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Athens vs. Sparta Essay

During Ancient Times, many civilizations emerged from darkness and became powers in a world so small that half of it hadn’t been discovered. One of these famed civilizations was the Greek Civilization. The Greek Civilization was divided into cities known as Poleis that had their own government and culture. Sparta and Athens, the two most important Greek city states, were different in government, society and daily life.
During the Greek Civilization, two forms of governments existed. These governments were democracy and oligarchy. Sparta was mainly ruled by two kings aided by a council of 28 elders. Aside from these main rulers, 5 members known as ephors were responsible for the upbringing of children and how a citizen should act and behave. This form of government was referred as an oligarchical government and was elected by Spartan citizens who were over the age of thirty. However, Athens had a government which closely resembles democracy today. Athens’ government shaped Greek democracy and provided a basis on how most of today’s governments are ruled. Athens’ government consisted of 500 members who were elected by Athenians. The council would act as a “congress” or “parliament” and would meet and vote to choose the laws of Athens. The main difference between today’s democracy and Athenian democracy is the fact that during Ancient times, Athenian democratic government leaders were elected by the upper class male population and the leaders were often part of the same upper class male group. Spartan and Athenian governments differed in a great deal when it comes to how the government was elected and what the government consisted of. Athens, being more liberal than Sparta, didn’t have a group of people who controlled the upbringing of Athenian boys while Sparta did have this group but they both had a congress who chose the laws and how citizens should behave according to the previous mentioned.
Despite being so close to each other, Athens

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