Greece and Modern Democracy

As you prepare for the ecclesia, you begin deliberating a diplomatic solution to the dispute between Sparta, and its northern neighbor Athens. The Athenians have sent messengers, telling of their elders’ plans to gain the Spartan soil. At the meeting, your fellow Spartans decide to wage war with Athens in order to protect Sparta. This decision was made in an almost democratic way. Despite their enthusiasm, and knowledge of war, Sparta was almost destroyed.

However Sparta held their soil, and was not taken over by the Athenians. Many of the commands and decisions were made by a single leader, in this case the king, and were approved or disapproved by the council of elders. On the other hand, in modern democracy the people elect the leader. This leader was then sworn into office, and called the president. Many people incorrectly assume that because the Grecian government, and modern democracy are so many years apart, that they have nothing in common. I hope to disprove this through examples, and facts.

Ancient Athenians used a form of monarchy, meaning that a king governed them. This king made most of their decisions for them, and left what was left of the decisions to be made by his appointed council of elders.

The things he left to the council were usually things he thought to menial for him to have to think about. As he had his council, there was no reason for the king to stay behind during time of war. Many times during a war, the king would lead the army through the war, endangering himself for his country. Because of this, the king had to be a physically fit individual. The king had to lead his men in combat, not through his orders or through description, but by example (Richmond).

Although Athens could protect itself with its military, it was not considered a military based city-state. It was known throughout Greece as an intellectually based nation. In my opinion, Athens has produced some of the greatest thinkers in history that includes Homer, Socrates, and Plato. This statement shows that most of their fame came not from their military genius, but from the types of intellectuals that it produced. Although Athenians were very intellectually based, they were also very quick to begin a war. I believe this was to prove that one could be a very intelligent person, as well as a formidable opponent in battle (Richmond).