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Sparta Government Structure

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HIST 1421 The Life and Governmental Structures of the People of Athens and Sparta UoP Word Count: 1447 Abstract In this paper I will discuss how the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community. I will also talk about who was able to hold public office and what kinds of rules governed the selection of public office holders. I will talk about how these two city-states (Athens and Sparta) were similar in governmental structures and also address how they differed and in what ways. The people of Athens and Sparta were different in many aspects of their political, government and society set up and this showed in the basic way that they conducted their everyday lives. …show more content…

The biggest difference though was the aspect of military culture, military life was an extremely important aspect of life in Sparta, it was their life and they grew up understanding that from a very early age, “training began at the age of seven, and Spartan men remained on active duty until they reached the age of 60—this at a time when the 5 average life expectancy was only 35. Spartan men could expect to be soldiers for almost their entire lives and would likely die as soldiers” (Brand, …show more content…

“The assembly also passed laws and made decisions for war.”(Brand, n.d.) Both Athens and Sparta agreed that every government operated better under an established law. Every grouping of people, needed order to thrive and the masses needed something to dictate what they could and could not do, so their had to be something that stated both social and legal boundaries. Both city-states agreed on that and found a way to make a government that worked best for their established guidelines, both also decided to exclude women and slaves from their governmental structures and felt that an established grouping of selected men would be in power. The differences between these two city-states would be that, “Aristocratic cities like Sparta were oligarchies. (Brand, n.d.)” meaning the ruling of a few. Sparta, with its two kings and the power being passed down through the descendants, leaves little room for change politically. Athens, will always be the starting point of the democratic society, because of this, you will forever see these two stand in stark contrast of each other. Even though, Athens was a “Athens was a class based society" (Brand, n.d.) The Aristocrats, masses and generals were all part of the government, according to

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