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Meaning that unlike the Athenians, American citizens do not participate directly, but instead have a “the option of voting for officials to represent them (USCIS). However, in Athenian democracy there were more limits on who could vote and participate in meetings. For instance, only free male citizens who were of age could participate, which excluded women and slaves. Additionally, unlike in the United States where citizens vote for their representatives, the citizens of Athens were chosen at random to fill
The Assembly, on the other hand, is open to all citizens except women who are not allowed to Comparison Between Athens and Sparta 4 participate in politics (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). The Assembly passed the laws and made decisions (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). During the time of Pericles, the Jury was created so that not only the aristocrats can participate (Brand, n.d). The Spartan government, on the other hand, is dubbed as an oligarchy where only few are running the system (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d).
There are numerous civilizations that came across the different lands in the world and each played a distinctive role and had its own rules and laws. Geography played a critical role in shaping civilizations, and this is particularly true of ancient Greek. The two rivals of ancient Greece were close together on a map but far apart in what they valued and how they lived their lives. Sparta and Athens had similar forms of government; both city states were in part governed by elected assemblies. However, the top rulers of Athens were elected, while Sparta 's were not.
Only free Athenian men could have political rights in Athens, and women were not allowed to vote. The Athenian Assembly was open to all free Athenian males over the age of 18. The Council of 500, who prepared the schedule for the meeting of the Assembly, consisted of fifty men (Athenian Democracy at Work, 29). Both Athens’ and Sparta’s government had an assembly. However, Sparta’s government was an oligarchy in which the two kings and the council of elders made the decisions.
The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.
Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons.
When you look at the literal definition of democracy in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a decently large explanation. When looking at this definition and trying to decide whether the Athenian democratic system was truly democratic, one would have to go with the answer no. While it has been stated that Athens is the “cradle of democracy”, and that it was better than any of the other governments in the world, it was still a work in progress. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. The current American democracy may have steamed from Athens, but they do not really have that much in common.
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.
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.
Citizens were automatically able to vote and have a role in politics. In Athens, citizenship did not come with the same advantages and rights. Only a small amount of the population was able to be involved in the politics of Athens, and both women and slaves were granted no legal rights. All these inequalities truly made it difficult for Athens to be a truly democratic city.
In this essay, I would like to answer and discuss the following questions: How did the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were two city-states similar in their governmental structures and how did they differ with each other? For the Spartans the right to participate and made important decisions from the entire community were only exercised by the adult and legitimate male citizens of Sparta.
Most notable, however, was the democracy of Athens and the oligarchy of Sparta. The driving force behind all of Greek life and politics was this concept of arete. While arete differed between Athens and Sparta, this lust for excellence became the driving force behind their democracy and oligarchy. The geography of Greece did not allow for a strictly central government, and so, the Greeks adapted.
There were many cases of bribery in the government that wasn't taken seriously by the court. In Sparta power was given to citizens through the assembly which consisted of all male citizens in Sparta, but in theory anyone could participate. The government had an elaborate system of checks and balances to make sure that no branch had more power than another. Also contrary to popular belief the Spartans treated there slaves bette than the Athenians. The slaves in Sparta were actually known as helots who were lower class citizens.
Who was the better Greek city-state? Athens or Sparta? A question asked for quite some time now, probably since they existed. It’s time we get an answer! If you ask me, I think it was Athens that was the better Greek city state.
Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, ¨Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.¨(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, “Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.¨(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy.