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Compare and contrast society in Athens and Sparta. Which was the stronger society?

One of the greatest city states of all time was the city state of Athens from which we take many of our modern ways. Their government was a full democracy in which they had an assembly made of all male citizens over 25 years old, a council of five hundred who proposed laws to the assembly, a court, where there were no judges and the juries were very large, and archons, which were nine people with the most power. They believed in participation in government as a civic responsibility. They believed that everyone was entitled to education, not just the elite. They were concerned with money and they had unproductive soil, which meant they would have to find other ways to make money, so they became sea traders. Because they owned slaves, they had a lot of time to pursue cultural interests, so they began performing dramatic plays for their entertainment and enjoyment.
There were several areas of classes of people in Athens. Free men were all male citizens: divid...

Posted by: Melissa T. Littlefield

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