Preview

Different Forms Of Government In Ancient Greece

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
648 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Different Forms Of Government In Ancient Greece
In Ancient Greece, different forms of government existed throughout the 1500+ city-states (similar to communities). Athens, for example, one of the most known city-states in Ancient times was the birthplace of democracy and was that way for nearly 200 years prior to the age and rule of Alexander The Great. In the following paragraphs, we will contrast and compare the different forms of government and rule that took place during that period.

We will start with the differences of each one.

Monarchy - Sparta, having a citizen assembly made up of men that served one-year terms and others that served lifetime terms was not a true or absolute monarchy but did have a two king system. The more popular monarchies that existed in ancient Greece
…show more content…
It differs from democracy or other assembly groups, in that it reserves the power for those privileged class, which throughout history meant that you were born into it. (Aristocracy)

Democracy, like that the United States was founded upon, usually is associated with Athens, but they were not the only city-state to establish such political system. In Athens, with this establishment rules were, “any male citizen 18 years or over could speak and vote in the assembly usually with a simple show of hands” (Cartwright, 2013). This gave power to the people, for the people, and by the people to have their voices heard, not by a minor group of people but by people as a whole.

Tyranny, a word that we are too familiar with throughout history with examples such as Hitler, Kim dynasty in North Korea, Mao in China, and many others. This form of government usually refers to one ruler who took power from the state in an unconstitutional manner, many times by killing the ruler who preceded them (Cartwright, 2013). Two such example in ancient Greece was Syracuse in Sicily or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Using ancient Sparta as a case study, I would say that the Greeks did not place a lot of emphasis on monarch. In fact their perception and relationship to monarchy was very subdued .The Spartans operated a bi-monarchial system of monarchy .In essence; they did not value monarchy, in the sense that monarchy can only be practiced absolutely for it to have a true meaning.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hypatia Research Paper

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages

    They each had their own government, laws, and had their own way of doing things. They all shared a couple things like their language and belief in gods. For the most part, Greece began having monarchies, then oligarchies, then tyrannies and then democracies. Some city-states skipped some of the different types of government or didn't go in that order.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Democracy is a type of government that is meant to give power to the people and give them control over their government and allow their voice to be heard. The democracy in Greece was incredibly direct, citizens could vote on each individual thing, however to be qualified as a citizen you had to be a male born of Athenian parents, all citizens could hold positions of power and their roles were chosen based on chance. As a citizen you were able to participate in votes and your voice was heard giving you a great impact on the government, however the requirements for citizenship caused people who were not citizens to have little say, for them the votes weren’t democratic. Unlike Greece, Rome had a representative democracy, the citizens of Rome, both plebeians and patricians could vote on who they wanted to represent them, however only patricians could hold positions of power. The Roman republic had three tiers, patricians could hold positions in all three, while it took many years for Plebeians to be able to hold all the positions of power. When we consider democracy to be based based on the say of the people, Rome was more democratic compared to Greece.…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athens was a democracy city-state that elected archons annually (124). Whereas Sparta was ruled by two kings that ruled for life or were forced out of office, and were advised by a Council of Elders (123). Sparta was a war centered society, but Athens focused more on academics and philosophy. Spartan values were centered around being brave, self-disciplined, and honoring and fighting for Sparta, even if it meant death. Trade and agriculture were very important to the Athenian economy (137). Both government styles had elections and voting involved, but it was limited to some based on gender and…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since Ancient Greece was spread out into the individual city-states, it forced them to each have their own forms of government. Their governments ranged from military rule to dictatorship to democracies. In Athens under the rule of Pericles, their government was a democracy. Any man over the age of 18, who wanted to, could be involved and got paid for being part of the government like people do today. This influenced our government because although we do nat participate directly in day to day government functions, we participate indirectly. Athens also had a jury, who in trials made the final decisions, like we do today. You also had the magistrates, who went out ald enforced the laws like we have police officers do today. Ancient Greeks have…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civics Eoc Study Guide

    • 3272 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Representative Democracy – the citizens choose a smaller group to represent them, make laws, and govern on their behalf, but the people remain the source of the government’s authority.…

    • 3272 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greece in those times was not a single political entity but rather a collection of some 1,500 separate cities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black Sea shores. Those cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies, where power was in the hands of the few richest citizens, or monarchies, called 'tyrannies' in cases where the sole ruler had usurped power by force rather than inheritance. The Persian Empire was ruled by a king or tyrant that wanted to rule the world or keep the land under tight control.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The kind of government that Ancient Greece had was democracy, wherein everyone is given a chance to be heard and “the administration is in the hands of the many and not the few” (Reilly 91). This gave its citizens to have a say on the events and decisions that occur in the city. It is also a form of government where “aristocrats [were] stripped of all their powers except for certain judicial functions” (Bowra 93). Anyone was capable of being part of the government regardless of their job or their state and each part of Ancient Greece had their representatives to ensure that each part able to contribute and lead. This had a significant part to its rise to power because this form of government was able to develop a trust among its people and it was used as a means of being able to communicate effectively among the people of Ancient Greece.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While both were large poleis in Greece, Athens and Sparta had different ways of governing. Sparta was an oligarchy where all Spartan men could participate in the government, but aristocrats held almost all the power. Sparta was ruled by two kings from two different royal families. However, the kings did not have the control they would in a monarchy. In actuality, two councils, the Ephors and the Gerousia, held most of the power.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the home front spartan kings had far less power the real power was in the Gerousia that was an elder council made up of males over 60 years of age. The rules that governed the selection of public office holders in Sparta were rigid. To be one of the kings you had to come from the bloodline of kings. To be an Ephor you had to be elected and could only serve one year in office. To be a member of the Gerousia you had to be age 60 and you coud apply but there could only be thirty members at a time. The assembly was all recognized free males of Sparta however they had little actual power. In Athens it was a democracy and wealth ruled the selection of public office holders. Athens and Sparta stood on two different sides of the fence one was a democracy and one was a dictatorship. The things they were similar in their governmental structures was keeping the poor and the weak down while the middle and the top thrived. Some of the things that the city-states differed on were the treatment of the low class Sparta made it obvious that you were lower than them whereas In Athens it was done but not as…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Greece and Rome

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Greece and Rome were alike and different when it came to government. The government in Greece was very diverse because every city was its own state. There was monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. Democracy was developed in Athens, and at some point it started spreading to many other cities. Including non-Greek cities like Rome. One of the main ways they were similar was in their form of government. Both Greece and Rome had an assembly, where members were elected by the people. Rome was ruled by two consuls, who ruled for a year or were forced out of office. Greece was ruled by archons, who were elected annually.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This was not always the case and in ancient Greece things were very different. Many cities were controlled by Tyrants who ruled with an iron fist and they were overthrown leading to what were called democratic elections. The elections were held to install leaders that represented the majority rule. The first democratic elections are credited to Greece and whilst very different to our elections today they set the foundations of our current electoral systems. The word Democracy comes from the word Demos meaning people and Kratos meaning rule. It was the end of the Archaic Period (800 BC – 480 BC) and this new system provided an opportunity for upper class men to vote (non-citizens, women and slaves were excluded) and install the powerful Strategoi (Greek word that means military general) into positions of power. Under the democratic system the most important of people were the strategoi. The strategoi were 10 military commanders who would be elected annually. One strategoi was chosen from each tribal area and popular strategoi including Pericles were re-elected many times. Nine archons (Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord," frequently used as the title of a specific public office) were also chosen annually although their duty was more ceremonial than political. Basileus Archons presided over law courts and arranged religion sacrifices. Eponymous Archons chose the men who financed the coral and drama concerts and Polemarch Archons were in charge of the athletics contests held to commemorate men killed in battle. While many places around the world today, still suffer injustices it is safe to say that democracy has come a long way in the past 2500 years and for that I thank the ancient Greeks for getting the ball rolling. I’m certain they didn’t think all that time ago that one day a democratic country as free and inclusive as Australia would exist and a young multi race…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Socials

    • 4464 Words
    • 20 Pages

    A type of democracy in which the people select representatives to direct the day-to-day affairs of the government on their behalf.…

    • 4464 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Greece is normally associated with the origin of democracy. Basically, Greek government evolved from single rule to small group rule to rule by the people. Because each city-state in ancient Greece possessed its own government, some of these types existed other than democracy, namely monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy. This essay will compare and contrast the ancient governments, namely monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy in Ancient Greek city states.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Greek Government

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first form of government I will discuss is a monarchy. Monarchies are not as common as some of the other forms of government in ancient Greece. A monarchy has a single ruler (like a tyranny). The difference between a monarchy and a tyranny is that the head of a monarch receives his power through religion, it is believed…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays