The Oligarchy System In The Spartan Empire

Athens and Sparta were two major city-states in old Greek. We review their governance and compare them for their similarities and differences.

Spartan life was focused mainly on war, and their ultixsmate goal was to create a strong military. Their culture really focused on militaristic values. In Sparta, military training was required for all males, and Spartan boys trained rigorously from a young age. Young Spartan boys were taken from their mothers at the age of seven and put under the control of the state.

Do you want to be abandoned because you weren 't strong and healthy baby? This would happen if you lived in Sparta. Sparta was never big it was located on peloponnesus peninsula in greece. Sparta government was ruled by two kings and three Ephors, and a Council of Elders this government was called oligarchy meaning it’s ruled by a small group. Life in sparta was different than athens because sparta had no interest in art,music and education. Everything was centered in sparta was focused on the military. My opinion strengths did not outweighed the weakness of sparta education and I will explain how the strength was the most important than caring the weakness of sparta education.

Athens and Sparta are individually a single unit, but they have differences that set them apart. Athens has numerous social classes in it’s government, they are known for their strong navy, they have democratic values, and Athens has a bigger population than Sparta. Sparta only has three social classes, they are known for their strong army, which consists of the best and most feared fighters on land, and they have militaristic values.There is a debate on which polis is superior, Athens or Sparta. Athens and Sparta are both well-developed societies, however, Sparta stands out as the superior polis because Spartan women have more rights, education was distributed equally among boys and girls in Sparta, and Sparta had a strong and united culture.

I would like to educate the masses on a matter of frequent debate. This is none other then Athens vs Sparta, and I can say the thorough research and facts have lead me to concluded that Sparta is a much better city-state then Athens. Sparta is better then Athens because of its respect of women, more equal school system, integrity of government, treatment of slaves, and superior military. First of all, women were given far more rights than in Athens. First of all, Women in Sparta could own there own land, participate in politics and the olympics among other things. Where as in Athens women weren't even allowed to leave there houses in there own accord. Furthermore on average women were married of at the age 12 or

Sparta was abusive to children, and any society that abuses its citizens shouldn’t last, and Sparta didn’t. Sparta was a Greek city-state whose sole purpose was military strength. While Sparta lasted for 300 years, any strong society would last longer. They also abused their slaves and killed them with no warning. The weaknesses weighed Sparta down, so here are some of those weaknesses. Sparta lacked in education, they were too harsh on the children in military training, and the Spartans didn’t allow traveling.

not only the aristocrats can participate (Brand, n.d). The Spartan government, on the other hand,

The education of Sparta varied in strengths and in weaknesses. The Sparta’s were first located in southern Greece called the Peloponnese. In this colony, the Sparta’s only vision was bloodthirsty war and violence. At the age of seven, a young boy is removed from his family and is expected, from his 8th to his 21st year, become educated to a brutal military-like discipline. Therefore, regarding the education in Sparta, the weaknesses outweighed the strength because the Spartan’s didn’t value family morals, the basics of reading and writing were taught, and the upbringing of Spartan boys was cruel and painful.

These were all older men who had great wealth. In his Republic, Plato also criticizes oligarchy, saying of Sparta’s government, “A government resting on a valuation of property, in which the rich have power and the poor man is deprived of it…And then one, seeing another grow rich, seeks to rival him, and thus the great mass of the citizens become lovers of money.” In order to keep control of their economy while maintaining a strong military, the Spartans relied heavily on slaves. These slaves had no rights, and even the poor had very little say in their lives. All was given to the freedom of the fatherland, leaving very few free themselves. However, as Plutarch notes, this lack of freedom to live by one’s whims is not a lack of excellence, but rather a more pure and base form of excellence. The Spartan’s may not have valued true freedom as arete, but instead found arete in the practical, which in turn, made them into a great city that was to be

Spartans valued military power. For instance, “Their whole lives were about military training even after 30 the Spartan boys were required to serve the military until they were 60” (Document 2). This statement from the document shows that Sparta takes

Ephors were the five magistrates of Spartan. Their term of office was only a year. Their main duties were to administer the Spartan's foreign affairs, judicial system and their armed forces. Aside from that, the Ephors have also the power to declare war to peasants or the "helots," when a rebellion occurs. On other hand, the assembly also elects the Gerousia. They were a group of thirty older men ages sixty years old and above. They served in the office for a lifetime. They were considered as an élite assembly. They were rich and highly influential people of the society. All the important decisions were decided or influence by these group of elders. Among themselves, they will select their kings. Spartans had two kings, however their powers were limited because the Ephors and Gerousia can dictate them what to do. These are the rules that governed in the selection of public office holder in

Some of them also co-existed in that governance embodied elements of more than one form. For example, Sparta had dual monarchs but also a direct democratic Assembly of Spartan citizens whose powers were limited because their agenda was set and decisions subject to veto by executive bodies, the most influential of which (the Gerousia) was populated by senior aristocrats (Brand, n.d.). Similarly, Macedonian governance also featured an Assembly – albeit weak - as well as monarchy. More importantly, the monarchs generally required aristocratic support in order to rule effectively (Martin,

To begin with, Athens and Sparta were both famous in antiquity for their legend, cultures and the character of the people. On the one hand, the two poleis share certain obvious affinities, such as language, geographical scope, a common Greek ancestry etc. On the other hand, they were polar opposites in many aspects, from social spheres, political structures, to military might, which I believe there are some hidden depths in these city-states. Hence, let’s look at how did their people obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community, and who held public office first.

Furthermore, Sparta was focused on their military. A strong military was a top priority in Sparta. At the age of seven the boys in Sparta were taken away to military training. At the age of thirty you would join the professional army and you could marry. Sparta had one of the best, and strongest armies in ancient

Xenophon had written about Lykurgos and how he changed the political ways of Sparta.“ the magistrates and the laws is found in the highest degree and Sparta”(Xenophon’s, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, 8.1 ). Sparta was one of the most obedient and strong communities in Greece because they have a good and high law. This was imperative that Lykurgos did this because if he did not, Sparta was done and no longer lived because of how chaotic it was there.Lykurgos built such a strong law system because of checks and balances he used with magistrates and senate. He built all these bases of Sparta with elders who knew what it was like to live through a war. For this reason, if you were to become a magistrate you were thought high of by the community because you knew what was needed. This made the elders of the Spartan community become elders. Using this method, Lykurgos was able to build adamant future generations because the young were always monitored by the wise and knowledgeable