Lacedaemonians Vs Athens

Constitutions and laws have made up the political and social organization of civilizations since the beginning of time. During the time of Ancient Greece two constitutions stuck out as prominent and created successful civilizations. The Constitution of Athens and the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians were grotesquely different in their ideas of social and economic classes, education, and fitness; whereas, the civilizations were the same in the idea of punishment for breaking the laws. The Constitution of Athens was more of a story of how life was during the time that Athens was a leading city in the world. The story states that the Athenian government held a strong position on social and economic classes based on money and whether the
families are naturally born in Athens. The four classes in Athens were pentacosiomedimni, hippeis, zeugitae, and thetes. The class hierarchy was strict when it came to who could be in which class, for example, “The property qualification for a pentacosiomedimnus was a minimum yearly return from his own property of 500 measures, dry or liquid” (Aristotle, 215).
These classes that the people were placed in accounted for every aspect of their lives including: who they could talk to, who they could associate themselves with business wise, who they could marry, the land they could or could not own, whether or not they held a position in the local government or voting rights, the number of slaves and horses a man could have, and even where they could live. These strict guidelines were not part of the laws of the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians because the Athenian civilization was much stricter when it came to how one was allowed to live rather than how they were expected to live. Over and over the constitution brings up points about the classes the men and families were placed in and what was expected of each of the classes. The government of Athens seemed to become more and more strict as time went on and leaders passed on the torch of power, specifically, the transition from Peisistratus to Hippias because of Hippias’ search for revenge of family deaths and taking the anger out on the people of
Athens. The people of Athens did not like the way he was ruling their city as it is stated, “After this the tyranny became much more severe; in avenging his brother, Hippias had killed or exiled many people, and was distrusted and hated by all” (Aristotle, 224). On another note, as the city went from leader to leader each had a different opinion about the exiling of people and there were many times in which the leader would bring the exiled back in turn for the next leader to exile them again. This exchange of power back and forth from strict tyrant to lackadaisical tyrant is what ultimately led to the fall of the great city of Athens. The Constitution of the Lacedaemonians is more like a guide of how the people were expected to live their lives. There was a strong emphasis on how much to eat and drink to stay fit whereas to not be hungry or overly full. The men and women were both expected to be extremely fit in order to reproduce fit offspring, Lycurgus believed, “that stronger offspring would result if both parents were fit” (Xenophon, 11) which represents their beliefs that more fit people would create a stronger civilization. The men were expected to learn skills of betrayal, deception, obedience, and theft during their teenage years. Theft was something that was taught and was it was expected that men be deceitful enough to get away with it. The adult men were expected to serve their city in the military and if they died during this service it was seen as an honorable death. The women were expected to knit wool, reproduce fit offspring, and take care of things in the household. There were no social classes at least of importance in the constitution unlike the Constitution of Athens but there were different groups of men with different political groups that would fight each other. These men were expected to come together in the end for the good of the nation or city if another civilization threatened it. The constitution states, “each group works out so as to always be their strongest, but, if there is need, they come individually to the aid of their city with all their strength” (Xenophon, 23). Lycurgus believed that a civilization of sharing people created a united civilization and therefore placed laws about being able to borrow a dog or a horse for the benefit of the citizen as long as it was returned to the rightful owner. The Lacedaemonians also did not see having money as being an important factor in life as the Athenian Constitution found it direly important to your status in the civilization. They saw believing in a higher power such as the gods to be an important factor in life because they were searching for a greater meaning in life. The Lacedaemonians were obsessed with where the soul goes when the body dies. The constitution showed that the Lacedaemonians believed that there was a correct way to live your life in order to be successful to the civilization and enter the correct afterlife. Strict punishments were the most striking resemblance between the two constitutions.
Athens as a city would exile people left and right for minor offenses such as being poor or not being able to sustain a horse. Major offenses such as theft, mingling between social classes, and any ill will toward the current leader were punishable by exile or death. Some of the leaders had a soft spot for those that were exiled for minor offenses and let them come back to the city to live out their lives. However, they were just to be exiled again during the period of power of another leader or tyrant. The constitution states, “they recalled all those who had been ostracised; for the future they decreed that those who had been ostracised should not live nearer to Athens than Geraestus or Scyllaeum under penalty of losing their citizenship for good” (Aristotle, 227). In the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians punishment was severe for those that were caught in the act of theft even though theft was very much supported and even promoted. The young men who were taught to steal were also severly punished for doing anything wrong, for example, “He made the man their master, had him bring them together, watch them, and if anyone did anything wrong, punish him severely” (Xenophon, 15). The master was to carry a whip and punish the young men accordingly to create respect and obedience. Punishments for fighting without cause with other men in the civilization were severely punishable because they
believed the anger a man gets should not outbid his obedience for the laws of the civilization. Punishments in the civilizations included but were not limited to beatings, removal from office, jail, and the pending of a capital case against the offender which could lead to death. The constitutions of these civilizations although very different in context and expectations of the people living in the civilizations were similar in their punishments of the people expected to follow the constitutions. The constitutions even though were very flawed in some cases created a framework for other world leaders to build off of for the betterment of their societies and the people who resided there.