According to Pericles, the first benefit of democracy is that it allows citizens to have a voice in the country’s administration. Every individual has the opportunity to contribute to the governance of the country. The government consults the people on various issues before it makes decisions. That is vital since it ensures everyone has a stake in the government deliberations and themselves with those decisions because they are best for their interest. Also, democracy promotes a sense of belonging. Through democracy, Athenians were working and fighting together as a team (Taylor, 2018). All the people in the country felt ownership of their country and the operations of their government. Besides that, democracy promotes openness and honesty among the people. Democracy gives people an opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas freely. Athenians were ready to negotiate with the Melons to make their views.
The first reason for Athens’s greatness is its unity of purpose. The Athenians lived together in their ancestral land, where inheritance was passed from one generation to another. The people go to war as one to defend their community against hostile attacks of the barbarians and Greeks. Therefore, this brought peace and harmony to Athenians by working together. Also, Lazenby (2014) notes that the Athenians practice politics that does not emulate their neighbour’s customs. The Athens like and enjoy their culture; they do not imitate other foreign customs. Their culture is safeguarded and celebrated by all the people in the country as it brings them together. The country is governed through democracy, whereby every individual has equal access to the law, and one can be chosen for public service based on individual merit. In addition, Athenians are generous to each other in their public affairs. The people like complimenting each other, but they keep watchful eyes on each other as they engage in their daily activities (Taylor, 2018). People are friendly to each other they do not get angry with their neighbours even if one does something which does not please them. Besides that, Athens respects and obeys the law. The citizens are afraid of breaking the laws as they are administered by whoever is in power. All laws, including those enacted by the statute or unwritten ones, as far as they are meant to relieve victims from oppression, all citizens obey them.
On the other hand, Athens holds games and festivals regularly to celebrate life. People like celebrating away from their daily activities through various games and festivals. They enjoy the merchandise from all over the world.
Furthermore, the Athens military training is unique from their Spartan opponents. They keep foreigners from seeing and learning things that benefit their enemies. They boast powerful equipment, and the citizen dares to engage in war (Lazenby, 2014). Therefore, they can attack their enemies on foreign soil and defeat them.
Athens’s politics does not emulate the customs of other people. Athens believes in the rule of law and practices democracy. Where people preserve their culture and obey the laws that govern the country. On the other hand, the Spartans practice politics that embrace other countries customs. They have adopted their neighbour’s culture and customs, which do not conform to democracy and the rule of law. Also, the Athens are generous to each other they complement each other and correct those who go against the laws (Avgousti, 2018). People are recruited to public service based on merit, and they are corrected if they misuse their office and positions. Unlike the Spartans, who are generous to each other, no one compliments another. People get to public service based on their connection and relationship with those in power. The people keep quiet on those found misappropriating public resources.
References
Avgousti, A. (2018). A Companion to Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic, edited by Dean Hammer. Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, 35(2), 577–581.
Lazenby, J. F. (2004). The Peloponnesian War. Routledge.
Taylor, C. (2018). Economic Inequality, Poverty, and Democracy in Athens. In Democracy, Justice, and Equality in Ancient Greece (pp. 39–62). Springer, Cham.
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