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The Government Structures Of Athens And Sparta

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The Government Structures of Athens and Sparta Athens and Sparta were two large and well-known poleis among hundreds of poleis in ancient Greece at the time of the archaic and classical periods (Brand, 2010). Since those periods, they had different reputations of their own such as Athens for its establishment of the first democratic government and Sparta for its military. Although they were poleis under the name of Ancient Greece, their focus and priorities were different and so did their governmental systems. The right to participate in public life and decision-making in Athens and Sparta was based on citizenship and wealth. Male Athenians over eighteen years of age with both Athenian parents were valid to participate in managing public …show more content…

Among the magistrates of Athens, the Archons led the affairs of public offices but in Sparta, the Kings, the Ephors, and the Gerousia handled the political affairs. Although the Ephors can exert certain authorities on the Assembly’s presidentiality, army composition, and envoys’ affairs, they didn’t interrupt the assembly’s decisions (Thomas, 1974). Moreover, according to Thomas (1974), the members of Gerousia were in charge of the jurisdiction of criminal cases while the kings held less power than the Ephors and the Gerousia in the …show more content…

The difference started with the type of government as the Athenians’ government was the direct democracy and that of the Spartans was the oligarchy. The Athenians were to select magistrates and council members in accordance with the terms but there were two kings, five overseers, and thirty elderly councils in Sparta. The assembly of the Athenians was the one to finalize every political issue and was the most powerful but in Spartan, the council was more powerful than the assembly. This was because all members attending the assembly were able to exercise their rights to approve or reject the proposal in Athens whereas the public office holders of Sparta possessed veto power to expel any

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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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Second, due to the government in Sparta Sparta was more organized than Athens. Athens used a form of government called a Democracy, ruled by the people. Since the people of Athens may have different opinions, leading

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Athens and Sparta shared many common values and views but also had their differences. They were both city-states which is a city and its surrounding villages functioning as an independent political unit. Athens and Sparta were city-States over empires because of all of the mountains in Greece that separated the land and they acted as a modern day state would. For example, one city-state would have different views and government than a city-state on the other side of a mountain. Athens and Sparta had similar values and views on how to treat people, but had differed views on education and government.

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.Introduction Athens and Sparta were two major city-states in old Greek. We review their governance and compare them for their similarities and differences. How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community?

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Both had councils and assemblies that played important roles in decision-making. Furthermore, both city-states had some type of executive power, albeit Sparta's was centered in a dual kingship. Differences: Athens practiced democracy, which allowed a large number of residents to participate in decision-making. The government was founded on the values of equality and majority rule (Brand, 2010).

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Before we talk about what public life in Athens and Sparta was like, lets take a moment to relate how it came to exist. Athens around 800-500 BCE was ruled by a rich aristocratic caste that bought much of the land and enslaved local farmers (Brand, 2013, p. 17). Problems arose that required a redistribution of power to avert catastrophe, so the politician Cleisthenes was enlisted to redefine social power. Through reforms which divided the Athenian people into ten diverse provinces responsible for electing fifty political representative each, Cleisthenes cleverly balanced the power of skilled tradesmen, rich politicians and the common masses in 507 BCE (Brand, 2013, p. 19).

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A Comparative Analysis of the Government Structures in Ancient Athens and Sparta Introduction The city-states of Athens and Sparta were two significant entities in ancient Greece, both contributing to the Greek civilization in their unique ways. While both city-states shared some commonalities, they also exhibited notable differences in their governmental structures, particularly in terms of public participation and public office holding. This paper aims to compare and contrast these aspects of Athenian and Spartan government, while also discussing the rules governing public office selection. Additionally, the paper will highlight the similarities and differences in their overall governmental structures.

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Any male citizen over the age of 30 can be chosen for many public offices. Some positions, like generals, were elected, but most were chosen by lot to ensure fairness. In Sparta, public office was typically held by a small, elite group. The most important officials were the two kings, who came from two royal families.

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Their strategies and results, nevertheless, were different. Athens adopted direct democracy, allowing more people to participate in decision-making through the Assembly, whereas Sparta operated as an oligarchy, with power concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. Similarities include the existence of governing bodies in both city-states that were in charge of making decisions. The Council of 500 in Athens was in charge of drafting and enforcing laws, while the Gerousia in Sparta served as an advisory body to the kings. Both Athens and Sparta also had assemblies and courts as institutions for upholding the law and order (Brand,

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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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This paper will examine how the people in Athens and Sparta obtained the right to participate in public life, who held office, the rules governing the selection of public office holders, and similarities and differences between the two city-states in the governmental structures. Participation in public life In Athens, every male citizen who had completed his military training and was over 18 years old had the right to participate in the Athenian Assembly (Rothchild, 2007). The Athenian

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Therefore, their parents must be full-blooded Spartans. The form of government of Spartan was military totalitarian. The government governed by the selected few among the legitimate male citizens. In short, to obtain the absolute right to take part in running the political system, one must be born with Spartan parents and it should be an adult male ages 30 and above. On other hand, to the Athenians all free adult men

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The Spartan Empire Spartan Government: An oligarchy system was adopted in Sparta. In the oligarchy system, few people has the power to rule. Sparta also had an assembly just like Athens, but the main decisions were taken by the “Council of Elders” with two kings and twenty-eight other men as its members. The two kings where born within the royal family while the twenty-eight man where elected by the assembly. For men to be elected to the Council of Elders, they had to be at least 60 years old and approaching from a noble family.

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