Greek Poleis as a Result of Civil Strife Bailey Walton
Ancient Greece is well admired throughout the world, often being credited with the invention of history, the first democracies, and some of the first major cities, called poleis. These poleis were formed as result of civil strife within the territory, often caused by power imbalances, wealth inequality, or land shortages during the Archaic Age (800-480 BC). In order to relieve some of these stressors, reformations were created within the poleis, thus paving the way for prosperity. Sparta is a unique example of how civil strife led to social, political, and economic reforms throughout the poleis. Sparta is geographically set in a small valley situated between two mountain ranges. Because …show more content…
In 740 BC Sparta waged war against the Messenians, and succeeded in 720 BC1. The remaining Messenians were placed into helotage. Helots were enslaved peoples used by the Spartans for arbitrary and laborious tasks. Although the helots were suspected to have outnumbered the Spartans five to one, they were often kept in order by Spartan warriors. When Spartan elites could not afford to hire armies to protect the polis, private land-owning farmers stepped into the warrior role. These warriors, known as hoplites, consisted mostly of men who made enough to be able to afford their own armor, thus providing evidence of a supposed middling class. Approximately 30% of Spartan men could afford this panoply, making the group significantly larger in number when compared to the leading elites. The hoplites also established a new way of living in Sparta. This advanced lifestyle was intended to be a display of social unity, but quickly became a one-of-a-kind hero cult. At the age of seven, young boys in Sparta would join the elder men in the mess. The mess was where warriors would gather to eat meals, bathe, and sleep. It was at the messes where young boys …show more content…
Women were active in sports and often walked around in the nude in order to enforce a desire to maintain physical fitness. It was believed that if a woman was physically strong, so would be her uterus, and thus the fetus developing inside. If a man could not produce his own, it was sometimes witnessed where another respected warrior would impregnate his wife, and the infertile man would raise the child as his own. It is also mentioned that women appeared to be slightly more respected in Sparta than in other Greek poleis. There is a record of a woman claiming Spartan women are the only ones who can control their men, to which Queen Gorgo of Sparta responded “Because we are the only women capable of giving birth to real men.” Another major reformation witnessed in a polis at this time, was that of Athens. By the 7th century BC, Athens began to experience social tensions surrounding the topic of wealth inequalities. Social tensions in this period often resulted in tyrannies, which most of the elites wanted to avoid. As a result, the people placed a man by the name of Solon as head archon, the chief magistrate. Solon had been chosen for this position due to his
Ancient Greece is well admired throughout the world, often being credited with the invention of history, the first democracies, and some of the first major cities, called poleis. These poleis were formed as result of civil strife within the territory, often caused by power imbalances, wealth inequality, or land shortages during the Archaic Age (800-480 BC). In order to relieve some of these stressors, reformations were created within the poleis, thus paving the way for prosperity. Sparta is a unique example of how civil strife led to social, political, and economic reforms throughout the poleis. Sparta is geographically set in a small valley situated between two mountain ranges. Because …show more content…
In 740 BC Sparta waged war against the Messenians, and succeeded in 720 BC1. The remaining Messenians were placed into helotage. Helots were enslaved peoples used by the Spartans for arbitrary and laborious tasks. Although the helots were suspected to have outnumbered the Spartans five to one, they were often kept in order by Spartan warriors. When Spartan elites could not afford to hire armies to protect the polis, private land-owning farmers stepped into the warrior role. These warriors, known as hoplites, consisted mostly of men who made enough to be able to afford their own armor, thus providing evidence of a supposed middling class. Approximately 30% of Spartan men could afford this panoply, making the group significantly larger in number when compared to the leading elites. The hoplites also established a new way of living in Sparta. This advanced lifestyle was intended to be a display of social unity, but quickly became a one-of-a-kind hero cult. At the age of seven, young boys in Sparta would join the elder men in the mess. The mess was where warriors would gather to eat meals, bathe, and sleep. It was at the messes where young boys …show more content…
Women were active in sports and often walked around in the nude in order to enforce a desire to maintain physical fitness. It was believed that if a woman was physically strong, so would be her uterus, and thus the fetus developing inside. If a man could not produce his own, it was sometimes witnessed where another respected warrior would impregnate his wife, and the infertile man would raise the child as his own. It is also mentioned that women appeared to be slightly more respected in Sparta than in other Greek poleis. There is a record of a woman claiming Spartan women are the only ones who can control their men, to which Queen Gorgo of Sparta responded “Because we are the only women capable of giving birth to real men.” Another major reformation witnessed in a polis at this time, was that of Athens. By the 7th century BC, Athens began to experience social tensions surrounding the topic of wealth inequalities. Social tensions in this period often resulted in tyrannies, which most of the elites wanted to avoid. As a result, the people placed a man by the name of Solon as head archon, the chief magistrate. Solon had been chosen for this position due to his