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Power In Ancient Greece

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The past is certainly a teacher for the future. It builds the footsteps for the world as we know it today. Power in the past great civilizations has set up a powerful backdrop for the development of the modern werstern world. Power is a crucial development over time that influences and defines our current civilizations. Ancient Greece had one of the most influential forms of power, philosophy, and knowledge in history. The ancient Greeks gave way to civilization in the western world as we know it today. Greece however, had different forms of power and conflict throughout it’s ancient history. Greece was not a unified empire, but is was rather made up of many separate city- states known as the Polis. The formation of these separate city- …show more content…

These two polis demonstrate the variation of power seen in ancient Greece. Sparta is well known for having had a military state with fierce warriors. While Athens is well known for having been the birthplace of democracy. The spartans had a scarcity of land and therefore set out to invade Laconia. In 730 B.C., Sparta invaded and took control of Messenia although they were a bigger and stronger city. The conquered peoples were forced to work for the Spartans as serfs called helots. The Spartans set up a military state in order to keep these conquered peoples under their control. This military state strictly controlled the lives of the Spartans. Men were trained to be warriors and were raised under strict military conduct; they lived in military barracks until they were thirty. Once they were thirty, the men could return home and were able to vote in the …show more content…

He had set out to conquer the western half of Europe and place it back into roman rule. He was able to capture and reinstall the Roman empire in Italy, some areas in Spain, North Africa, Ionia, Palestine, and Syria by 552 B.C. Only three years after the died in 565 , a tribe called the lombards invaded and took over Italy and eventually other lands as well. The Body of Civil Law were a set of coded Roman laws that were the building stones of the law in the empire and the western half of Europe until the year 1453. What Justinian achieved was groundbreaking, but it brought along consequences as well. The empire was difficult to manage since it was too large and were at a great distance from the capital of Constantinople. A lack of money in the treasury, an epidemic that wiped out a plentiful of people, and a menacing threat from bordering powers. Especially the threat of the Islamic forces who the empire eventually lost Syria and Palestine to after having been defeated in 636 at Yarmuk. At the dawn of the eighth century, the empire has shrunk and was now known as the Byzantine

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Zareef Peeroo Tim Bailey October 15, 2014 Athenians vs. Spartans The differences between government, the role of women, and the education status of Athens and Sparta led to similar yet very different societies residing in the same area; therefor I will deconstruct these issues using an analytical comparative framework. In, Athens and Sparta, it shows all the differences between the Athenians and the Spartans. Although the two City States shared a common heritage, their differences grew so large in their own minds that they were ultimately willing to engage in a life-and-death struggle to support their separate realities (Spielvogel).

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At the beginning of the first millennium CE, the Roman Empire began to conquer the territory around the Mediterranean Sea. Smaller countries feared the Roman Empire because of their great strength. The Roman Empire acquired great wealth, territories, and a reputation as a strong and feared empire. But, as time passed the problems within the Empire accumulated and the state of Roman Empire began to deteriorate before collapsing in 476 CE.

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Even to this day, we still use Athens and Sparta’s societal systems and structures because they were so revolutionary. Athens even introduced the idea of democracy, and Sparta had a strong military culture. Although Athens and Sparta were close together, Athens focused on leadership and education while Sparta focused on the military and war. However, due to their different governments and cultures, each has their strengths and weaknesses. However, because Athens focuses on its future leaders, Athens is the better model for a society.

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Brooklynn Reynolds English Honors White II Ms. Jones 3 January 2017 Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine was born in the year 1122 in what is now known as southern France. She was a member of the Ramnulfid dynasty of leaders along with her family. Around the year 1130, when she was only about eight years old, Eleanor’s mother Aenor and brother William died. Just seven years later, her father William X, Duke of Aquitaine, died. This left the areas of Aquitaine and Poitou in her hands, since she was the oldest of William X’s three children.

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Athens vs. Sparta Whether it's government, education, art, or military, Athens and Sparta have always had many similarities as well as differences in ancient Greece. Sparta and Athens did not share the same view and opinions. As a result of these disagreements, the two ancient Greek city-states were rivals. They both had very different methods of teaching, military training, women's rights, and more. Spartans focused most on the training of war, and Athens focused most on knowledge and intelligence.

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During this process they would have hours upon hours of training and they also taught them to feel no pain by whipping them with a whip while they were tied up against a pole, and if they were to wine or cry they would be whipped more. The young boys would also have to spar against full grown Spartan men. In this camp they taught the famous battle formation called “the Phalanx.” This formation is a easy process in the start all the soldiers did was line up shield to shield and their shield would cover from neck to underneath the kneecap.

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The geography of Greece influenced the development of ancient Greek government and politics. When describing ancient Greece, “mountainous land” is the phrase one would use because Greece is made up of many mountains. Because of the mountains, it was difficult to commute from place to place. As a result of that, instead of Greece being ruled by one government, it formed many different poleis, which each had their own government Polis is the Greek word for independent city-states. Greeks had a strong connection with their polis, and they strongly identified with them.

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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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Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.

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Sparta vs. Athens 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.

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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.

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Ancient Rome left tremendous legacies such as technological advancements, religious beliefs and governmental structures that shaped the world today. The Romans conquered many territories and took on their cultures as well, in particular the Ancient Greek culture. Ancient Greek civilizations played a major role in the history and development of the Ancient Rome civilization. The Ancient Greeks influenced the social structure, religion and military strength of Ancient Rome.

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Introduction Monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy were all forms of government found at different times and in different city-states in Ancient Greece. Elements of more than one of these forms also co-existed, however, and the modern connotations of labels such as these are not necessarily the same as those that prevailed in Ancient Greece. In this paper I firstly describe these various forms of government and provide examples of their use in Ancient Greece. I then compare and contrast the models.

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in the more advanced areas of Greece, economically and socially speaking” (“Greek Administration”, 1988). The polis was a way of the Greeks finding a way to organize themselves into a society, becoming more civilized. According to Greek Administration, “In its fundamental essence it was never conceived as an extent of territory, although its boundaries could be drawn on a map, but rather as a group of citizens feeling themselves bound together under the rule of law” (“Greek Administration, 1988). In terms that are more familiar to the way we teach history today in our society, the polis is what we would call a city-state, each individual polis being its own city-state, acting almost like a small country. According to Nardo, “Although all Greeks, the residents of the various poleis developed differing local governments and customs as well as different forms of currency” (Nardo, 2007).

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Great number of polises encircled culture and political life of a state. However, this fact is also often called as one of the main factors which led to decline of Ancient Greece. The thing is that there was no centralized state which could be able to resist some invaders. The whole history of ancient Greece can be takes as the chain of wars for dominance in the region. Polis, which managed to conquer the rest of cities in the area, became the main power which determined further development of a state,

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