Slavery in Sparta vs. Slavery in Athens Essay

Sparta’s government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. While Athens seems to only have a democracy. In Document 2, an excerpt from “The Spartan Constitution” by Aristotle there’s a quote that states “they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy..” This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. It’s also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from “Funeral Orations” by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states “it is true that our government is a democracy, because it’s administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many..” This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a

A slave up to this point in history was considered to be unfortunate and not inferior. In the ancient world,

According to Shaw in “Spartacus and The Slave Wars”, prisoners of war enslaved at the end of the Second Punic War rebelled in 198 B.C. This slave uprising in central Italy is the first reliable report of one, although it was surely not the first actual slave uprising. There were other slave uprisings in the 180s. These were small; however, there were 3 major slave revolts in Italy between 140 and 70 B.C. These 3 uprisings are called the Servile Wars, since the Latin for 'slave' is servus. However these 3 slave wars did not all end in victory. As a matter of fact, the 3 slave revolts failed, ending in murder of the leaders. The reason why the slaves were defeated in the end was basically due to the fact that there was no ultimate goal. They

Greek slaves in particular typically highly educated. Unskilled slaves/those sentenced to slavery as punishment would work on farms, mines, and mills.

Slavery was America’s darkest era, during this time period Africans and African Americans were exploited, over worked, tortured, separated from families and sexually violated. Rules were also imposed to keep slaves from running away, form rebellions and to keep them from having the opportunity to get an education.Although slaves were the main reason for the success in the economic growth of America, slaves endured physical and emotional pain for more than 200 years and it

Spartan’s government was far superior to the government of Athens. Sparta had elements of an oligarchy. The two kings were part of the government for tradition were the Council of Elders, or Gerousia, a group of twenty-eight Spartiate men and the two kings that who create bills, that the Assembly, or common man, vote on. . There were extensive checks and balances to make sure that no part, or branch, became too powerful. The Assembly was composed of every adult male in Sparta, but theoretically anybody could participate.

In Sparta the citizens served the state not the other way around. Spartans really had no choice in what they were going to do. From the time of birth everything was already decided for them. The citizens were taught that bravery and strength were the most important qualities they should have. In a totalitarian government all aspects of society are controlled.

The level of power sharing was different in a specific city-state. Sparta’s ruled by was oligarchy, the method by which governing was in the hands of a small unit of men. Corinth was ruled through tyranny (governance by which a tyrant took over political power by force). On the other hand, Athens developed a democratic system that allowed male citizens to share in its political power. The free inhabitants of Greek polis were offered citizenship, rich and poor alike. Male citizens were able to vote in regards to issues that concerned the government of their polis. It was expected that those who had political rights should participate in government affairs. Slaves and those born outside the polis were not given citizenship or allowed to vote. Though women had legal rights they were also not allowed to vote.

Some children were not just born into slavery; some were also sold into slavery. Such children may have been sold into slavery because of financial debt. Usually it was the daughter because the male children were needed to help out with manual labor on the farm. Being abandoned or disclaimed by their parents was another way children entered slavery. The parents would abandon their newborn baby upon a hillside or at the gates of the city to die or be claimed by a passerby. If a debtor was unable to repay his loans, he had to sell himself into slavery to pay them. Some people had no other choice but to become a slave. Therefore, the people in ancient Greece became slaves by being prisoners of war, born into slavery by financial debt or abandonment, or by selling themselves into slavery, if unable to pay loans.

In Allen McConnell’s American Slavic and East European Review he states, “Sparta rested upon a cruel exportation of the enslaved helots.” This explains to us that if the helots started to revolt or acted like it, they were immediately punished for how they were acting, often by death. The slaves were very useful to the Spartans though. Just like in Athens, the slaves of Sparta would have worked in the fields and mines in order to get more supplies and resources for the Spartan governments; but unlike in Athens, the Spartan slaves would not have been entrusted to run a business for a Spartan. In Athens slaves weren’t treated like an item as in other cultures. If a slave was mistreated by another the master could take action on the one who mistreated him. Likewise, if a master mistreated a slave any other Athenian citizen could prosecute that master. This was something that was not seen anywhere else because it showed that the slaves were more than a mere object that can be owned; they were

Slaves in ancient Greece were a vital aspect and a necessity in their civilization, as they were more than often the ones who were working. They were often the shopkeepers, miners, farmers, and domestic servants of cities, most were often sold into slavery by their family, born a slave, or were chosen as slaves due to debts they or their family

The history of the Greek Slave takes place during the dark times in the Greek Revolution of 1821-1832. The Greeks had been under the Turks for more than four-hundred years and wanted their freedom from the Turks so they decided to rebel against them. The Greeks never imagined they were to be held captive by the enemy. The Turks took away mostly Greek female prisoners who were beautiful and sold them in slave markets from Turkey and Egypt (OKSEV, Birgül Koçak 23). The female prisoners who were sold had similar characteristics because they were white Christian young ladies. This was the Turks revenge against the Greeks and earned profit from them by selling the prisoners to the highest bidders. “…Slavery of the Greeks by the Turks during the Greek war of Independence directed attention to harem and women slavery in general” (OKSEV, Birgül Koçak 23). The women who were acclaimed by the slave owners were really sexual predators who wanted them for self-indulgent purposes. Since the thirteen century the Turks have been stereotyped as rapist because of their un-Christian beliefs.

In Ancient Greece, more than 2500 years ago, and the surrounding city states, slavery was the normal condition, not the exception. It was not primarily an ethnicity or race issue. Slavery or ownership of another was an act of misfortune. When a freeman came across a slave, his thoughts were not about, race or education, he thought how unfortunate, for you, that you had been captured in war. The pillaging and plundering of other states and the taking of humans into bondage was just a common act for all people living at that time. Egypt was compelled to release their slaves

Throughout history, slavery has played a very prominent role in shaping the world's societies and economies. Across three time periods in particular, slavery throughout the world has notable similarities and differences in areas such as the status of slavery, the way slavery influenced society, and the motivation for a civilization to practice slavery. These time periods are the Renaissance (1300-1650), the Industrial Revolution (1700-1900), and World Wars I and II (1914-1945).

It is hard to believe that after the major issues slavery caused in the 1800s, it is still practiced around the world today. Many people are unaware of modern-day slavery altogether, let alone the problems with it. Even though it may not be occurring in places that most people are familiar with, we cannot neglect the fact of the matter. An article on modern-day slavery describes it as, “…a global industry making billions of dollars a year” (Onyanga-Omara 1). Slaves are put to work as laborers, farmers, housekeepers, and even prostitutes. Due to the variety of fields in which slaves can be put to work in, there is no limit as to how many individuals