Both of these examples led to the downfall of the Polis. Although Greek democracy gave a stepping stone to what is seen today as democracy it is not the same as defined in the modern world. One difference was men were the only ones allowed to contribute. In today's democracy, both men and women are allowed to vote. Also, in modern times we have a representative democracy unlike the Greeks who had a direct democracy.
After this, all citizens could be considered equal before the law and guaranteed freedom of speech. This group of officials that carried out daily government business called an Assembly served as a supreme court. In my opinion, the Athenian democracy was very fair in giving every citizen the chance of voting and choosing what they wanted for Athens. This government was effective but it did not apply for all the people that lived in Athens so it affected the non-citizens of Athens because they were excluded from political life. Rome`s government was organized into executive and legislative branches, both of these branches were under patrician control.
The Ancient Greece culture has made many contributions to Western Civilization. The Ancient Greeks affected government, fine arts, concept of armies, and medics. The Greek culture has had a very profound impact on the way people live and run their societies today. The biggest contribution from Ancient Greece is their government. Greece had the first known democracy.
The great Athenian Empire was formed through the important actions of individuals and events. Whilst no one individual can take the credit for the formation on the Empire; certainly influential people such as Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pausanius, Miltiades and Pericles all play very important roles in the formation of the Athenian Empire. Other factors, such as the coastal Greek states choosing Athens (contrary to Thucydides’ belief) over Sparta and the Persian threat helped keep the allies in line and enabled Athens to steadily take over. Whether it be through political reforms or military campaigns, these individuals played a crucial part in the formation of the powerful Athenian Empire. When assessing the individuals during the pentacontaetia, it seems logical to start with Miltiades.
Hellenic Athens and Sparta The barbaric stereotypes people think of when referring to the Spartan society makes the Athenian civilization seem to correspond to our modern society. However, the savage imagery we conceive of the Spartans prevents the exploration of their civility. Even though they did have an extremely militaristic state of mind, they also had an incredibly well organized government system. Politically, socially, and culturally, the two Hellenic city-states of Greece had many differences, but simultaneously were very similar. In the eighth century B.C.E., Hellenic Athens was an oligarchic government.
Athenian democracy had two distinguishing features. * Citizens were selected by lot, that is by random drawing, to hold government and court offices. Only generals and a few other officers were elected. * All male Athenian citizens were eligible to speak and vote in the Assembly, which set the laws of the city-state. Women and slaves were not citizens.Ancient Athens is an example of a direct democracy.
In reality Athenian democracy is a complete mockery of itself by not abiding by the ‘guidelines of democracy.’(i.e. for the people by the people). Although Athenian Democracy has its flaws it also has positives, during the time of democratic Athens, Athens was at its height of wealth, it was the most knowledgeable state in ancient Greece, Athens was the centre point of the time. Athenian democracy worked in many ways, with the extent of the voting systems Athens was able to vote quite accurately and thoroughly. At the time of democratic Athens a very influential figure took the chance of becoming a king in a democratic society, Pericles in some ways he achieved what he set out to do, Pericles had a great influence on the Athenian democracy, a great example of his influence is his funeral oration or his famed building programme.
Each had a very strong sense of individualism, and even when they had bonded for a short period of time, such as during the Persian invasion, they had quickly divided once again. This was because each city-state had their own set of laws and how to be ruled, and they did not find a way to unify with each other. The Ancient Greeks did have other forms of unifications, such as the same religion, language and basic culture, but none of these factors
Compare and Contrast Athens and Sparta Culturally and Politically Essay Matias Antezana P.2 1/14/13 The two rivals of ancient Greece that made the most historical information and gave us the most traditions were Athens and Sparta. They were close together on a map, yet far apart in what they valued and how they lived their lives. One of the main ways they were similar was in their form of government. Both Athens and Sparta had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta was ruled by two kings, who ruled until they died or were forced out of office.
Firstly, the Greeks were the ones that came up with a democratic form of government. According to a an excerpt from Pericles’ Funeral Oration, the ancient Greeks wanted a form of government that “favor[ed] the many instead of the few […] [,so that] a man may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scale” (Document 3). The Greeks wanted a government that voiced everyone’s opinion; they wanted to hear the majority and give both the rich and poor man an equal opportunity. Western civilization took the influence from the Greeks and built their own democracy based from theirs. The Greeks were very intelligent people that excelled in mathematics and science.