Different Forms Of Government In Ancient Greece
Introduction
So many forms of government arose in the Greek peninsula that it seems every form imaginable was attempted there at some point. Beyond the forms of government commonly associated with Greece such as monarchy, oligarchy and democracy, even socialism existed in some forms. In the following material I will look at some of these different forms of government and politico-economic systems and how they compared in the different locations and times that utilized them.
Monarchy
It appears that the default form of government, or the one most common, is some form of monarchy or a combination monarchy / aristocracy. In a monarchy there is generally one person who is recognized as the leader of the people although they will …show more content…
Although not every person living in Athens was considered a citizen with the right to vote, those that were had a direct say in the government. Initially Athens had a system of government similar to Corinth. Power was held by a small group of aristocrats. By around 500 BCE however, reforms had begun to try to solve economic and social problems. First Solon, then Cleisthenes, introduced changes that would break apart the control of the wealthy aristocracy and give one vote to all citizens equally. This was the beginning of democracy and it would face unending challenges as Athens was attacked repeatedly by the Persian Empire and later other Greek city-states. These wars would last for nearly thirty years, “between 431 BCE and 404 BCE” and would involve nearly all the city-states of Greece, eventually causing Athens to fall and lose its influence in the region. After it fell the region would eventually end up controlled again by a monarch, Alexander the Great. (Brand, …show more content…
This democracy lasted only a couple hundred years and yet it played a large part in the development of governments well into its future and around the world. I also found it interesting that although it wasn’t perfect it allowed Athens to flourish and required the combined forces of nearly all of its neighbors to destroy it. Imagine what might have happened if the Athenian democratic empire had been allowed to continue and flourish. Perhaps like in the United States the people who were kept from full participation in their government would have gained their freedom and rights as full citizens. Types of freedoms that people in much of the world might have come centuries earlier to the
So many forms of government arose in the Greek peninsula that it seems every form imaginable was attempted there at some point. Beyond the forms of government commonly associated with Greece such as monarchy, oligarchy and democracy, even socialism existed in some forms. In the following material I will look at some of these different forms of government and politico-economic systems and how they compared in the different locations and times that utilized them.
Monarchy
It appears that the default form of government, or the one most common, is some form of monarchy or a combination monarchy / aristocracy. In a monarchy there is generally one person who is recognized as the leader of the people although they will …show more content…
Although not every person living in Athens was considered a citizen with the right to vote, those that were had a direct say in the government. Initially Athens had a system of government similar to Corinth. Power was held by a small group of aristocrats. By around 500 BCE however, reforms had begun to try to solve economic and social problems. First Solon, then Cleisthenes, introduced changes that would break apart the control of the wealthy aristocracy and give one vote to all citizens equally. This was the beginning of democracy and it would face unending challenges as Athens was attacked repeatedly by the Persian Empire and later other Greek city-states. These wars would last for nearly thirty years, “between 431 BCE and 404 BCE” and would involve nearly all the city-states of Greece, eventually causing Athens to fall and lose its influence in the region. After it fell the region would eventually end up controlled again by a monarch, Alexander the Great. (Brand, …show more content…
This democracy lasted only a couple hundred years and yet it played a large part in the development of governments well into its future and around the world. I also found it interesting that although it wasn’t perfect it allowed Athens to flourish and required the combined forces of nearly all of its neighbors to destroy it. Imagine what might have happened if the Athenian democratic empire had been allowed to continue and flourish. Perhaps like in the United States the people who were kept from full participation in their government would have gained their freedom and rights as full citizens. Types of freedoms that people in much of the world might have come centuries earlier to the