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Each city‐state was unique, and so it is impossible to describe a “typical” Greek city‐state. Instead, Sparta and Athens are often seen in contrast, with Sparta the most atypical and Athens the most typical. Sparta was founded by the Dorians who migrated from northern and northwestern Greece and settled in the Peloponnesus around 950 BC. The city of Sparta dominated the plain of Laconia. The local inhabitants were conquered by the Spartans and became state slaves called “helots.” Though there were two kings, a Popular Assembly, and a Council of Elders, Sparta was actually governed by a committee of five Ephors, elected annually by the Popular Assembly. Their role was to guard the rights of the citizens, supervise the kings, conduct foreign affairs, and guard against a revolt of the helots.

Sparta remained an armed camp, on guard against a revolt by the enslaved helots. Much like in a twentieth‐century totalitarian state, the individual ceased to exist and became an organic part of the state. Spartans were raised to become but one thing, a soldier ready to die for the city‐state. What perplexes the modern mind is the pride with which the Spartan citizen forwent any luxury, any material comfort, and even the desire to think freely for the perceived welfare of Sparta.

The Spartans contributed nothing to philosophy or cultural life. When Sparta's time came to an end, it left behind only the memory of a great warrior tradition, nothing else, not even any impressive ruins. Athens, on the other hand, left behind some of the most impressive ruins of ancient history (e.g. the Parthenon). So rich is the cultural legacy of classical Athens, that it would be difficult, if even impossible, to think of Western Civilization minus Athens.

Athens is located in Attica on the eastern edge of central Greece. It was ruled by kings until 683 BC, when the king was replaced by a board of Archons who served one‐year terms. This aristocratic government was corrupt, leading to the oppression of the poor peasants. To avert civil war, Solon (c. 630–c. 560 BC), a moderate Archon, was given authority to institute reforms in the spirit of noblesse oblige. Rather than seek answers from the gods, Solon applied reason to the city‐state's problems. The ills of society, he reasoned, were due to human behavior, not the will of the gods. Solon sought practical solutions that would restore harmony between man‐made laws and the natural laws of the universe.

Solon's reforms included an end to debt slavery, and opening up of opportunities for the commoners to participate, though in a limited way, in the governing process. His economic reforms included the introduction of new industries, including the production of wine and olive oil for export, and the granting of citizenship to foreign craftsmen willing to settle in Athens. Solon stopped short of introducing land reform or democracy. He remained committed to aristocratic government. The lot of the poor did improve, but he meant for the aristocracy to retain the guiding role in government.

Solon's reforms went too far for the aristocrats, but not far enough to satisfy the poor. There followed a period of factional strife. By 560 BC, the citizens were divided into three factions: the landed aristocrats, the new commercial middle class, and the poor small farmers. The stage was set for the appearance of the first tyrant.

Pisistratus (608–527 BC), a nobleman by birth, rose to power on the discontent of the masses. He ruled as tyrant from 546 BC to 528 BC. He gave Athens stability and prosperity. Peisistratus instituted a land reform program through which land, some of it confiscated from aristocrats, and loans were offered to small farmers. An ambitious public works program which beautified the city and provided jobs for the poor was implemented. Olive oil production and trade were encouraged. Peisistratus used public funds to patronize the fine arts and sponsor public festivals. In 566 BC, he founded the Panathenaic Games that included music, poetry, and drama, as well as sporting events. Some believe that Peisistratus' reforms laid the basis for Athens' subsequent cultural leadership. Pisistratus' two sons, Hipparchus and Hippias, tried to continue the tyranny. Hipparchus was assassinated in 514 BC during the Panathenaic Games. The Spartans intervened in 510 BC to restore aristocratic rule. The result was the rise of yet another tyrant, or should one say, reformer.

Reforms instituted by Cleisthenes (c. 570–c. 508 BC) centered on what he called demokratia, the rule of the people, that is, the entire body of citizens. Only free, adult males, about 20% of the population of Athens, were citizens. The citizens were divided into 10 tribes, each of which chose by lot 50 of their own who would sit in the new Council of 500. The Council of 500 set the agenda for the Popular Assembly of all of the citizens who passed the laws. Cleisthenes also introduced the practice of ostracism, whereby, once a year, the citizens could vote to expel any prominent citizen from the city‐state for a period of 10 years. Athenian government as reformed by Cleisthenes served Athens for two and one‐half centuries.

Figure 2.2 The Pnyx was a hill in Athens where the citizens of Athens gathered as the Popular Assembly.

Source: Photo courtesy of Brent Kooi, private collection.

Some have chosen to see the political history of Athens as a cycle of government from monarchy, to oligarchy, to tyranny, and finally democracy. But the so‐called democracy had little, if anything, in common with modern representative democracy. The latter evolved out of medieval feudalism rather than the demmokratia of classical Athens. Classical Greek political theory always subordinated the individual to the city‐state. There was no concept of individual rights. Peter Stearns (b. 1936) puts it well when he observes that, “If there was a Geek political heritage, among the chaos of city‐states, it was on the whole absolutist, even totalitarian” (Stearns 1977, p. 30).

Cleisthenes passed from the scene around 508 BC, less than one decade before Athens and the rest of the Greek city‐states entered upon their most momentous century. It was during the fifth century BC that classical Greek civilization experienced both its golden age and rapid decline. Its moment of greatness was inspired in part by the Persian Wars (499–479 BC). The defeat of Persia was seen by the Greeks as the victory of a free people over a slave empire, and thus inspired greatness in the Greeks, especially the Athenians.