Athens had an empire, they stood up for values, they were the school of Greece, while Sparta were clinching onto their dear iron bars. This allowed for Sparta to forget about their state, and go on the offensive. Another example that ties this conflict together is the aspect that Athens a democracy could elect such ignorant leaders who only care about their own glory. Overall, Athens, a democracy, would last longer, as evident by their ruins, and Sparta, an oligarchy, would not last long because as always, an oligarchy will always
Democracy can be demonstrated in many different ways, for the Spartan and Athenias this was the case. In all governments there must be someone in control of the people, but certain requirements must always be met in order to have a political influence. The everyday lives of citizens and non-citizens are directly influenced by the government that controls them. Although Athens was the first and most influential Democracy, Sparta was actually a Military Dictatorship. This made the two consequently different from one another, which makes their values and communities entirely different.
Rome would not enter a war or do something that put its people at risk. Carthage did not care about its general population's safety. Could this attitude be one of the reasons Rome was able to destroy it so easy? While I cannot say for certain if the reason Carthage fell was due to its government, I can say that during the time Rome was a republic, it was unstoppable, and Carthage never had that power. It appears to me that governments, when in the hands of the people, work better than monarchies or oligarchies.
Although mythological tales are viewed by many as fantasies, mythology is comprised of various versions of distorted stories that attempt to explain life 's mysteries, to describe the journeys of heroes in past generations, and to provide a unique identity to Greek culture. In Greek culture, the gods did not shape mankind in their own image, mankind shaped the gods in their image. The gods were created with human characteristics so that the Greeks would easily relate to the gods. The god, Apollo, was given his muscular aspect by the Greeks who watched strong athletes compete in the Olympics. To make Greek stories seem historical and realistic, heroes were given Greek birthplaces.
For man to develop and be happy, he has to live within a society that is governed by laws and regulations; for Aristotle this is a political life, and for him, Plato's theory regarding complete unity violates the nature of this political life. According to Aristoteles, the
Ancient Greece is associated as the birthplace of democracy but it is fair to say that Greece was home to various forms of governments. Government is Greece took extraordinary diverse forms across different city-States for centuries, political power could rest in the hand of one single individual which will be referred to as Monarchies or Tyranny, rule by small group of people referred to oligarchy or aristocracy. Rule by all the male citizens referred to as democracy, which is regarded as Greeks greatest contribution to modern day civilization (Democracy). (Brand, P.J. (n.d)).
The main objective of this essay is to describe and investigate the structure of the government in the ancient Greece’s most powerful city states, namely, Athens and Sparta. Both city states have gone through various cycles of wars, reforms, social upheaval and unrests, and each of these elements has had influenced the development of the governmental systems that we have bettered or inherited today. Athenians saw the need for fundamental changes in the government, allowing them to pave the way for direct participation of their citizens and citizen’s initiative in the democracy and elimination of the some oligarchical elements. The Sparta, although not as democratic as Athens, allowed women to be far more than reproductive machines whom were expected to live only to please the men. However, the militarized society of Sparta and the warrior mindset didn’t chose alienation of the masses over the integration of the weakest members of the society.
A historian could easily tell you that, but your everyday person would struggle at telling a more detailed response about the differences between the two.. While both Athens and Sparta are Greek Cities that flourished in Classical Greece, they’re extremely distinguished from each other and could be considered their own bodies. Athens was named after the Greek goddess Athena.
Individual freedoms amounted to slightly more than incidental side effects of the collective political. What is strikingly different in comparison to the modern perception of individual freedoms is the difference between the Athenian understanding of ‘a way of life’ and the modern understanding of a body of inalienable, well-defined rights that have a legal basis. The shaping of an Athenian identity gave way to individual freedom being understood as the Athenian way of doing things and was indeed quite unrestrictive, especially given its context – that is why the Athenians believed themselves to be so ‘free’. The relationship between the primary collective freedom and the secondary individual freedom was parrhêsia – a mechanism devised to create a qualitatively better democracy but also conferred a sense of freedom of expression to the Athenian citizens, completely unheard of at the time. Parrhêsia was a blemished concept to say the least – the execution of Socrates providing an example
Because true democracy disincentives career politicians and instead opt for whomevers ideas are best, finding one in the modern world is very rare. What is far more common is an electoral oligarchy, where people can raise themselves to power, but only after conforming to and joining the political aristocracy. In order to create and maintain a true democracy the three guidelines of, informed voters, checks and balances and term limits must be strictly enforced. Without any one of these policies, the state will wane. Members of leadership will always try to enhance their own power and states must be assembled in such a way as to limit such attempts.