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How Did Cleisthenes Respond To Public Life?

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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). Essentially,
Cleisthenes was the person who paved the way for Athenian democracy and …show more content…

Pericles popularity is well known for harnessing that mob power to steer Athenian society, while Thucydides is known for claiming weaker demagauges (rabble rousers) that followed are what lead to Athens eventual downfall (Brand, 2013, p. 34).
Sparta, being a oligarchy, had a much clearer set of public offices consisting of two kings, a weakly empowered assembly of all male citizens, powerful elders over age sixty called the Geriousia, and five annually elected magistrates called Ephors whose powers often contested the kings during their one year terms (Brand, 2013, p. 9). Much like the Metics of Athens, Periokoi were foreigners of
ATHENIAN VERSUS SPARTAN GOVERNANCE 4
Sparta who could gain much wealth filling tradesmen roles, but would never participate in Spartan governance (Brand, 2013, p. 3).
The only people allowed in public office were native born Spartans who met specific requirements. The Spartan kings, one of which lead the army during times of war, came from the
Agiads and the Eurypontids clans (Brand, 2013, p. 9). They had the responsibilities of traditional

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