another type of group, the council Boule with 500 councilors that made important decisions and had huge political role. Also, there was another group for economic decisions, the

Government Structure - The Assembly The Assembly was a group of warrior citizens. They were only allowed to vote to accept or reject motions put before it. They had the power to declare war and choose the king to lead the army. Moreover, Ecclesia was recognised as the principle assembly of the democracy of Ancient Athens. Its role was to let all the male citizens of Athens speak their opinions and practise their votes regarding the government of the city.

The Spartan government consisted of a king, council of elders, and the Ephors. The Ephors were citizens of the state who represented and were elected by a majority of the population. Every citizen was eligible to be elected as an Ephor. Compared to the United States government, the Ephors are likened to the legislative branch of government because they “determine suits about contracts” (Aristotle). Noble people made up the council of the elders who were essentially the judicial branch of the government because they were the “judges of homicide” (Aristotle).

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

In a true democracy, nothing is random. Everyone should have a vote and the right to voice their thoughts. With this system they have put in place, people’s roles in the government are completely arbitrary. Thus proving, Athens was not a true democracy because government roles were picked at

Each tribe now consisted of members of the wealthy, middle, and lower class. The population of Athens was divvied up into ten different tribes. The members in each tribe were forced to work together, and thus the loyalty was to a member’s tribe and not to their social class. In many elections the citizens voted by tribes, returning a tribal official who might also serve the central government. Cleisthenes set up the Council of 500 to make the Athenian government more flexible.

Based on information provided in Document E all of Athens citizens were eligible to attend The Assembly. Athenians chose their officials and had an executive committee that oversaw the Assembly in contrast to the Roman Senate that passed down through heredity of the oldest Roman families. Athenians had opportunities to speak out and voice their opinion for a better way of life however the Romans did not. In addition, Document C states that in the Roman Republic not all citizens received the same rights or political participation, whereas in Athens all citizens had full rights and political participation. In Rome, citizenship was given out freely but was unfair and in measured amounts.

Pericles, a key political figure of 5th century Athens states, “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” The Athenians had no desire to follow what appeared as mediocre government, the Athenians pushed for the best form they could find. Arete, for Athens, meant every person had a voice in politics. Politics embraces the reason of the mind as well as the emotion of the heart. Therefore, the very essence of a good human being would lie in being a politically active person.

This group of people only included white male citizens, meaning that slaves, foreign born residents, women and some men who hadn’t obtained citizenship couldn’t vote (Doc D). This completely contradicts the all-inclusive concept of direct democracy that the Athenian government preached so frequently. To have a powerful and lasting empire with great prosperity you must have a series of strong leaders. The period of prosperity in Athens was so short lived because they only had one strong leader, Pericles. After Pericles died Athens could not defeat Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and also couldn’t hold the truce that was signed in 421 BC which allowed Sparta to gain overall victory in the

Each Polis had a patron deity and was named after their patron deity, Athens’s deity being the Goddess of Wisdom and of War, Athena. Athens was one of the largest city-states in Greece, the city-state that came second to Athens being Sparta, but it is one of the most well-known city-states due to having features of its own that were not seen in any other city-states and one other feature that it gave us that is still present today, known as Democracy. An example of one of these distinctive features, according to Polis, was introduced during the classical period, “In about 508-507 B.C., Cleisthenes prevented Athenian aristocrats from controlling the assembly by limiting citizenship” (“Polis”, 1998). By doing this, citizenship was no longer controlled by the rich, making it easier to become a part of Athenian society. But Cleisthenes did not stop there, proposing even more reforms, as according to Polis, “He also instituted the Council of 500, whose members were chosen by lot from male citizens 30 years of age or older” (“Polis”, 1998).

the idea of representative government began to take root in some city states, specifically Athens. Athenian reformers moved toward democracy, rule by the people. In Athens citizens participated directly in political decision making. However there were limitations on citizenship to ensure that only the most rational people were able to vote. Through the construction of democracy in Athens, equality of all citizens became greater, and the city would become the top democracy of all the democracies.