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How Do People In Athens And Sparta's Decisions Affecting The Community?

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Even thousands of years later, the history of ancient Greek culture, the tales of legendary gods, the Spartan troops, and Athens' political system remain valuable and relevant to this day. There are even movies that continue to honor Spartan soldiers' bravery and Athens' democracy. This paper seeks to discuss how people in Athens and Sparta obtained the right to participate in public affairs, who held public office, and what rules governed the selection of public office holders, while also providing a glimpse into how the two city-states' governmental structures were similar and different at the same time. How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? To have …show more content…

The Assembly acted as the first public decision-making avenue. Any free male Spartan citizen over the age of 30 who finished his military training was instantly considered a member of the Assembly. However, if a free male Spartan loses his citizenship, he is no longer eligible. The Gerousia was the next level of governmental office consisting of 30 members who were above the age of 60. Finally, we have the Ephors, five officials elected yearly and believed to be the top magistrates in Sparta, sharing authority and power with the kings (Cartwright, …show more content…

Athens was known for its democratic system, allowing its citizens to participate directly in the political process. The Athenian democracy was characterized by institutions such as the Ecclesia (Assembly), where citizens voted on laws and policies, and the Boule (Council), which set the agenda for the Ecclesia (Kelepouri, n.d.). In contrast, Sparta had an oligarchic system with power concentrated among a few. The Spartan government included two hereditary kings, a Gerousia (Council of Elders), and the Ephors, who were elected officials with significant power. The Spartan Assembly had less influence than its Athenian counterpart and was primarily involved in electing the Gerousia and Ephors (Kelepouri, n.d.). In conclusion, Sparta and Athens were two of the most significant city-states in ancient Greece, both having distinctive political structures that reflected the oligarchic and military nature of Sparta and the democratic ideals of Athens. In spite of their differences, they both offer insightful perspectives on the evolution of democratic government in Western civilization.

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Unlike the Athenian democratic system the Spartans believed in Oligarchy, meaning ruling by a few. Sparta came to reach the height of it power after defeating rival City Sate, Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) (Bailey). The oligarchy was a governmental system composed by a limited number of elite citizens such as: Ephors, five magistrates with executive and judicial privileges, elected by assembly; two kings, army leaders and chief priests; gerousia, council of thirty elders comprise of men at least sixty tears old, twenty-eight of which were elected by assembly and includes two kings; assembly of citizens, men over thirty years old, they do not vote, but shout acclamations supporting the decisions of the oligarchy above (Bailey). The Spartan governing system led to a military based society where male children from the age of seven would start going to a special educational institution, which was military based. This led to Spartans being warrior like people unlike the Athenians.

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Sparta is a great city-state to live in. Spartans focus on military and have a great form of government. Oligarchy is the form of government Spartans used, wich means ruled by few. Sparta’s military was very strong, when Spartan boys were to the age of seven they were sent to military training, since the Spartans started training so early when men were at the age of thirty they could join the professional army. Sparta was ruled by an oligarchy because it seemed to work better than previous forms of government the Spartans used.

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These categories of people are not male members of the assembly as they have no citizenship rights such as Periokoi, Helots, slaves and freeborn Spartan. The assembly has electoral powers to choose the Ephors and the Gerousia annually when a position becomes available. The assembly also passed laws and made decisions for war. However, the powers of the assembly were limited by the powers of the Ephors and the Gerousia who can decide the assembly

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Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? In Sparta, native Spartan boys who were healthy by birth survived and became soldiers (Brand, n.d.). The Periokoi who were in Laconia and were dominated by Sparta by 750 BCE were not Spartan citizens nor slaves, but they were inferior to Spartans (Brand, n.d.).

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While the change of political leaders in Athens was via election annually, in Sparta the Ephors were “chosen by lot from the citizen body, able only to serve for a maximum of one year and who were ineligible for future office” (Cartwright, 2013). In Sparta, unlike any Athenian officials, members of the Gerousia would serve for life wielding political power for a period of time beyond any Athenian,

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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.

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Their mission was to pass laws, discuss community matters, military needs, and public life (politics). The most notable difference from the Athenian structure of government were two ruling kings who served life terms. Under the kings were five Ephors who served one-year terms similar to Athens’ archons. The formation of government supported by Sparta is known as an Oligarchy while Athens is known as the first established democracy. Requirements to hold public office among the assemblies of Athens and Sparta limited eligibility into positions of public office and community decision

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The Ephors were five men selected every year. The Ephors and the two kings made up a kind of executive branch for the Spartans. The two kings were from the two royal tribes (the Agiads and the Eurypontid) who could trace their lineage back to the legendary founders of Sparta. These were not true kings in that they did not have absolute rule of the land and were often subject to the will of the Gerousia and the Ephors. Finally, the assembly was made up of all free male citizens of Sparta.

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They also engaged in their government by serving as public officers (jurors) in court cases. In Sparta, the citizens participated in public life and make decision affecting their community as free male citizens and are members of the assembly. The slaves, Periokoi, Helots and freeborn Spartan males are not members of the assembly because they have no citizenship rights. The assembly

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