What is a policy in Ancient Greece? The states-policies of Ancient Greece

In this article we will talk about Ancient Greece. More precisely, we will try to find an answer to the question of what a policy is in Ancient Greece.

In the 8th-9th century BC. E. Greece was not the only state, as, for example, the states of the Ancient East during its heyday. Greece was a country of policies.

The policy in Ancient Greece is a community of citizens, a collective of farmers and pastoralists who together live and together protect their land. Gradually, the policy changed, acquiring the features of the state. Its center was a walled city, with a trading area - an agora, a temple dedicated to the patron god of the city, various houses and the like. Around the city, farmers and shepherds settled. All land suitable for agriculture, lands and natural resources were considered the property of the community.

The owner of the land could only be a citizen. All citizens were members of the militia, who took up arms during a military threat. The people's assembly belonged to all power in the policy. The citizens of the village had the right to participate in it. There were different types of policies in ancient Greece.

They numbered dozens. The policies of ancient Greece were powerful. Their names are Athens and Sparta. The richest city was Corinth. Each policy had its own government, army and treasury, minted a coin.

Athens

Answering the question about what a policy is in Ancient Greece, the first state that should be considered is Athens. The territory of the Athenian policy occupied the entire peninsula of Attica in Central Greece. Athens itself is located in the center of a fertile plain 5 km from the sea.

The dominant position in the new state belonged to the tribal nobility. The main government positions were occupied by aristocrats. The supreme power belonged to the Areopagus, consisting of representatives of the tribal nobility, and to the archons - state officials (head, supreme priest, commander-in-chief, six public judges).

Gradually, poor members of the community swung open and were forced to borrow from the rich. On the land of borrowers put a debt stone. When they could not repay the debt with interest, they lost land. Hosts renting left only a sixth of the crop, and the rest was given to the owner of the land. The peasants scraped, became debtors, subsequently becoming slaves.

Solon Reforms

In the 8th-7th century BC. E. A certain part of the demos - merchants, owners of workshops and ships, wealthy peasants - got rich. Now they aspired to participate in the management of the policy, but they were deprived of this right. It was they who unrolled and led the struggle of the demos with the aristocracy.

In the midst of the turmoil, citizens turned to the Athenian policy of Solon, who headed the policy in Ancient Greece - this led to the implementation of several reforms. First of all, he abolished the debts of the Athenians and forbade debt slavery. The land plots were returned to the debtors. The Athenians, who were enslaved for their debts, were given freedom. From now on, no Athenian could be a slave!

Solon introduced the division of citizens into four categories - the richest, the wealthiest, the middle income and the poor - depending on the size of their property and income. Citizens of different ranks had different rights and performed various duties before the state.

The transformations that Solon made in the Athenian society, reoriented Athens to the path of democracy.

Tyranny in Athens

Twenty years have passed since the beginning of the reign of Solon, and the troubles began again in Athens. Relatives Solon, commander Pisistrat, in 560 BC. E. He seized power and began to rule in Athens alone, forcibly securing peace and consent in the Athenian polis. So in Athens, tyranny was established.

The lands of aristocrats who left the country were distributed among the peasants. For them, the tyrant imposed a tax (a tenth of the crop) than enriched the state treasury.
Pisistrat tried to promote the development of agriculture, crafts, trade, shipbuilding. He began a large construction in Athens: he ordered the building of temples, roads and water pipes. Famous artists and poets were invited to the city, the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" were written, which by that time were transmitted orally. Actually, it was during the reign of Pisistratus that Athens became the cultural center of Greece. Since then, their sea power also originates.

Completion of the formation of the Athens policy

Tyranny fell shortly after the death of Pisistratus (since his heirs ruled cruelly), and the first archon was elected legislator Klishfen. All the territory of the Athenian state, he divided into 10 districts, each of which consisted of three equal parts - coastal, rural and urban. Citizenship was now determined by belonging not to the genus, but to a particular district. Previously, the territory of the country was divided according to generic grounds. With this reform, Cleisthenes "mixed" citizens and gave them all the same rights. Thus, the influence of the nobility in government was reduced.

All citizens were now considered equal regardless of their property status: even the poor could occupy any public office. Thus, in Athens, power again found itself in the hands of the people.

Sparta

Mighty polis in ancient Greece was called Sparta. In the 9th century BC. E. On the Peloponnese Peninsula, in the Laconia region, the Dorians founded several settlements. Subsequently, they finally conquered the local Achaean tribes. In the 7th century. BC. E. The Dorians annexed the neighboring region of Messenia to their possessions. During the two Messenian wars, a state formation was formed, which was called Lacedemon (Sparta).

In the article we are looking for an answer to the question about what a policy is in Ancient Greece. Therefore, we will dwell in greater detail on the state structure of Sparta.

Government structure

Citizens of Sparta lived according to the laws, which, according to legend, were introduced by the sage Lycurgus. The leading role in the management of the Spartan state was played by the council of elders. The decision of the Council of Elders was approved by the People's Assembly. Participation in it was accepted only by citizens-soldiers who have reached 30 years.

Lycurgus made sure that all citizens of Sparta had equal rights, so that among them there were neither poor nor rich. Spartan families received the same plots of land, they could not be sold or given, because all the land in Sparta was considered the property of the state.

Spartans were forbidden to engage in crafts, trade, their only occupation was military affairs. Weapons and handicrafts made pereeks for them. The land allotment of the Spartan was processed by the helots. Spartans could not sell, fire or kill helots - the family of helots, like the land, belonged to the state.

Life of the Spartans

Analyzing the question of what a policy in Ancient Greece, let's briefly describe the life of the Spartans.

Spartans were brave, hardy warriors. They wore rough clothes, lived in the same one-story wooden houses. There were certain forms of hairstyles, beards and mustaches. During construction, it was allowed to use an ax, and only when making doors - a saw. From 16 years until his old age, the Spartan was obliged to serve in the army. At the age of 30 he was considered an adult and had the right to get a piece of land and get married.

So lived and developed the states-policies of ancient Greece.