The Rise of Sparta
Abandoned children if unhealthy. Age of 7 they began 13 years of training. Marry Spartan females at 20. Maintained network of spies among slaves, and one day a year they declared war on slaves and arrested/killed any slaves under suspicion. Helots – slaves. Perioikoi - frontier village trade people…mildly normal. Sparta was only greek city state with kings, yet they had two kings. No political role, all military, leaders of army. Gerousia – 28 elders over 60. Conservative. Led their whole life being obedient getting power at 60. Assisted by five ephors, or magistrates. Apella – male citizens over 30. Ephors. Apella was a forum for debate. Oligarchy government but is based on age. Gerontocracy. Did what it was supposed to do. To prevent slave revolt. Does this for about 300 years. History of Sparta written by Sparta’s enemies.
Athens
Located in province of Attica, which is a peninsula jutting into Aegean sea. Largest in terms of territory of all city states. Begin with higher base of resources. Located a few miles inland to the sea. Early Athens was structurally like Greece. Aristocratic oligarchy. Translated control over land to political power. Power of Athens was areopagus. Magistrates – archons. Debt slavery. Couldn’t go bankrupt, so if you couldn’t pay you had to become a slave. Fell into debt to landlords and became enslaved. Then slaves were sold overseas causing a lot of social stress among Athenians. Broken up families. Produces displeasure and pressure and lower classes revolt. In 621 BC the aristocrats agree to write down the laws so that they are fixed. Draco, an archon, writes the laws down. They were harsh. Solon in 594 reforms ago and abolishes debt slavery, establishes assembly of all citizens (council of 400) opens juries but not magistracies, secludes women. To keep the peace, aristocrats resort in 6th century to dictatorship. Ordered by tyrants. Most important was a man named Pisistratus. 546 – 527. He was the voice of the aristocracy to maintain that control over society. Athens needed fundamental changes and he knew this. He used his power to impose two kinds of changes: economic and social. Encourages farmers to switch crops, encourages them to focus on grapes and olives. No fertile soil needed, both have long taproots. Thrive in rugged terrain. This helped develop viniculture. Promotes the colonies near the Dardanelles. These would grow wheat and trade with Athens for oil and wine. To do this you need ship building, sailors, merchants. More diversified economy. Partly commercial, partly agriculture. Socially he did like gatherings. Greeks were making competitions between city states. Pisistratus holds Panathenaic Games in Athens every four years to draw community together. Established annual festival of Dionysius. His success was also his undoing. Middle class people become disgruntled that they were denied power because magistracies were still in hands of the rich families. Middle class plot revolution and replace government with a democracy. In 508 Cleisthenes leads a revolution creating new constitution and democracy. Creates a society in which the people will rule, there is an assembly of citizens called the Ecclesia. Assembly was on hillside across from acropolis. The Pinacs, the ecclesia met forty times a year. Every nine days. Nothing could be done without ecclesia approval. The people attended most likely lived close by. Nonetheless, big meetings controlled by? Boule - council of 500. meet when ecclesia wasn't meeting. boule was a civic duty, and people were chosen like juries. Strategoi. Ostracism - exile anyone for ten years if they were trouble makers. Social Reorganization - Athens was were family loyalty trumped everything else.