People In Athens Vs Sparta

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How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were the two city-states similar in their governmental structures? How did they differ?
Ancient Greece (ca 800-323 BCE) consisted of several hundred poleis or “city states”, acting in many ways as independent countries. The two largest, most powerful and influential Greek city states were Athens and Sparta. Politically, they were opposites of each other. Athens was the birthplace of many fundamental aspects of Western civilization, including democratic government. In contrast, Sparta was a warrior society.
Spartan Government
The …show more content…
After 507 BCE, the principle of “one man one vote” established that a true majority decided all questions.
Athens was the first and perhaps the most pure form of democracy in history. This did not mean that a majority of its population had a say in government. In fact, only a minority of people in Athens were citizens with political rights. All of them were free adult men who had Athenian parents.
Athenian democracy had large numbers of non-citizens having no political rights. Worst off were the slaves. Only with slaves to do much of the work could such a large portion of the free citizens of Athens engage in the constant, often profitable wars Athens fought.
Many slaves included craftsmen such as goldsmiths, accountants, private tutors, etc. Most of their economic output was claimed by their masters, but slaves could also earn their own money and could sometimes buy their freedom.
Another politically powerless class of people in Athens was the Metics. Metics were free, but foreigners, i.e., non-Athenians, consisting of all residents of Athens who did not have Athenian parents. Metics could still live prosperous even wealthy lifestyles as resident aliens in Athens. As such, Athens attracted many economic and intellectual
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