The Role Of Democracy In Ancient Greece

To answer this question we must define what democracy really is, especially if one might not understand the true meaning. Democracy is the rule by the people, meaning that the people have a say in what the government does. The Athenian Democracy was the Ekklesia (Assembly), the Boule (Council of 500), and the Dikasteria. With the facts I have gathered, ancient Athens was definitely not a Democracy.

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.

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

In the ancient societies of Greece, war means many things; power, glory, honor. The idea of fighting is not just a daily task for the Greeks but a necessity. In

The legacy of democracies from Ancient Greece and Rome helped officially establish the United States’ current government. In early Greece, each polis had its own type of government, including monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. Democracy, which is a government ruled by the people, started in the polis of Athens. Early Athens established the basis of democracy, where only free male adults were considered citizens and could vote. The United States’ government today has expanded to allow women to vote instead of only men. In both early Athens’ and today’s United States governments, citizens have power, so in order to receive most people’s opinions on a topic, they increased the amount of people voting in the population of the polis.

As we saw, the line between different forms of government in the ancient Greece could get blurry and it wasn’t always the case that one form of government necessarily guaranteed the interests of the masses. The common theme in all of these political battles was the present of strong and privileged groups who by law or force exercised power. However, from all that political experiments, democracy emerges; although not perfect, but that first attempt at getting it right paved the way for future reforms and improvements that affected the sociopolitical lives of many democratic nations,

The Peloponnesian War actuated a series of political and social changes that substantially altered the hegemonic balance in Greece that would have far reaching consequences for Western Civilization. Moreover, the Peloponnesian War represented not only the nadir of Greek morality, but, the apogee of the Spartan mirage of invincibility and domination. For the Spartans, winning the Peloponnesian War was a catastrophe that culminated in the atrophy of the Spartan system as well as the perpetual irrelevancy of the Spartan polis in the Greek world. According, to Ober “the real, original Sparta broke with a sharp snap because it could not bend.”

Classical Greek Era, one of the most advanced eras ahead of its time. However, what made the democracy that the Greeks established so significant to the Greece’s overall development? How did they do it? How did the Greek democracy last for long as it did? What factors caused the downfall of the infamous Greek democracy?

Ancient Greece, Sparta especially, and Ancient Rome were best known for their military tactics and strategies. In the Greek city-state Sparta, military went as far as making every male citizen a hoplite, warriors of Ancient Greece, and go through a mandatory training program, agoge, or put through public humiliation (Park and Love). It is impossible to say that both Rome and Sparta neglected the idea of implementing warfare into their daily lives.

These Greek poleis operated under many forms of government. Whenever there was violent political upheaval, it almost always ended up with tyranny. Not all tyrants were oppressive though. In fact, some used their total power to help the common citizen. Democracy in greece applied to citizens.

Both Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic contributed greatly to the development of the modern world, bringing into it the notions of democracy and republic. The evolution of these concepts took them to a level much higher than one present in Ancient Greece and Rome respectively. However, modern society continues to draw on somewhat idealized accounts of the ancient world for inspiration in improving today’s governing procedures.

The political organization that prejudiced western civilization the most was Athens, where direct democracy was formed. Democracy developed in Athens in the 500s with a lot of conflict and uneasiness at the time. Time after time of trying to achieve peace, improving rulers slowly allowed citizens to take part in the city-state’s government. A series of improvements took power from multiple noble families and gave it to the citizenry. The government of Athens incorporated three major bodies: the Assembly, the Council of 500, and the People’s Court. While Athenians experienced direct democracy, the Romans established the form of government known as a republic—a form of government where the elected officials govern the state and are responsible

Why would a society from over 2,000 years ago still have a huge effect on the society today? Ancient Greece lasted from 800 B.C. to 500 B.C. The Ancient Greek times have affected our lives in different aspects. Democracy, architecture, philosophy, Olympic games, were all examples of contributions the Ancient Greek society has on the world today.

In the western world today, war is generally seen as a distant thing, that most of us never have to struggle with. But long ago, our classical greek ancestors’ culture revolved the idea and glorification of war. War sculpted the culture of ancient Greece. It shaped the values and philosophies of citizens. Their gods were thought to play a very active role in the outcome of battles, their greatest heroes were those of war, and in many places, such as Sparta, boys were raised to be soldiers from an early age.

During the Golden Age in Greece, many things changed. Things that changed were the diversity of political views and the social doings of the Athenians and the organization of the Athenians economy. With the Golden Age, many groups worked together that wouldn’t normally interact. The biggest example of that is the relationship between Athenians and their democracy.