The city of Sparta was empowered by two kings and was run through a hereditary monarchy during the early 9th Century BC and onwards. The dynasty was continued by a Spartan Kings eldest son. However, even though the kings reigned in superiority, they themselves had limitations and privileges. Despite this, a Spartan King had several important roles which made them an essential part of the Spartan society. These included religious, military and judicial roles.
Athens is known for their art, intellect and political influence in the western world. Spartans only valuable contribution was their military strategies. Athens and Sparta both had social classes but Sparta had a simpler social structure. The social structure of Athens consisted of numerous social classes. All free Athenian born males were citizens.
Athens and Sparta were two exceptionally powerful, well-known city-states in Ancient Greece. Athens was a Direct Democracy; meaning every male citizen participates directly in government decision-making, lead by an assembly of over 6,000 male citizens and a council of 500. Sparta, on the other hand, was an oligarchy, meaning lead by a few, ruled by two kings, a council of elders, and an assembly. Although both cities had effective systems of running their government, the Spartan government was a more efficient government than Athens. Athens was in fact a democracy and though it gave more freedom to its citizens, there were just too many people to run the government in anyway but chaotic.
Sparta put a military attitude in its society and made it the first priority to have a powerful army. The Athenians type of government, might have given the society More freedom, but in my opinion I think this was not the best form of government at this time. The democratic system in Athens cannot really be called a true democracy since it had several flaws in the government and the way it worked. For the way the voting worked
In the Ancient Greek, citizenship and their rights system were developed so strong than the other empires on kingdoms of the period. Citizens born with full legal and political rights, free adult men born legitimately of citizen parents. They had the right to vote, can be elected into office, to be a soldier, and the service obligation when at war. Citizens did not have exact formal political rights, but they had full legal rights. The citizens' female relatives and underage children, whose political rights and interests were represented, by their adult male relatives.
Athens was a direct democracy and many of these ways are still used today. A direct democracy meant that the citizens could vote on the issues directly and that the citizens hold the power. The citizens consisted of any man born in Athens. The non-citizens were women, foreign-born males, and slaves. All of the citizens could belong to the Assembly, and they voted by lottery because they thought election favored the rich, and they wanted it to be equal.
A Spartan king was expected to fulfil many roles and ensure that Spartan continual welfare and survival were under control. Both of the kings were members of the gerousia, a chief priest, and commander –in-chief of the army and judge and lawgiver. One of the major roles the kings were apart of was the political duties, as citizens of Sparta kings were eligible to participate in the political issues of Sparta. Since they were members of the gerousia they were allowed to take part in debates this means that they could initiate both laws and policies in Sparta, but with this came the restriction of not having more power than the 28 member of the assembly itself. According to the ancient historian Herodotus , the kings had political privileges as he says , ‘’they shall sit with the twenty-eight gerontes in the council, but if they do not attend,
Athens decided to worry more about culture. The Spartans Goverment had A War Like Attitude and best met the needs of ancient Greece. The Athen democratic government, gave the citizens in Greece more freedom. Only Some of the total population of Athens actually had voting rights and all of these citizens were upper class men who were over thirty years old. Women were given
Athenians were the first ones to give power to someone who they think will actually be good for that job, and not simply due to noble blood or force. Athenian democracy was also the first to emphasize individualism. It was the idea that the job should be given to the best. After the Persian war a man named Pericles ruled Athens. He created what is known today as direct democracy where you specifically pick your leaders as it differs from Rome’s republic where you elect people to represent you.
It was called direct democracy for the simple fact that the citizens got to choose who their leader would be. Sparta used an oligarchy as a form of government, which means that only a few powerful people rule the government system. Athenians were therefore able to have more say in government elections and could help choose a better candidate to be the king or president because the common people might have more knowledge than the higher up government official whom probably haven’t seen how hard life can be.. Another difference between Athens and Sparta politically is the amount of freedom the citizens were given to speak. In Athens if the citizens don’t like a certain idea or law that is being said, they can speak more openly about if they don’t think the law or idea is right or if they have questions about it. On the other hand in Sparta if you have an idea of your own or do not agree with something that a government official might say during a public debate you have a limited say in it