2021

NAME: PRACHI GUPTA

ROLL NUMBER : 1234

[TOPIC : SOCIAL , ECONOMIC

AND POLITICAL ASPECT OF
ANCIENT GREECE]
 SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ASPECT
OF ANCIENT GREECE

When we speak of the ancient Greek civilization it is not the

Modern Greek nation-state that we speak of, which came into
being in early nineteenth century in the era of modern
nationalism. In speaking of the Greek civilization of the ancient
period we refer to a shifting geographical entity, with the
Mediterranean Sea as its core, which encompassed a small area,
then expanded as a result of conquests and then further as a
result of being conquered and assimilated, and finally being part
of a much larger entity as part of the expansion of Alexander’s
Empire. Broadly we can classify the period of Greek civilization
chronologically into:
• EARLY GREECE
• THE ‘DARK AGES’
• THE CLASSICAL GREECE
In terms of material culture and social formations, the rise of
Greek civilization is tied with the introduction and widespread
use of iron, as emphasized by Gordon Childe (1986) and Moses
Finley (1987). Continuity and change remained the hall mark of
Greece’s civilizational profile throughout the three periods
although some economic and political features dominated in a
particular stage while other aspects pervaded the entire antiquity
associated with Greek civilization.

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Modern society owes a

lot to the ancient
Greeks. The lives that
they led, their belief
system, and even the
way they created
buildings have left
SOCIETY lasting impressions that
can still be seen
PHILOSOPHY today. The society of
ancient Greece was
largely composed of
the following groups:

• Male citizens -
RELIGION three groups:
landed aristocrats
(aristoi), poorer
farmers (periokoi)
and the middle
class
(artisans and
traders).
• Semi-free
SOCIAL ASPECT labourers (e.g.
the helots
of Sparta).

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belonging to
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• Women - belonging to all of the above male groups but without

citizen rights.
• Children - categorized as below 18 years generally.
• Slaves - the douloi who had civil or military duties.
• Foreigners - non-residents (xenoi) or foreign residents
(metoikoi) who were below male citizens in status.

CLASSES

Although the male citizen had by far the best position in Greek
society, there were different classes within this group. Top of
the social tree were the 'best people', the aristoi possessing
more money than everyone else. A poorer, second class of
citizens existed too. These citizens were called
the periokoi (dwellers-round-about). A third group were
the middle, business class. However, the aristoi jealously
guarded their privileges and political monopoly by ensuring
only landowners could rise into positions of real power.

STATUS OF WOMEN
Female citizens had few rights in comparison to male
citizens. Spartan women were treated somewhat differently
than in other states; for example, they were permitted to own
land, and could drink wine. Women citizens had to marry as a
virgin and marriage was usually organized by the father. If a

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woman became a widow, she was required to marry a close male

relative in order to ensure property stayed within the family.
Women, of course, were also present in the non-citizen class.

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

In Athens, young adult citizens (aged 18-20) had to perform

civil and military service and their education continued with
lessons in politics, rhetoric, and culture. Girls too were educated
and the ultimate goal of a girl's education was to prepare her for
her role in rearing a family. At Sparta, boys as young as
seven were grouped together under the stewardship of an
older youth to be toughened up with hard physical
training.
FOREIGNERS
Aside from slaves, most Greek poleis would have had a number
of free foreigners (xenoi). These foreigners usually had to
register their residence and so became a recognized class
(lower in status than the full-citizens) called the metics
(metoikoi). The relationship between foreigners and local
citizens seems to have been a strained one, particularly in times
of wars and economic hardship.

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SLAVES
By the Archaic and Classical Periods slaves were to be found in
every sector of production, especially in mining, handicrafts and
agriculture. At the end of the Dark Age Sparta was already using
slave labour on a scale that was unprecedented. Sparta had
annexed the territory of Messenia located in the southern
Peloponnese and had converted the entire population of this
area into slaves. The Spartans introduced a peculiar form of
slavery called helotry’. The distribution of helots was
regulated by the state. In Athens slaves were mostly
privately owned. These slaves were regarded as property and
bought and sold in the market as commodities. The
prosperity of Athens during the Classical Period rested on the
expansion of slave labour.

RELIGION
The religion in ancient Greece was polytheistic, and their gods
not only looked human but could take on human form and
interact with others at will. Zeus was the ruler of the gods,
along with his wife, Hera. Temples were built to honor a specific
god, and each god or goddess would have his or her own domain.
For example, Poseidon was considered to be the god of the sea,

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while Demeter was the goddess of the harvest. Works like The
Iliad and The Odyssey provide more information about the gods
and goddesses that the people believed in and what their
different characteristics were.
DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT:
The ancient Greece may be credited with a very rich intellectual
contribution. Their intellectual tradition touched many aspects of
human society and knowledge. History, Philosophy, Mathematics and
Medicine were some of the main areas influenced by the ideas of the
Greek thinkers. The Ionian School of thought (c. 600 BC) was one of
the earliest philosophic traditions. Thales, Anaximandes and
Anazemenes were the main proponents of this school. Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle are considered as the most towering thinkers of
the classical Greek Philosophy. Plato (427-347 B.C.) established an
academy at Athens and taught philosophy. He is regarded as an
idealist’ and he believed that experience is unreal, only ideas are real.
He influenced later Arab and Western thought in a big way. Plato‘s
disciple Aristotle (384- 322 B.C) held ideas which were different from
those of his teacher. Both Plato and Aristotle were opposed to the idea
of involving masses in all decision making processes. They held the
view that people have a limited role to play in the government. This
was, to some extent, a reflection of the thinking of the elite in Athens
who believed in curtailing democratic rights.
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POLITICAL ASPECT
Ancient Greece witnessed a wide variety of government systems. Across
different Greek city-states and over many centuries, political power
expressed itself in different forms of government, often in the same city as
it evolved. Power could rest in the hands of a single individual, elite or in
every male citizen: democracy - widely regarded as the Greeks'
greatest contribution to civilization. Independence of a polis in
relation to another polis was the hallmark of Greek democratic politics, and
conquests and ‘colonization’ of new areas respected this.

THE TRANSITION PERIOD: ARCHAIC AGE AND

TYRANNY
Until the mid-seventh century BCE, most city-states were ruled like any
state during the ‘Dark Age’, by an aristocratic clan. Subsequently,
increasing social tensions arising out of rise in population, colonization of
new areas and changes in economy, led to the city being captured and
ruled by a new group. A new stage came with what is known as the period
of tyrannies. Under them the aristocracy based on birth and lineage no
longer monopolized power. This period formed the bridge between
monarchies and ancient democracies of classical Greece, most
notably in Athens.
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MONARCHY

DEMOCRACY OLIGARCHY

GREEK
GOVERNMENT

TYRANNY

DEMOCRATIC POLITICS IN ATHENS AND SPARTA

Sparta : Sparta did not go through the experience of tyranny like
Corinth and Athens, but after the conquest of Messenia (southwestern
part of the Peloponnese region) it acquired a huge slave population,
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owned by state but assigned differentially to its male citizen population,

along with some land plots which were allotted unequally, depending on
status and birth. At the helm, were two kings, with hereditary
rights and who were among the members of the Council
(gerousia). The Assembly was far more passive than in Athens. The most
important members were five magistrates or ephors, who wielded final
executive powers, and could easily overrule the Assembly. Surprisingly,
however, it was in Sparta that the medium peasantry in the form of
hoplites first achieved franchise, through the constitution of the city
state. Thus, the mixture of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy
was strongly tilted in favour of an oligarchic rule.
Athens: It evolved as the most democratic of the Greek states
through a long period of evolution of its legal codes and political structures.
Athens had a history of reforms that began prior to the 6th century
introduced by Solon. All three reforms had one thing in common: they
were steps designed to advance the community idea by protecting the
weaker majority from the excessive, and, so to speak, extra legal power of
the nobility. Solon divided the citizens into four classes, based on
landownership. The Council in Athens thereafter was a body of larger
representation, open to the first three classes that included the aristocrats,
the rich and middle peasantry. Only the first two held the military and

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political and juridical offices, while the most powerful in the city state
structure was the minority of big landowners.

ABOLITION OF
CHANGES IN THE DEBT INTRODUCTED
ADMINISTRATION CONSTITUTIONAL
OF JUSTICE REFORMS

REFORMS
INTRODUCED
BY SOLON

The Assembly was the most democratic in composition as compared with

other states, and every citizen had the right of participation and vote. The
primary political unit was the deme, of which every citizen was a
member. Peisistratus, in power from 545 to 527 BCE, was a tyrant, but in
keeping with the phase of tyranny in some Greek city-states, he carried on
some of the reforms and paved the way to the classical city-state. A
new stage came with Cleisthenes (570-508 BCE), The composition and
size of the Council or Boule was expanded, members being selected
on the basis of lots, and the lowest unit in the polis was now the deme,
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also constituted on territorial basis. These series of experiences with

administration and reforms became the basis for the Athenian
democracy of Classical Greece. However, one can say that the social
foundation of Athenian democracy was the abolition of debt bondage that
Solon had done by way of reform. This became a check on monopoly of the
large noble estates and brought stability in the medium and small farms.
Throughout the fifth century BCE, in classical Athens, the Assembly
remained the primary decision making body on all important issues:
proposals on war and peace, taxation, regulation of cults, armies, war
finance, public works, etc. as well as treaties and war negotiations. Above it
was a Council, also elected, of about 500 members, chosen by lot, for a
period of one year. Like Sparta, however, power in Athens too was
weighted in favour of the Council, though participation through
Assembly and demes was more open.
Most advanced Greek city-state in naval strength, Athens expanded into
larger areas, till its strength was undermined by the conquests of Alexander
(336-323 BCE).

PERSIAN WAR AND THE FORMATION OF DELIAN

LEAGUE
Wars with Persia coincided with this transition to classical Greece. The
Persians in their bid for expansion under Darius and then Xerxes came into

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conflict with the Greek states, which lasted from 500 to 450 BCE; and
secondly, among the Greek states especially Athens and Sparta, there was
a bid for supremacy. Sparta was the chief military power on land, while
Athens had the strongest navy. War with Persians meant unity had
to be forged for the purpose of defence, leading to the formation
of the Delian League in 478 BCE, a confederation of states under
the leadership of Athens. This got converted eventually into the
Athenian Empire, and Athens tried to bring the entire Peloponnesus
peninsula under its control, which led to conflict between Athens and
Sparta. Sparta had formed the Peloponnesian League to serve its
interests. The two phases of war between them, the First
Peloponnesian War between 431-421 BCE and the Second
Peloponnesian War between 421-404 BCE led to defeat of Athens
and destruction of its navy that had been the basis of its supremacy.
Sparta, in turn now had to face challenge from Thebes, a conflict that
continued up to 362 BCE. About this time Macedonia was becoming a
powerful power under Philip II, who defeated the Greek states at
Chaeronea. After him, his son Alexander the Great set out on his
conquests, which brought to an end the Classical period of Greece
and the polis.

ECONOMICAL ASPECT
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The ancient Greek economy is somewhat of an enigma. Nonetheless, the

ancient Greeks did engage in economic activity. They produced and
exchanged goods both in local and long distance trade and had monetary
systems to facilitate their exchanges.
The Debate about the Ancient Greek Economy: The ancient Greek
economy has been the subject of a long-running debate that continues to
this day. Briefly stated, the debate began in the late nineteenth century
and revolved around the issue of whether the economy was
“primitive” or “modern.” In addition, confusion arose over whether
the ancient Greek economy was like a modern economy in
quantity (scale) or quality (its organizing principles).

ATHENIAN
ECONOMY

SPARTAN
ECONOMY

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ATHENIAN ECONOMY
The Athenian economy was based on trade. The land around Athens
did not provide enough food for all the city’s people. But Athens was
near the sea, and it had a good harbor. So Athenians traded with other
city-states and some foreign lands to get the goods and natural
resources they needed. They acquired wood from Italy and grain from
Egypt. In exchange, Athenians traded honey, olive oil, silver, and
beautifully painted pottery. Athenians bought and sold goods at a huge
marketplace called the agora. In addition, Athenians bought and sold
slaves at the agora. Like most city-states, Athens developed its
own coins to make trade easier. Coins were made of such metals as
gold, silver, and bronze. One of their coins had an image of the
goddess Athena on one side. The other side pictured Athena’s
favorite bird, the owl.
SPARTAN ECONOMY

While the Athenian economy depended on trade, Sparta’s economy

relied on farming and on conquering other people. Sparta didn’t
have enough land to feed its entire people, so Spartans took the land
they needed from their neighbors. Because Spartan men spent their
lives as warriors, Sparta used slaves and non-citizens to produce
needed goods. The Spartans turned the neighbors they
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conquered into slaves, called helots. The helots continued to live in

their own villages, but they had to give much of the food they grew to
the Spartan citizens. The Spartans also made use of noncitizens, called
perioikoi. They might serve in the army when needed, but they could
not take part in Sparta’s government. The perioikoi made such
necessary items as shoes, red cloaks for soldiers, iron tools like knives
and pottery. They also conducted some trade with other city-states for
goods that Sparta could not provide for itself. In general, through,
Sparta discouraged trade. The Spartans feared that contact
with other city-states would lead to new ideas and weaken
their government.

CONCLUSION
The Ancient Greece civilization was one of the most sophisticated
civilizations in world history with many contributions in the field of art,
philosophy and politics. The social organizations have hardly changed at
all, as we still use monarchies, and democracies. Our religions have not
changed much compared to the religion of ancient Greece as modern
day religions also revolve around multiple gods. Hence, these
contributions have proved its significance through the years, a lot of
which have shaped modern concepts, theories, practices, as well as
ways of living.

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