Introduction
Athens and Sparta were two of the ancient Greek cities that were very powerful and thus rivals. Although very close to each other geographically, their values and lifestyle were distance away from each other. Their similarity was based mostly in their style of governing with both the Athens and Sparta having an Assembly whose member was elected by the people. The people here means those considered citizens and it should be noted that women and slaves where not consider citizens, thus not eligible for voting. The state of Athens was ruled by elected archons with election held annually whereas the state of Sparta was ruled by two kings.
How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community?
The right to participate in public life and make decision was crucial in both Athens and Sparta as this was a form of prestige. Those who could not held this right were either females, slaves or those that their citizenship has been revoked because of one reason or another.
With the Athens, free Athenian men who were naturally born Athenian and who citizenship is in tack and are 20 years or above have the right to participate in public life and make decisions
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Therefore with Athenian, their government was chosen through election whereas with the Sparta the government was made up of few individuals with the inclusion of the kings. The kings who ruled Sparta will be there until they die whereas with the Athens, official were elected annually. The Sparta system of government can be described as very exclusive as it was open only to those who had the highest social standing in the Sparta society. On the hand, the Athenian system could be termed democracy due to the fact that it involved good number of
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.
Zareef Peeroo Tim Bailey October 15, 2014 Athenians vs. Spartans The differences between government, the role of women, and the education status of Athens and Sparta led to similar yet very different societies residing in the same area; therefor I will deconstruct these issues using an analytical comparative framework. In, Athens and Sparta, it shows all the differences between the Athenians and the Spartans. Although the two City States shared a common heritage, their differences grew so large in their own minds that they were ultimately willing to engage in a life-and-death struggle to support their separate realities (Spielvogel).
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)
Citizenship is a status given by a government to some or all of its people. Being a citizen means not only meeting certain responsibilities, but also enjoying certain rights. In the U.S. today, many of our governmental institutions are based on concepts of the Ancient World. Citizenship in the United States resembles the concepts of citizenship in both Ancient Athens and Ancient Rome. Ancient Athens believed that participating in government and making the city-state work was a part of being a good citizen.
In this essay, I would like to answer and discuss the following questions: How did the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were two city-states similar in their governmental structures and how did they differ with each other? For the Spartans the right to participate and made important decisions from the entire community were only exercised by the adult and legitimate male citizens of Sparta.
Athens vs. Sparta Whether it's government, education, art, or military, Athens and Sparta have always had many similarities as well as differences in ancient Greece. Sparta and Athens did not share the same view and opinions. As a result of these disagreements, the two ancient Greek city-states were rivals. They both had very different methods of teaching, military training, women's rights, and more. Spartans focused most on the training of war, and Athens focused most on knowledge and intelligence.
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.
Athens was better than Sparta because, it had a better government, education system, and had more cultural achievements. One element of Athens that made it the better city-state was the government. While in Sparta they had an oligarchy, a form of government in which the government power resides in the hands of select few; however in Athens they had a direct government. Direct government is where all the citizens participate directly in the government, by voting on laws, placement of public works, etc. Instead of a few individuals having a say in what happens, everybody can be heard and have an equal say.
Even to this day, we still use Athens and Sparta’s societal systems and structures because they were so revolutionary. Athens even introduced the idea of democracy, and Sparta had a strong military culture. Although Athens and Sparta were close together, Athens focused on leadership and education while Sparta focused on the military and war. However, due to their different governments and cultures, each has their strengths and weaknesses. However, because Athens focuses on its future leaders, Athens is the better model for a society.
Aristotle once said in his book Politics, “Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects” (Aristotle). Ancient Greece was ahead of time, so that everyone felt included. Your gender, social position, and religion do not play a part in the amount of rights you have. Greece was split into many city-states, all with their own types of government and differences. Mainly, Athens and Sparta are most well known.
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.
Citizenship : Why Athens was the Better System Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. There was a constant importance of acknowledging all citizens hard work and participation. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding.
Today, many of the world’s government structures were based on the principle of one of Greece’s city-states. Greece became a country advancing well before its time, strong in both military and brain power. This country was able to produce two city-states that became foundations to advancing the rest of the world. The first city-state, Athens, is thought to be the first to implement a democratic government while Sparta became known for their military power. While Athens and Sparta provide the world with advancements they differ in the ways of government structures, social motivations, and cultural differences.
Athens organized a group of Greek city states into the Delian League and eventually lead and dominated all of the city states in the League. Athens’s military prowess allowed them to look down on the other members of the League and treat them as members of an empire instead of equals. This caused some to view them with hostility which sparked the conflicts between Athens and Sparta that lead to the Peloponnesian War. The direct democracy of Athens wasn’t actually as inclusive and steady as the statement at Pericles 's funeral state, “Our Constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people (Doc C).” In fact, of the 450,000 citizens of Athens in 430 BC, only about 40,000 people had the power to vote.
The Spartan Empire Spartan Government: An oligarchy system was adopted in Sparta. In the oligarchy system, few people has the power to rule. Sparta also had an assembly just like Athens, but the main decisions were taken by the “Council of Elders” with two kings and twenty-eight other men as its members. The two kings where born within the royal family while the twenty-eight man where elected by the assembly. For men to be elected to the Council of Elders, they had to be at least 60 years old and approaching from a noble family.