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Similarities Between Athens And Spartan Government

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Monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy were all different forms of government found in Ancient Greece among its city-states. Athens and Sparta, who were both the biggest city-states in terms of influence and power, (Brand, n.d.) has been through all of its forms.
The Spartan government was a mix of a monarchy, aristocracy, and oligarchy. Sparta did have a monarchy being the fact that it had two kings from different families. (Brand, n.d.) The Spartan aristocracy was made of Spartan veterans who were rewarded land after the Messenian War. (Brand, n.d.) Where the oligarchy is seen is when the real power and influence of the Spartan government is from the Ephors and the Gerousia. Those two groups had to power to make the rules …show more content…

Athen’s early government was that of the aristocracy which was made up of the “men of the plains” (Brand, n.d.). They held vast wealth and power due to the amount of grain they could bring in. Athens used to have tyrannic government under the rule of Peisistratus. (Starr, n.d.) Peisistratus had taken over the government of Athens by force and ruled over the people. Then later a Greek named Cleisthenes would later create the foundation of an Athenian democracy. (Brand, n.d.) There the power of the aristocracy was stymied and democracy had taken form. There all members of the Athenian assembly could vote and establish government policies and rules. Athen’s government then went through an upheaval after their loss in the Peloponnesian War with Sparta. The Spartan government put into place an oligarchy which at the time was known as the “Reign of the Thirty Tyrants.” (Kreis, 2009). In revisiting Athen’s various changes in government the aristocracy is similar to an oligarchy since a group of individuals of the upper social class compared to other groups holds power or influence. The difference between an aristocracy and an oligarchy is that it an aristocracy is dependent on the social class of the group versus an oligarchy could either be through an electorate or a many group's small groups of individuals control. Aristocracy runs opposite of the idea of a democracy where

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