FREE ESSAY ON FORMS OF GOV'T IN SPARTA AND ATHENS

FORMS OF GOV'T IN SPARTA AND ATHENS

Compare and contrast how the ideas about government affected the governing of Sparta and
Athens.
Even in single countries, different regions sometimes have governments that are very
similar and at the same time, very different. Such a case occurred in ancient Greece, in
the city-states of Sparta and Athens. While Sparta was more based on oligarchy, Athens
was a democracy. Their profound differences in rule often caused them to war against each
other. These two significant ancient Greek city-states, Sparta and Athens, had many
differences and similarities in how their ideas about rule influenced their government. 
Spartan government was an oligarchy, it was based on financial status and militarism. The
Spartans ruled over a set of oppressed people from Messenia known as helots. They
outnumbered the Spartans by a large amount, and they revolted. The Spartans were just
barely able to crush the revolution. They decided they needed their government to focus
on military and their way of life to form a solid, completely unified society. The
document entitled The Lycurgan Reforms says that obedience to their [the people of
Sparta] legislator was the reason why the society prospered. They had an assembly of all
citizens over thirty years of age that played a part in the government. They elected five
magistrates, called ephors. These magistrates held only one year in office but had
considerable power. Despite these officials, two hereditary kings and their council of
elder advisors (the gerousia) still had the power to overrule any decisions made by the
magistrates and the assembly. The assembly of citizens supported the militaristic
lifestyle of Sparta. In fact, Sparta was the only Greek city to support a full-time army.
Citizens maintained their lives by having private plots in Messenia farmed by helots.
Thus, the Spartans had a lot of free time, so the boys began to be sent to army camp at
the age of seven and suffered the brutal ways of life there until they were thirty and
free to leave. The document analyzed says that there were army commanders to train the
boys in the harsh boot camp. They gave out orders and punishments. They served as a role
model for the boys. Their, as the document states chief care was to make them [the boys]
good subjects, and to teach them to obey and conquer in battle... This training from such
a young age for so many years crushed the individual identity and formed a unified
society without the enlightenment of the arts, just the love for Sparta the city. The
foot soldiers in Sparta, called hoplites, paid for their own equipment for protection.
That shows how wealth was an important part of respect in Spartan society. Sparta became
an isolated, self-sustaining society. Its government was a military machine, and
apparently, Spartans lived only to fight.
The Athenian system of democracy gave the power of government to the whole people of
Athens. Everyone is equal before the law is stated in the document, The Funeral Oration
of Pericles. The document also states that no one is in political obscurity because of
their class or financial status, Any citizen, despite their class or wealth, could hold
public office. The majority of the people were interested in what was going on in their
government. Those who were not especially interested in political matters, still knew the
basics of what was going on in the current government. Bribery to obtain office was also
eliminated. The important Council of Five Hundred (Boule) was elected by the people of
Athens, fifty from each region. One of its major deeds was to draw up the agenda for the
Assembly. The Assembly of all working citizens, called the Ecclesia, elected magistrates
and voted on any state policies. From these citizens, juries were selected by lot every
year to form law courts, Heliaea. The Assembly also determined the strategies used in
war, and they also had the right to declare war, make peace, grant citizenship, among
many other things. However, the Athenian government was less liberal than many other
Greek city-states, especially in how they defined a citizen. A citizen to the Athenians
was a free man over eighteen born in Attica. Female relatives of these men were also
citizens, but called astai which meant those without political rights. The military
generals were called the Board of Ten Generals, or strategoi, they were elected every
year and could be elected for an unlimited number of terms. Even though the Athenian
system of democracy was effective, the minority opinions were not respected, and usually
censured severely. The government was generally dominated by powerful statesmen who could
force their laws unto the people.
The governments of Sparta and Athens have many differences and similarities. Athens and
Sparta are similar in that they do have respect for their citizens, and an assembly of
citizens who play a part in the government. Both assemblies elect powerful magistrates.
In both societies, there was an general interest in the politics, although to almost an
obsessive extent in Sparta. The governments of Athens and Sparta are also extremely
different. Sparta focuses on military for the most part, and although Athens did have an
army of some sort, it was not as strict and powerful as that of Sparta. Sparta's
militaristic government encouraged and, in fact, created the universal destroying of the
individual person. They wanted their society to be completely unified down to the last
inhabitant. In Athens, each single personality was allowed to develop into its own unique
form. The freedom and involvement of the people in the government reflected this
encouragement for individualism. In Sparta, the highest rulers were the two hereditary
kings. They had the power to overrule any decision made by the government officials. In
Athens, generally speaking, the Assembly had the final say in what was made in the laws.
This did not include the unorthodox ways that the powerful statesmen used to get their
laws into Athenian society. In Sparta, not everyone was equal. The rich and high class
were valued more than the poor and lowly. They did not have the same opportunities, the
poor's were very limited. In Athens, all, no matter what class or amount of wealth they
had, were allowed to have the chance to have a say in the government. These
characteristics in both societies were generally restricted to male citizens only. In
Sparta, the power of government rested more on elected officials than the people of the
society, unlike in Athenian society. Both societies had governments that functioned well
enough in their own environment for their own people.
Sparta and Athens were arguably two of the most important city-states in ancient Greece.
Their ways of life influenced and set standards for generations to come all over the
world. Evidence of this is apparent especially in the modern-day United States. The US
has Sparta's strong full-time military and Athens power to the people based democratic
government. These two societies within ancient Greece, Sparta and Athens, were similar
and different each to their own advantage, their governments being highly influenced by
their ways of life, past experiences, and ideals about how their lives should be run.
Bibliography
Cheilik, Michael. Ancient History. 2nd ed. New York: Harper. 1969.
Freeman, Charles. The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World. New York:
Viking Penguin. 1999.
Guy, John. Greek Life. New York: Barron's. 1998.
Nardo, Don. Life in Ancient Athens. San Diego: Lucent. 2000.