Direct Democracy: Was Athens Superior To Sparta?

In Document D, it states that every citizen was to write down the name of the person that they thought were most deserving of a high political power, and to govern the democracy. After being elected, each man could only be in power for ten years, meaning that Athens had a sense of organization, and they could prevent someone from getting too much power.

This shows that ancient Athens was truly democratic because the government at least let some of the people of ancient Athens start to participate in voting. At the same time, in other city-states like Sparta, no one was allowed to vote so the government was in control of themselves only. This type of democracy influenced society because the Athenians were proud

In Document A, it distinctly states “ Our constitution favors the many instead of the few,’’ however if that were so, why could only twelve percent of the population vote (Document C). Plato, a wise philosopher, concluded that women should have the same education and withhold all positions in society (Guided Reading Activity 1-2 question 10). A dispute that even the American government had to fix back in the 1920s (Amendment 19), and still this day, has been addressed. As shown, if the constitution favors the many, 100 percent of the population should vote.

Since ; Athens was a democracy I feel that this better benefitted the citizens living their because it allowed citizens to vote for what they agreed with and what they opposed. For example in Document E it stated that there was an Athenian assembly and they had the power to pass laws, set budgets, and declare war. Whilst in Rome all of the decision making was in the hands of the Senates. All of this could not happen unless the Citizens came to vote. In Athens all forty thousand citizens were allowed to attend, however for some reason there was a shortage of citizens able attend at least six thousand have to be present to make important decisions . Voters had to make the treacherous trip to a hillside called the Pnyx near the Acroplois. Document B The Old oligarch was comparing Rome an Athens for instance it said "It is the poor man's fleet and

Athens and Sparta both had very different economies. Their economies were both based around different things. Athens economy was based around trade. A quote that reinforces this statement is found in Document 9, excerpt from “The History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides a quote from that excerpt states “He made a law that no son was obligated to support his father unless he had been taught trade..” this quote show how greatly trade influences the Athenian economy. On the other hand Sparta was completely different. Sparta mostly depended on farming and strengthening their military A paragraph from Document 8, an excerpt from “ Parallel Lines: Lycurgus” by Plutarch reinforces this by stating “Each man’s

Athens has a better government system then the Roman Republic. some might say the Romans were better. But Athens is more about the people; they are also more secure. They are also carful with who can be a citizen rather then "stingy". They are just more carful.

Athens had a geographic advantage because they were very superior. The Athens lived by the Sea which was an advantage because they had an excellent trading system. Even though the mountains protected Sparta it also caused trading problems, the Spartans had no way to get around the massive mountains to trade with people. Athens was located on the coast and included a harbor. The Athenians had an advantage and a disadvantage for them because they had easy water access but during the time of

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.

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

“During the 40 annual meetings of the Ekklesia, any of the roughly 40,000 male citizens of Athens was allowed to appear and participate. That's a lot of people vying for floor time. In the U.S. this system has been improved upon with the implementation of a Congressional legislative body made up of elected senators and representatives from each state” (Classroom Synonym). Clearly in the U.S. it takes less people to make decisions then it did in Athens. The Council of Athens did not have elected leaders similar to how the United States has it today. People in the council were chosen by lottery. In America the President and his staff have to be elected. The President has executive power in the United States. In Athens, 500 men had the same power that one person has in the US. As for the Judicial branches Athens had hundreds of men on the jury and they finished court in one day. In the United States, there are 12 jury men and women and it is a very long

2003b). The council would decide on the policies that would later be discussed and voted on by the assembly. As the name suggests it had 500 members made up from an equal distribution of the different demes (our village Demos) that made up their society. Inclusion of this layer of Athenian democracy is vital to understanding the differences between ancient and modern versions of democracy.

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

In addition to this, the Athenian economy also played a role in determining new laws. As said by Plutarch, Solon promoted trade in order to help grow the idle farming industry and bring money to Athens. Plutarch stated “ … and that most of the country was barren and unfruitful, and that traders at sea import nothing to those who could give them nothing in exchange, he turned his citizens to trade…” (Plutarch, `Lives of Illustrious Men - “Solon” 22). Due to the lack of economic equality in Athens, a large portion of citizens were pushed into working for the select few that were rich. In a relatively fruitless attempt to reap a profit from the infertile land, laborers’ jobs often entailed long work hours, minimal pay, and no freedom to move into other professions. Although this served individual members of the community well, it left the country at a disadvantage due to its ability to not fully utilize its workforce where opportunity lied. Solon recognized that Athens, being a peninsula, had potential in the trade

The Athenian Democracy principle was majority rule. The assembly of all male citizens in Athens voted on decisions directly. The elected officials did not determine decisions. Few checks on or limits to the power of the assembly existed. Only adult male Athenian citizens had the right to vote in Athens, which excluded slave workers, women and resident foreigners. In addition, there were no lawyers and everyone had to argue their own case. All decisions were final, no appeals.

The reforms of Cleisthenes established the basis for the Athenian democracy. All citizens enrolled in ten tribes and each tribe chose 50 members by lottery each year for a new council of 500 people. These 500 people had the responsibility to take care of foreign and financial affairs. There was also an assembly of all male citizens, and they had the final authority in passing laws through free and open debate. In Sparta there were two kings who led the army and ruled their city-state. There were five ephors elected each year and they were responsible for the education of the youth and the behavior of citizens. There was also a council of elders that consisted of two kings and 28 citizens over the age of 60. They decided on issues to present to the assembly who were also all male citizens. There was no debate on resolution to these issues, only voting.