Similarities Between Sparta And Athens
Compare and Contrast Essay
The Effects of the Political Systems of Athens and Sparta on Common Citizens
Ancient Greece was made up of fiercely independent city-states, or poleis. Two of the most significant city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens, home of some of the most important philosophers, is famous for being the cradle of democracy. On the other hand, Sparta, the polis with some of the best warriors in Ancient Greece, was an oligarchy with two kings. Naturally, these two different political systems influenced the common citizens in very different, but also very similar ways. Now we are going to look into those similarities and differences.
Both in Athens and Sparta the beliefs and ideas present in the political systems were clearly …show more content…
That means that the common citizens in Sparta that lived under an oligarchy had different political rights from the common citizens in Athens that lived under a democracy. In Greek, democracy means rule of “rule of the people”. The idea in this type of government was that people should rule themselves. On the other hand, oligarchy means rule of the few. Sparta was led by two kings. In Athens, all male citizens had equal political rights and freedom of speech (Cartwright, 2014). Both Athens and Sparta had an assembly in which male citizens had the right to vote on important issues, but these assemblies didn’t function in the same way. The assembly in Sparta only voted on the issues presented to it by the council of elders, whereas in the assembly in Athens there was open debate on issues as well as voting. In Athenian democracy, the ruling power was distributed among the citizens with political rights, whereas in Sparta the power was in the hands of the kings. So, to conclude, citizens in Athens had by far more political rights than citizens in Sparta, because in Athens all citizens shared ruling power while in Sparta the kings had all the
The Effects of the Political Systems of Athens and Sparta on Common Citizens
Ancient Greece was made up of fiercely independent city-states, or poleis. Two of the most significant city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens, home of some of the most important philosophers, is famous for being the cradle of democracy. On the other hand, Sparta, the polis with some of the best warriors in Ancient Greece, was an oligarchy with two kings. Naturally, these two different political systems influenced the common citizens in very different, but also very similar ways. Now we are going to look into those similarities and differences.
Both in Athens and Sparta the beliefs and ideas present in the political systems were clearly …show more content…
That means that the common citizens in Sparta that lived under an oligarchy had different political rights from the common citizens in Athens that lived under a democracy. In Greek, democracy means rule of “rule of the people”. The idea in this type of government was that people should rule themselves. On the other hand, oligarchy means rule of the few. Sparta was led by two kings. In Athens, all male citizens had equal political rights and freedom of speech (Cartwright, 2014). Both Athens and Sparta had an assembly in which male citizens had the right to vote on important issues, but these assemblies didn’t function in the same way. The assembly in Sparta only voted on the issues presented to it by the council of elders, whereas in the assembly in Athens there was open debate on issues as well as voting. In Athenian democracy, the ruling power was distributed among the citizens with political rights, whereas in Sparta the power was in the hands of the kings. So, to conclude, citizens in Athens had by far more political rights than citizens in Sparta, because in Athens all citizens shared ruling power while in Sparta the kings had all the