LESSON 4.5 How were Athens and Sparta governed?
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson you should be able to explain the different systems of government that developed in Athens and Sparta.
Tune in A bust is a sculpture of a person’s head, shoulders and chest. The bust in SOURCE1 was made by a sculptor in Rome in the second century CE. The original Greek bust is lost. 1. Discuss who you think Pericles was. 2. Brainstorm possible reasons Pericles was so signiýcant that Romans would have wanted a bust of him made seven centuries after his death.
SOURCE1 A Roman copy of the original Greek bust of Pericles
4.5.1 Athens — the roots of democracy Athens and Sparta shared many things with other city-states, like worshipping the same gods and using the same language. But each city-state had its own laws and rulers. Originally, city-states were ruled by kings. Later, most were controlled by oligarchies . From the seventh century BCE, many were led by tyrants who made changes to gain support. However, aristocrats often regained power. In 508 BCE, Athens introduced democracy . In this system, Athenian citizens voted on laws and chose leaders in meetings called the ‘Ecclesia’. Ostracism meant that if 6000 citizens spoke up against a man, he could be exiled from Athens for 10 years. But was it a fair democracy? In Athens, only adult citizens could vote, just like in Australia today. However, in the ýfth century BCE, only about 45 000 of Athens’ 300 000 people were citizens. Women and children, who made up nearly half the population, as well as metics (12 per cent) and slaves (25 per cent), could not vote. Since only some people could vote and everyone had speciýc roles — like women taking care of the home and men serving in the military — were the Greek citizens truly ‘free’?
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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