Home Search Sitemap Contact Bookmark

Free Dissertations - Classics Dissertations

This System Was, Therefore, Democratic, With Decisions Being Taken Based On ...

This system was, therefore, democratic, with decisions being taken based on the decisions of democratically elected Ephors.
The issue as to whether the Spartan decision-making process was a public affair, with a fair degree of popular participation, or whether it was a process dominated by a controlling oligarchy, is a difficult question to answer with a definite ‘yes' or ‘no'. As we have seen, the mode of governance of Sparta changed across Sparta's history, although one defining characteristic of Spartan governance, through the laws and the political system in place was that military excellence was paramount, and indeed, as we saw through the analysis of MacDowell, laws in Sparta were directed towards the attainment, and maintenance, of military excellence. At all times, however, Spartan government was, throughout its history, based on some form of oligarchy (i.e., a form of government in which political power rests with a small, elite, segment of society). At times, this oligarchy included elders, dual kingships and Ephors, at other times, this oligarchy was made up of just Ephors; at all times, however, even despite the fact that the Ephors were elected democratically, and that, as Aristotle argues, these Ephors were often not fit for duty, in his opinion, these Ephors represented a small number of Spartans, who effectively made decisions on behalf of all Spartans, and, as such, this form of governance can be classed as oligarchical. Thus, under this definition, indeed, Spartan decision-making was oligarchical in origin, although with some small public participation, in that the public could vote to choose who would be the Ephors for t hat year. Thus, decision-making in Sparta was not a public affair per se as decision-making was, ultimately, left in the hands of publicly-elected Ephors, and, as such, could be argued to be dominated by an oligarchy.

Bibliography
Contemporary References
Aristotle - Politics 1270b17-28
Plutarch - Lykourgos VI (Great Rhetra etc)
Diodorus Siculus XI.50.1-7 (decision making episode 475/5BC)
Thucydides I.79-87 (assembly debate 432BC)
Xenophon Hellenika II.4.27-38 (decision making in 403BC)
Xenophon Hellenika V.4.24-33 (trial od Sphodrias 378)
Modern References
Cartlege P (1987) Agesilaos and the crisis of Sparta (london) ch9
Dickins, G. (1912). The Growth of Spartan Policy. The Journal of Hellenistic Studies 32, 1-42.
Euben, J.P. (1986). The Battle of Salamis and the Origins of Political Theory. Political Theory 14(3), pp.359-390.
Fliess, P.J. (1959). Political disorder and constitutional form: Thucydides' critique of contemporary politics. The Journal of Politics 21(4), pp.592-623.
Hodkinson, S. (1986). Land tenure and inheritance in classical Sparta. The Classical Quarterly 36(2), pp.378-406.
Hodkinson, S (2000). Property and wealth in Classical Sparta (london) ch11
MacDowell D M (1986) Spartan Law, Chapter 7.
Whitby, M. (ed) (2002) Sparta, pp.


Thanks