Download Sparta and Athens: A look at the Greek polis

Sparta and Athens: A look at the
Greek polis
asty + chora = polis
• Asty means
city proper,
downtown, or
urban core
• Chora means
the agricultural
outskirts
outside the
city walls
The polis of Atlanta is what we think of
as the “greater metropolitan” area.
Every polis had certain features
• An agora, or
public
marketplace
• A major
temple to the
city’s main
deity
• An institutional
center, a
building or
open-air space
for formal
matters
• Entertainment
facilities
• An acropolis
Agora
An agora was a public market place where products were exchanged, people bought and sold things,
but also where people encountered each other, where they hung out and talked and gossiped. In a
sense, the life the city, or polis, really was played out informally, in many ways, in the agora.
The temple
An artist’s rendition of the temple atop
the acropolis in Athens
What the inside of the temple probably
looked like.
Institutional center: Where
democracy took place
Pericles giving a speech to the citizens of Athens at the Assembly.
The Greeks invented two forms of
entertainment still enjoyed today. Every
polis contained these facilities
Ruins of an ancient Greek theatre
A modern-day replica of an ancient
Greek stadium
Fortifications
Some poleis also had natural fortifications. These could involve walls around the city, but often there was some sort
of high point. Cities started off and were built around, or even on, a high point. The greatest example of this is the
Acropolis in Athens. This is a stone butte that sticks up right in the middle of the city, several hundred feet above
the level of most of the urban core down below it, so that people would go there in ritual procession. But it was
also a place to which people could retreat if the city were ever attacked by any of its neighbors.
Civic virtue in Athenian democracy:
politics
• Aristotle believed that
humans lived “naturally”
together in poleis
• “politics” comes from the
Greek word polis;
• There is not an English
word for the original
meaning of “politics” (i.e.
the way of living in a
polis)
• Aristotle conducted
studies of almost 200
poleis
The birth of Sparta
• Shrouded in legend
• Story of Lycurgus, a
mythical law-giver,
on command from
the gods, gave
Sparta a
constitution all at
once in 750 BCE
• Fact: Spartan
system emerged
slowly after their
conquest of the
Messenians in 725
BCE
Social hierarchy in the Spartan system
• The homoioi (the
“equals”) enjoyed
total political liberty
• The periokoi (the
“dwellars about”)
were resident aliens
who enjoyed
protection, but not
participation
• The helots (the “state
slaves”) were the
conquered
Messenians
The Spartan system of government
• Designed to be conservative
• Two kings; one at home and
one away with the army
• Two legislative bodies; one
had all the “equals” as
member and proposed
legislation, the other was
made up of the two kings, five
ephors, and all “equals” over
the age of 60 and had total
veto power.
• Ephors (the “overseers”) made
sure all laws and decisions
were in accord with tradition
• Krepteia were the secet police
who kept everyone in line
The Spartan system depended on agoge
• Agoge means
“training”, or
“upbrining”
• Babies were
“inspected” and
at age 7 went into
formal military
training until 18
• All adult males
were in the
mililary until age
60
The Spartan system (continued)
• Marriage was not
companionate; only
purpose was to create more
“equals”
• Spartan system was
designed to create military
excellence, discipline, and
loyalty
• Spartan life was austere and
simple
• Book-learning was
discuoraged
• Extreme wealth was seen as
unattractive
The Peloponnesian League
• Created by the
Spartans to
control
neighboring citystates on the
Peloponnesian
peninsula
• It sought to curtail
their democratic
urges and
mitigate their
foreign policy
The end of Sparta
• Conquered by the
Romans in the 2nd
century BC
• Sparta was very
much admired by
contemporaries for
its strength,
simplicity, and
stability
Athens: The most interesting and
most important Greek polis
Democracy in Athens
• A long process of
power shifting from
eupatrids (“wellfathered ones”) to the
demos (“people”)
• Evolution of Athenian
democracy was the
result of response to
political crisis over a
200 year period
First steps toward democracy
• Draco codifies Athenian
laws in 621 BCE
• Although harsh, the
laws were a concession
to those who opposed
arbitrary rule of the
eupatrids
• Eupatrids could no
longer do whatever
they wanted
Writing down the laws does not solve
Athens’ political problems
• Ordinary farmers still
lived on the brink of
poverty
• Wealthy land-owning
eupatrids still ruled
alone
• Wealthy merchants are
excluded from the
system
In 594 BCE, Solon, a eupatrid who made a
fortune as a merchant, was given wide authority
to reform the Athenian political system
• Solon was a moderate
with no personal
ambition for power
• He abolished debt
slavery
• He changed public office
qualifications from birth
rank to wealth
• He created the Council
of 400 which set the
agenda for all citizens to
vote on
The reforms of Peisistratus
• He respected all of
Solon’s reforms
• Redistributed land
• Inaugurated festivals
and public building
projects
• After 40 years
Peisistratus and his
sons were overthrown
by the eupatrids
• Cleisthenes, a
blueblood, was given
power to make
reforms
Peisistratus. Peisistratus rode into Athens, accompanied by a tall and beautiful woman
dressed as the warrior goddess Athene. The citizens were convinced that it was the
goddess herself bringing him back to rule over them.
From about 510 BCE to about 450 the Athenian
democracy became as fully democratic as it
would ever become.
•
•
•
•
Cleisthenes
Themistocles
Ephialtes
Pericles
Cleisthenes
• Created a new
Council of 500
• Gerrymandered
voting blocs to
unite people across
social class and
occupations
• Allowed virtually
all men to vote and
hold office
• Created ostracism
Themistocles
• Popular leader
during the
Persian Wars
(490 – 478 BCE)
• Worked to
secure political
rights for sailors
in the Athenian
navy
Ephialtes and Pericles removed the last
vestiges of aristocratic privlege
• They stripped the
eupatrid Aeropagus of
its power of judicial
review
• Instituted pay for
holding a public office
Statue of Pericles.
How did the Athenian system actually work?
• A very weak
executive office,
with a powerful
role for the
assembly (i.e. the
demos, or people)
• Characterized by
vigorous debate in
the assembly,
which encouraged
demagogues and
lack of continuity in
policy
Who enjoyed the rights of
Athenian citizenship?
• Adult males with
two Athenian
parents,
approximately 10%
of all 400,000 in
Athens
• Not women,
resident aliens, or
slaves
Women as plunder of war: Ajax the Lesser taking
Cassandra, tondo of a red-figure kylix by the Kodros
Painter, ca. 440-430 BC,
How did the Athens system finance itself?
• By tribute paid
from the
Athenian
Empire
• Slave labor
became
increasingly
important
Athens greatest defender and
advocate: Pericles
• His Funeral Oration
explained how and
why Athens was
special and the envy
of the Greek world
The critics of Athens
• Democracy does not
bring forth the best and
the brightest rulers
• Democracy fosters a
disrespect for important
people
• Too changeable and
subject to
demagoguery; seemed
unstable
What is the verdict?
Athens demonstrated
what a democracy
might be. Was it
perfect? Far from it.
But Athenians
showed the world
what one version of
democracy might
look like, and has
inspired others for
over 2000 years. It
remains for others,
and is an ongoing
project, to show for
whom a democracy
might work….