Democratic Views Of The Athenian And Spartan Governments

Spartan government, in contrast, is oligarchical. People were most often brought into slavery as a result of being conquered in battle, however some were brought in to battle through their familial lineage. Upon being brought in to slavery, a Spartan slaves’ main duty was to aid in battle. In Sparta, the government and voting was held by select elites. These elites would most likely make decisions for themselves, without considering the well-being of other citizens not wealthy enough to vote. This would be undesirable for Spartan slaves and common people as their voices are not heard, and they have no rights in their freedom to vote.

Sparta’s government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. While Athens seems to only have a democracy. In Document 2, an excerpt from “The Spartan Constitution” by Aristotle there’s a quote that states “they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy..” This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. It’s also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from “Funeral Orations” by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states “it is true that our government is a democracy, because it’s administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many..” This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a

Of all things that may have influenced future western governments, Athenian Democracy and Rome’s Republic had the greater impact. However, Athenian Democracy and Rome’s Republic share all male citizenship participation and a voice in government, they differed in the ways that they voted and how their citizens were elected.

On the topic of governmental standpoints Sparta was an oligarchy whereas Athens was a democracy. An oligarchy is a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique (Dictionary.com). Sparta’s government was set up into four branches: two co-kings, Gerontes or Gerousia, Ephors, and Appella or Demos. The co-kings were of two different family lines of limited hereditary monarchs who were kept in check by the other parts of government as well as by each other. One of the two kings was the commander in chief of the army. Gerontes were a council of 30 consisting of the 2 co-kings plus 28 others each were rich elders of noble birth. They would hold office for the rest of their life after being elected by the people. Gerontes acted as advising body and court of criminal justice in which

Envision a world where the people are ravenous and yearning for any remnant of food they could obtain, where the society is overrun and no one has a free say. This is the type of society the ancient Spartans would have lived like unlike the ancient Athenians. The Athenians lived a far more diverse life if compared to Sparta. Ancient Athens was better to live in than ancient Sparta due to its efficient and honorable government and flourishing economy.

The Spartan government consisted of a small council included the kings and the elders that oversee the Spartan society and cast votes to make important political decisions. The Athenians regarded their government as a democracy as “its administration is in the hands, nit of the few, but of the many,”(D3), a direct contrary to the government structure of Sparta of which the power was in the hands of the few. Furthermore, according to Plutarch in Document 4, Spartan leaders, for instance, Lycurgus, wished to create a society with restricted lives and well regulated institutions where each citizen had a designated purpose; whereas the the power was given to the “masses, the poor and the commons” to preserve democracy. This difference in political structure reflected the value of the two city-states. The Spartan kept their government power concentalized in the hands of a few powerfuls so political decisions could be made more efficiently, which would preserve their focus on building military fondation rather than on the social aspect of their society. On the other hand, the Athenians valued free-speech and exchange of ideas; this form of democracy undoubtedly resulted in their innovations in fields such as philosophy, literature, and art.

Athens had a better government in my opinion. I think Athens had a better government because they created a democracy. According to the Athens and Sparta Document Set, a democracy means “rule by the people”. The Athens also got to abolish politicians they did not like. Athens also had ten generals, meanwhile, Sparta has two kings. In my opinion, I think that having ten generals is better than two kings because they understand you more. Sadly not all Ancient Athens were citizens, but if a free male would be a citizen if his father was a citizen of Athens. Later on, they changed that law, it was then bothering the father and mother had to be a citizen for the child to be considered a citizen. Sadly the women didn’t get that many rights but they soon they got more status. The Athens also made it to where not only the wealthy can engage in the jury service. In the Athens, you have to be an 18-year-old man to complete military training. On the other hand, in Sparta, you have to be a 30-year-old to complete military training. Basically, I’m trying to say that the Athens had a better

Athens and Sparta were two powerful city-states, different from each other where Athenian democracy focused on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focused on military force. Democracy is a system of government where citizens have the right to vote, whereas oligarchy is a system of government where only a group of people is in control and only their opinion or decision that were taken into consideration. Leading to the thesis statement that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, supported in three evidence points. Firstly, Athenian democracy allowed citizens participation in government that gave them freedom to vote and take part in legislation. Secondly, the Athenian government provided Athenian men better education, by being taught how to read and write to reach their academic advancement. Lastly, the Athenian democracy’s contribution to Athens military advancement that protected its citizens.

Ancient Athens was not truly democratic because the middle class was in charge of politics. The upper and lower classes were not in politics at all. It was not democratic because the only people that could vote were men who are of citizen birth by both parents. People whose parent is a slave could not become a citizen so they could not vote. Democracy was excluding women, free foreigners and slaves.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Athens is superior towards Sparta throughout ancient Greek history. During the Archaic Age, Sparta was solely focused on fighting wars and training their children for these wars. Athens on the contrary, was a city that focused heavily on the arts and was a very relaxed and peaceful city to live in. In Athens, all men born to Athenian parents were citizens, in Sparta, only the wealthy were citizens. In 594 BCE, Salon, the new leader of Athens, he created a constitution that ended the political control of the wealthy. Unless someone was part of the 1 percent, Athens gave members of society more rights than Sparta. By 508 BCE, Cleisthenes came to power in Athens and creates a democratic constitution of all people. While this advancement occurred

Directly from the beginning there is a difference right off the bat. Athens was a direct democracy while the United States is a republic democracy. Being the fact that these two are total different ways of democracy each country was run differently. Automatically in Athens the people choose everything they want from the way they govern right down to the laws and court systems. The United States was tired of being under British rule before democracy was established. The establishers of democracy in the US decided that democracy was best so the people can choose what they want and who they want. Instead of having an all-out frenzy from a direct democracy which allows citizens to do whatever they want and choose what they want the people still choose what and who they want they just allow people to speak for them and their rights. Although the United States has roots that stem from the Athenian democracy system they tweaked American democracy to fit the needs of this

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.

The Society of Greece held the legal philosophies that were unfair in favor of Athenian women creating confusion to respect the laws. During the ancient times the families show honorability by their level of status. Men’s rights had more freedom compared to female’s rights. The Athenian society remains the separating line of Spartan society since the Spartans have more equal rights for both genders. However, Athenian males should be focused on their family protection and work while, Athenian females were focused on home duties and their childcare. Besides, as I observe the “Law of Salon” has specific rules about adultery that were critical to show honorably in the Athenian family. Consequently, a human being should consider guilty for the reason he uses his woman as intent to capture a human who has destroyed his family. But, also for the reason he assassinated another man without a weapon to fight and die with dignity.

Athenian democracy focuses on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focuses on military force. Democracy is a system of government where the citizens have the right to vote, whereas the oligarchy is when a group of people is in control of the government and it’s only their opinion and decision that are taken to consideration. Implicating the thesis that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, which is supported by three evidence points. Firstly, the Athenian citizen's participation in government, by voting and taking part in the government position.Secondly, the Athenian men are provided with better education by being taught how to read and write, not only focused on military training. Lastly, the Athens advancement in military protection for the safety of its citizens.