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Sparta Vs Athens Essay

653 Words3 Pages

Athens and Sparta are two of the most prominent city-states of ancient Greece, located geographically close to one another yet vastly different in their government, economy, and society. Even though Athens and Sparta were bitter rivals, their respective political structures represent an evolution of modern political structures and offer us a greater insight into the strengths and weaknesses of both. This essay will explore the major differences between the political structures of Athens and Sparta, and will discuss how their differences and similarity impact on the decision making in their political scene.
The right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community
In Athens, the right to participate in public life and …show more content…

In Athens, public offices were held by wealthy citizens who were elected by their peers in the assembly. In Sparta, public offices were held by two hereditary kings, an assembly of elders, and five ephors (Brand, 2010, pp. 9-10). The kings held the highest authority and were responsible for creating and executing laws. The Assembly of Elders consisted of Spartan citizens over sixty years old, while the ephors were five public magistrates who held the most political power in Sparta (Brand, 2010, pp. …show more content…

However, the two city-states differed in the way the power was distributed among the people. In Athens, for example, the citizens had a say in the decision-making process through a popular assembly, whereas in Sparta, the government was controlled by an oligarchy of the most powerful families. Additionally, Athens was a democracy, whereas Sparta was a military state. In terms of laws and justice, both Athens and Sparta had similar systems of punishment and justice but uses different methods. In Athens, for example, justice was administered by a court of law and the accused had the right to present their case before a jury (Rothchild, 2007. pp. 19-23), whereas in Sparta, justice was administered by a system of public censure. Finally, Athens and Sparta had different economic systems. Athens was mainly an agrarian economy, while Sparta was mainly a military-based

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