Of course at the bottom came the slaves who made up 35% of the population. Clearly the societal structure of these two poleis is very similar. .
Next one must compare and contrast the government of these two poleis. During this time Greece was composed of hundreds of small city-states who governed themselves. Athens was the most populated. At first, tyrants ruled it. Then, in 507 BC, the city formed a limited type of democracy. Every month a new set of 500 citizens were chosen by lot to form a council to decide political matters. This Council would prepare legislation for the assembly. Any male citizen was eligible for this council (only 40% of population was a citizen). Another aspect of Athenian government was the Board of Ten Generals. This group was elected and dealt with the army and navy. In addition, this group was the only branch of the government, which could declare war. Then there was the judiciary element of Athenian government called the Archon. This was a group of nine men elected every year who dealt with citizen cases. The Council of Areadagus dealt with the more serious crimes such as homicide or religious matters. They were the wealthy landowners and were not elected. Sparta on the other hand was governed in a different way. Spartan government was an odd affair, but its overwhelming characteristic was stability. The Spartans, in fact, had the most stable government in the history of ancient Greece. At the top of government was the monarchy; the monarchy, however, was a dual monarchy. Below the monarchy was a council, which was composed of the two kings plus twenty-eight nobles, all of whom were over sixty and retired from the military. The council debated and set legislative and foreign policy, and was the supreme criminal court. Below the council, was an assembly of all the Spartiate males that selected the council and approved or vetoed council proposals.
