Athens

The thing that set Athens apart from the other city- states was its government. Athens was a democracy. The government of Athens, however, went through several stages before reaching democracy. Athens was the primary city-state after the Persian War. Athens was the cultural center of Greece, it had its golden age under the ruler Pericles.

Reformers On its way from a Monarchy to Democracy Athens had several people who made important reforms to develop their government Early Athens was ruled by a king after it became a unified polis about 700 B.C. Later Aristocrats took power as they controlled most of the land. Increased trade led to the development of a merchant class, these merchants became the Tyrants (Tyrants were not necessarily bad)

One of the Tyrants who worked for reform was: DRACO Draco, an Athenian lawgiver of the 7th century B.C. He was the first to codify and write down the laws of Athens.

Solon ( BC)  Solon was a statesman who laid the foundation for democracy in the ancient Greek city-state of Athens. Athens was ruled by a few rich, powerful families. They took over land from poor farmers and drove them out of Athens or made them slaves.

Pericles  Aristocrat who took power in 560 B.C.  Pericles was the leader of creating democracy in Athens.  He had many buildings constructed.  Pericles had the Parthenon and the Acropolis built.  He took land from the rich and gave it to the poor.  This made him popular with the poor in Athens

Cleisthenes  Created a new council of five- hundred that oversaw foreign affairs, and made laws that were voted on by the assembly  The Assembly came into prominence after his rule helping to shape Athenian Democracy.

Democracy in Athens  Athens was a democracy because all citizens could vote, but only half the people in Athens were citizens.  Women, people born outside of Athens, and slaves could not vote.

Athens Athens was another important Greek city- state. The people of Athens wanted to rule themselves and not have a king or queen. Athens became the world’s first democracy around 508 B.C. A democracy is a government in which all citizens can vote and have equal say in what happens.

Education in Athens Education was very important in Athens. Boys went to school to learn to read and write. They also learned many sports. Girls were not allowed to go to school or learn to play sports.

Sparta Sparta was a Greek city-state. Sparta was very powerful and had its own army. Sparta conquered other city-states to gain wealth and power. There were three classes of people in Sparta. Citizens, non-citizens, and slaves.

Sparta’s Classes Only men born in Sparta were citizens. Women were not allowed to become citizens, however, women were allowed to own land and businesses, which gave them more freedom than other Greek city-states. The second class in Sparta was people who came from other city-states or other countries. They could own businesses but not become citizens. The third class was slaves.

Sparta warriors Learning to read and write in Sparta was not very important. Training to become a good soldiers was important. Young boys were taken from their parents and trained to be soldiers as well as good in sports such as running. Girls were also trained to be good in sports.

United States Citizens of the U.S. have the opportunity and the responsibility to participate in their government. \ The most important right citizens have is the right to vote. The government may call upon citizens to serve on a jury. Men can be asked to serve in the armed forces.

Responsibility as Citizens of the US To be responsible members of their communities, citizens can volunteer their services to help obtain needed improvements. Citizens can offer their knowledge and talents to different local organizations or committees. Participation in town meetings, public hearing and community projects is important for community improvement and for finding out the problems that need to be solved.