The economic system of ancient Greek cities can include operations on the commodity market, work, services in order to profit and meet the needs of residents of policies. The economic activities of Athens, like Sparta, were mainly focused on agriculture. A little later, it includes the sale of goods, which was facilitated by access to the sea routes.
The economic activities of Athens are significantly different from Sparta due to the different organization and way of life. Although both policies have a common feature - the use of slave labor to satisfy all the needs of the ruling elite. Caught in debtors and having lost land, peasants could also be in distress and give back crops from their lands as a payment of debt.
Economic Development Conditions in Ancient Greece
In ancient Hellas technical progress was in full swing - this determined the beginning of the archaic era. Iron was widely distributed, which influenced production - from craft it took on a serial character. The advent of additional funds accelerated the development of workshops and became an incentive for larger trading. Because of this, small and medium-sized peasant farms stopped, debt slavery was becoming more common. The sharp increase in the number also affected the situation among landowners - the struggle for territory is becoming tougher.
There is a crushing of peasant plots and their concentration in the hands of generic noble families. All this entails an increase in the agrarian crisis. In society, stability is violated, over time, tyrannical regimes appear. Technological progress has made craft activities more independent economically and socially. It combines with trade. A layer of the population appears in society that controls the craft — it is the nobility that connected economic activity only with trade. Slaves are used to carry out large volumes of work. Debt slavery is gaining momentum, many peasants are bankrupt and deprived of land.
The economic activity of Athens, and Sparta, and Rome had its own characteristics and was quite different from the eastern one. Economic prosperity and development was based on slave labor, it was the slaves who became the producers of all the material goods of these policies. Prisoners of war or slaves sold in special markets fell into their category. Often among the slaves were representatives of the barbarian peoples, which were sold by the ruling aristocracy. The state forbade making its citizens such.
Agriculture in Ancient Greece
Agriculture was the main activity, the inhabitants of the country grew wheat and barley, but the volume of the crop was insufficient. Due to the hilly terrain and rocky soil, it was difficult to plow and cultivate. The local territory was more suitable for growing oil and fruit trees, vines. Gardening has replaced grain farming. Due to the high harvest of olives and grapes, the local population not only provided their needs, but also started selling products. However, this required a surge of labor, which became the slaves.
The Greeks also raised sheep, workers and draft animals. Cattle breeding was present, but on a small scale. The ancient Greeks were more indifferent to meat and milk and did not use them as staple foods. The breeding of horses, the economic activities of Athens in ancient Greece, also did not pay much attention. Agriculture was diversified, there was a commodity orientation.
Craft in ancient greece
Among the most important handicraft industries, construction production and shipbuilding can be distinguished, much attention was paid to ceramics and weaving, mining and blacksmithing. There were a number of small workshops called ergasteria. The results of economic activity, such as the ever-increasing demand for a raw material base, which was not enough in local areas, the overcrowding of the domestic market with wine and oil, and the expansion of the sphere of handicraft production, prompted the Greeks to actively trade.
Trading in Ancient Greece
Greek crafts and trade were interconnected. In the market, craftsmen sold their products, bought raw materials and tools for work, slaves and food products were sold here. At the bazaars, it was possible to purchase resin, wood, leather, honey, ivory, iron, and craft products.
Athenian and Spartan type of economic activity
The economic activities of Athens and Sparta differed. The first type was understood as a state with developed trade and craft activities, commodity-money relations. In these policies, developed production was built on the labor force of slaves, the device is democratic. The mass labor of slaves is one of the reasons why economic activity has successfully developed. Athens, Megara, Rhodes, Corinth are examples of such policies. States with this type of economic activity were usually located by the sea, the territory was small, but the population was quite large. Policies were the centers of Ancient Greece, under their influence was all economic activity - Athens was considered the most important.
The Spartan type includes agrarian states in which agriculture predominates - trade, commodity-money relations and crafts are poorly developed. There are a large number of dependent workers, an oligarchic type device. These states include Sparta, Boeotia, Arkady and Thessaly.
The economic activity of Sparta in ancient Greece
After conquering a well-populated territory, the Dorian nobility realized the need for constant population control in order to maintain strict discipline. This influenced the early emergence of the state. Agriculture always prevailed in Sparta. Spartan politics aimed to seize the territories of its neighbors in order to expand its territories. After the Messenian Wars, each Spartiate (community family) received the same plots of land or claire. They were intended only for use, it was impossible to share them. Helots worked on claires (rural population), and the Spartians devoted all their time to military affairs, the organization of economic activity did not concern them.
After Messenia lost its independence, almost its entire population became helots. Since then, the economy of Sparta has rested on their exploitation. Each helot paid the citizen the established rate of tribute with grain, oil, meat, wine and other agricultural products. Apophora (dues) accounted for about half of the total crop, the workers kept the rest. Owing to such partial independence, sometimes prosperous residents met among them. However, the social situation of the Helots was terrible, however, the developing economic activities of Athens also forced the slaves to a huge amount of work to satisfy all their needs.
Modern Sparta
To date, the city has lost its former greatness. In the 19th century, most of it was rebuilt. Modern Sparta is a large capital that attracts tourists. Most of the territory is allocated for agricultural activities. In 2001, the population was 18 thousand people. Most of the local population is engaged in agriculture. Particular attention is paid to the processing of olive and citrus fruits. Sparta has been famous for this since ancient times. In summer, you can even see the festival in honor of the olives. The process of processing the fruits of these trees can be found in the museum of the city. The chemical, tobacco, textile and food industries are represented in modern Sparta by small enterprises.
Economic activity of Athens in Ancient Greece
The early history of Attica and Athens (the main city) does not contain much information. The closed dominant nobility was called the Eupatrides, and the rest of the free population was called the demos. The economic activities of Athens in the ancient era depended on the labor of the second category of citizens and slaves. Among the latter can be attributed small and medium peasants, shipowners, merchants, small artisans, etc. In the 7-6 centuries BC. e. the rural population is in decline, the peasantry is ruined, it is increasingly losing land. Barley is the most common bread crop that could grow on the lands of Attica. From the 6th century BC e. Agriculture is concentrated on the cultivation of olives and grapes. In the bowels of Attica mined valuable varieties of marble, plastic clay used in pottery. Also, this territory was famous for the richest silver mines in the whole country. There were also iron mines in the southern part of Attica. The economic activities of Athens in ancient times developed thanks to the fertile lands of the Pedion Plain, located next to the city.
Usury and trade are not very common yet, but over time they are becoming more widespread. Land is an integral property of the family and is not subject to sale or repayment for debts. However, the Eupatrid moneylenders came up with a way by which the debtors, formally remaining the owners, actually had to give most of the harvest from their territory. Many aristocrats were enriched by maritime trade rather than land ownership.
With the advent of Solon, a series of reforms took place; the economic activities of Athens are experiencing improvement. Foreign slaves are imported to work on agricultural land, the social and economic life of the free part of the community is rising. Solon permits the alienation of land, which becomes a big benefit for large landowners-Eupatrides. The cultivation of horticultural crops is encouraged, the cost of bread is reduced due to the export and sale of olive oil abroad and the introduction of a ban on grain exports. The financial situation of citizens improved.
According to history, Solon also encouraged the expansion of crafts, realizing the impossibility of a limited number of fertile land to feed the inhabitants. Each father had to teach his son some skill, otherwise the son would be able, according to the law, to refuse support to the elder father. Economic activity also depended on many artisans from foreign countries, Athens endowed the citizens who resettled in the city with their citizenship. With the advent of the tyrant Pisistratus, the economic power of the city intensifies. With the growth of the urban population, the number of craft workshops, workers in the port, merchant and military fleets also increased. Not only slaves were involved in the work, but also peasants who did not have land, as well as workers with the right to choose. The creation of new foreign and domestic markets for the sale of agricultural products of Athens and all of Attica. Most of all, olive oil was sold. At the reign of Pisistratus, the Black Sea coast gave archaeologists and historians evidence of trade in the Northern Black Sea region and Athens under Attic ceramics.
Modern athens
The second half of the 19th century was marked by rapid economic growth in Athens. After the city becomes the capital, industrial enterprises appear. Due to the favorable economic and geographical position, the main land routes of Greece overlooked the spacious sea routes. In Greater Athens, more than half of the population is employed in manufacturing. Here are the textile, leather and footwear, sewing, food, chemical, metalworking and metallurgical, printing and other industries. The shipyard, metallurgical and oil refineries remained in the vicinity of Athens after the war. The city processes more than 2.5 million tons of oil annually; most of the import (about 70%) and about 40% of export are transported through it. The largest Greek banks are in Athens. The end of 2009 was the beginning of a recession in the economy and economic activity.
Economic activity of Athens and Sparta
| Athens | Sparta |
The economic activities of Athens in antiquity included agriculture, craft, sea trade. There is a variety of industries. Modern agriculture in Athens is in decline, the economic crisis has dealt a significant blow to many enterprises in the city. | In Sparta, crafts and trade were poorly developed. Ilons were engaged in agriculture, the citizens themselves devoted all their time to the martial arts. In modern Sparta, the main activity is the processing of fruits of olive and citrus trees and their export. |
The appearance of cities, as well as the economic activities of Athens and Sparta, have changed significantly since ancient times. It would seem that they have lost their former power, but no one knows what history will write for these two ancient policies in the future.