Sparta Vs Athens
In Ancient Greece there were two different major forms of government, Oligarchy and Democracy. The two city-states that best represent each form of government were Sparta (oligarchy) and Athens (democracy). The democratic government in Athens, though de cently equal, fair and fairly advanced for its time, did not meet the needs of the Greeks. During a time of many military battles Athens decided to worry more about comfort and culture. It is the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as it's first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. The Athenian democratic government, which may have given the citizens in Greece more freedom, was not the best form of government at the time. The democracy in Athens cannot really be called a true democracy since there were several flaws in the governme nt and the way it worked. Only ten per cent 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, no matter what the class or age, were given no freedom at all. They were first owned by their fathers and then were passed from them to their husbands who then gave them nothing more than the responsibilities of managing the household and educating the children. During a meeting of the Assembly, a policy could be adopted and formed into a law but once the meeting of the assembly ended, the enforcement of that law was left in the hands of people who may not agree with that specific law. Also, a rule of the Assembly said that if a certa! in speaker became too powerful, he could be expelled from the country if given a majority vote by the Assembly. This rule could easily be abused and really infringed on the freedom of speech that most democracies have. The Assembly was made up of five hundred men who were chosen from a list of those who were eligible to serve on the council. Since most of the population was of a lower economic class, the time...
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