Governmental Systems in Ancient Greece
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
What was the governmental system in Ancient Greece? What do you think of this system?
Ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages in 1100 BCE to the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BCE The Ancient Greeks had many different types of governmental systems during this period. Plato wrote The Republic in approximately 380 BCE., so I will focus on the governmental systems before and around this time.
During the Dark Age, city-states developed in Greece. These were firstly ruled by kings, with advice from wealthy nobles. By about 750 BCE, the nobles had overthrown the kings to become the rulers. Many tyrants soon came to power in many Greek city-states as a result of revolutions. However, they were soon replaced by an oligarchy, in which a few wealthy citizens, instead of the nobility, ran the government.
In 594 BCE, a statesman named Solon reformed the laws by ending the practice of enslaving debtors, dividing citizens into classes by wealth, and defined the rights and duties of each class. He also wrote up a code of law. After Solon left office, civil war broke out, and in 560 BCE, a tyrant took control. In 508 BCE, Cleisthenes, another Athenian statesman, made Athens into a democracy. He extended voting rights to all free adult men and created a council of 500 members which was open to any citizen. This gave all citizens a chance to serve in the government.
During the 500's BCE, a lot of Greek city-states in Asia Minor were under the rule of the Persian Empire. Many of these city-states then rebelled against their Persian rulers. Although the Athenian army was outnumbered, it defeated the Persian army in 490 BCE at the Battle of Marathon. In 479 BCE, the Greek city-states defeated another Persian invasion.
During the 400s BCE, Athens reached its height of power and prosperity. The leading Athenian statesman at the time was called Pericles. Greece was at the center of culture in the Greek world, leading to what would be referred to as The Golden Age in 477 BCE.. The Golden Age, however, came to an abrupt end in 431 BCE with the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, a war between Athens and Sparta. During 430 BCE, a severe plague hit Athens; it killed approximately a third of its citizens, including Pericles. Athens then lacked able leaders during the rest of the war and finally surrendered.
Sparta's dominion lasted only a very short time before fighting among city states resumed. As a result of the continuing warfare, the quality of life declined, the economic conditions worsened, violent clashes between the rich and the poor became frequent, people grew less public spirited and more self centered, and the city-states lost their vitality.
I think the first form of government was not beneficial to the citizens. Many Greek farmers owned a very little amount of land, and had to borrow money between harvests to survive. When the farmers could not pay their loans, they lost their lands and were forced into slavery. The merchants and manufacturers had wanted a greater voice in government, but the nobility refused to share any power.
I think the next development of city-states run by tyrants, too, was not the best form of government. At first, the tyrants were able to help their followers. They distributed farmlands to the landless and found jobs for people working on large public building projects. However, the tyrants eventually grew more concerned with keeping their power than with helping the citizens.
I think a democracy is probably the best governmental system out of the ones I have stated above. The citizens had a voice in the government; people got to have a say in what their country, or in this case, state is doing. The Athenian democracy was the first democracy in the world and laid the foundations for many countries to follow.
Labels: global ethics
