Our next stop on our journey through ancient Greece will describe the government of Greece to you. Ask yourself the following questions and read the answers to learn more about how ancient Greece was ruled and who made the laws that you would have followed. Ancient Greece was divided into many small areas called city-states. The above picture is of Athens, the largest city-state in ancient Greece. Since the land was very mountainous, city-states were separated from each other, and it was very difficult to travel from one to another. Although Greeks within the city-states had similar traditions and trusted the same gods, they often fought with one another. Everyone was stubborn and believed that their city-state was better than all other city-states. Since city-states were separated from each other, each had its own government. When city-states were first formed, they were ruled by a few wealthy men. However, they moved toward democracy. Democracy is the form of government that we have in the United States. The word means rule by the people. In a democracy, the people vote on who they want to be their leaders. In Athens, the people were divided into three groups: 1. Upper class – male citizens of Athens since birth 2. Middle class – males who were not born in Athens Only men who were born in Athens were allowed to vote. They did this at public assemblies where upper class citizens discussed laws that might benefit Athens. These assembly meeting often got very noisy and led to many arguments between the men who were there.
The Term Paper on The religious beliefs and practices of Athens, Greece compared to the Gupta Empire
... rules. (Fustel de Coulanges) For instance, in ancient Athens receiving anal sex as a man was seriously condemned as it put him in ... Fustel de Coulanges, Numa D. The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome. Boston : Dover Publications ... the doctrine of karma. The ‘four noble truths’ of Buddhism state that all existence is suffering, that the cause of suffering ...
