The economic system of ancient Greek cities includes operations in the commodity market, work, services for the purpose of making a profit and meeting the needs of residents of policies. The economic activity of Athens, like Sparta, was mainly focused on agriculture. A little later, it includes the sale of goods, which was facilitated by access to sea routes.
The economic activity of Athens is 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 meet all the needs of the ruling elite. Being in debt and losing their land, the peasants could also fall into distress and give away the harvest from their lands as payment for the debt.
Conditions for the development of economic activity 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 affected production - from handicraft it took on a serial character. The appearance of additional funds accelerated the development of workshops and became an incentive for larger trade. Because of this, small and medium-sizedpeasant farms, debt slavery was increasingly common. The sharp increase in numbers has also affected the situation among landowners - the struggle for territory is getting tougher.
There is a fragmentation of peasant plots and their concentration in the hands of tribal noble families. All this leads to an increase in the agrarian crisis. Stability is broken in society, tyrannical regimes appear over time. Technological progress has made handicraft activities more independent economically and socially. It is combined with trade. A stratum of the population appears in society that controls the craft - this is the nobility, which connected economic activity only with trade. Slaves are used to perform large volumes of work. Debt slavery is gaining momentum, many peasants are ruined and deprived of land.
The economic activities of Athens, and Sparta, and Rome had their own characteristics and were quite different from the eastern ones. Economic prosperity and development was based on slave labor, it was the slaves who became the producers of all the material benefits of these policies. Their category included prisoners of war or slaves sold in special markets. Often, representatives of the barbarian peoples, who were sold by the ruling aristocracy, were recorded as slaves. The state forbade making its citizens as such.
Agriculture in Ancient Greece
Agriculture was the main activity, the inhabitants of the country grew wheat and barley, but the harvest volume wasinadequate. The hilly terrain and rocky soil made it difficult to plow and work. The local territory was more suitable for growing oil and fruit trees, vines. Horticulture has replaced grain farming. Due to the high harvest of olives and grapes, the local population not only provided for their needs, but also started selling products. However, this required an influx of labor, which became the slaves.
The Greeks also bred 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 economic activity of Athens in ancient Greece also did not pay much attention to breeding horses. Agriculture was diversified, there was a commodity orientation.
Craft in Ancient Greece
Among the most important handicraft industries are the construction industry and shipbuilding, much attention was paid to ceramics and weaving, mining and blacksmithing. There were a number of small workshops, which were called ergasterii. The results of economic activity, such as the ever-increasing need for a raw material base, which was not enough in local areas, the overcrowding of the domestic market with wine and oil, the expansion of handicraft production, pushed the Greeks to active foreign trade.
Tradein Ancient Greece
Greek crafts and trade were intertwined. In the market, craftsmen sold their products, bought raw materials and tools for work, slaves and food products were sold here. In the bazaars one could buy resin, wood, leather, honey, ivory, iron, handicrafts.
Athenian and Spartan type of economic activity
The economic activities of Athens and Sparta differed. The first type was understood as states with developed trade and handicraft 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 for the successful development of economic activity. 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 numerous. The policies were the centers of Ancient Greece, all economic activity was under their influence - Athens was considered the most important.
The Spartan type includes agrarian states in which agriculture prevails - trade, commodity-money relations and handicrafts are poorly developed. There are a large number of dependent workers, an oligarchic type of organization. Such states include Sparta, Boeotia, Arcadia and Thessaly.
Economic activities of Sparta in Ancient Greece
After conquering a well-populated territory, the Dorian nobility realized the need for constantpopulation control to maintain strict discipline. This influenced the early emergence of the state. Agriculture has always prevailed in Sparta. Spartan politics aimed to capture the territories of their neighbors in order to expand their territories. After the Messenian Wars, each Spartiata (family of the community) received the same plots of land or cleres. They were intended only for use, it was impossible to share them. Helots (rural population) worked on the clerks, and the Spartans devoted all their time to military affairs, the organization of economic activity did not concern them.
After Messenia lost its independence, almost all of its population became helots. Since then, Sparta's economy has been based on their exploitation. Each helot paid the citizen a fixed rate of tribute in grain, butter, meat, wine and other agricultural products. Apophora (tire) accounted for about half of the total crop, the rest of the workers kept for themselves. Thanks to this partial independence, sometimes among them there were we althy residents. However, the social situation of the helots was terrible, however, the developing economic activity of Athens also forced the slaves to a huge amount of work to satisfy all their needs.
Modern Sparta
Today, the city has lost its former greatness. In the 19th century, most of it was rebuilt. Modern Sparta is a major capital that attracts tourists. Most of the territory is allocated for agricultural activities. In 2001, the population was 18thousand 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 a festival in honor of 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.
The economic activity of Athens in Ancient Greece
The early history of Attica and Athens (the main city) does not contain much information. The closed ruling nobility was called eupatrides, and the rest of the free population was called demos. The economic activity of Athens in ancient times depended on the labor of the second category of citizens and slaves. The latter include small and medium peasants, shipowners, merchants, small artisans, etc. In the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. the rural population is in decline, the peasantry is ruined, it is increasingly losing land. Barley is the most common cereal crop that could grow in 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, valuable varieties of marble were mined, 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 activity of Athens in antiquity developed thanks to the fertilethe lands of the Pedion Plain, located near the city.
Usury and trade are not yet very common, but over time they are becoming more widespread. The land is an inalienable property of the family, not subject to sale or return for debts. However, Eupatride usurers devised a method by which debtors, formally remaining owners, actually had to give away most of the harvest from their territory. Many aristocrats enriched themselves through maritime trade rather than land ownership.
With the coming to power of Solon, a number of reforms take place, the economic activity of Athens is improving. Foreign slaves are brought in to work on the agricultural land, and the social and economic life of the free part of the community improves. Solon allows land to be alienated, which becomes a great benefit for large Eupatride landowners. 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 the export of grain. The financial situation of the townspeople improved.
According to history, Solon also encouraged the expansion of crafts, realizing the impossibility of a limited amount of fertile land to feed the inhabitants. Each father had to teach his son some kind of skill, otherwise the son could, according to the law, refuse to support the elder father. Economic activity also depended on many artisans from foreign countries, Athens endowed the masters who moved to the city with their citizenship. With the coming of a tyrantPeisistratus strengthened the economic power of the city. With the growth of the urban population, the number of craft workshops, workers in the port, merchant fleet and military increased. Not only slaves were involved in labor, but also peasants who did not have land, as well as workers with the right to choose. There is a creation of new external and internal markets for the sale of agricultural products of Athens and all of Attica. Most of all, olive oil was provided for sale. The Black Sea coast gave archaeologists and historians evidence of the trade of the Northern Black Sea region and Athens during the reign of Peisistratus - 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. Thanks to its favorable economic and geographical position, the main land routes of Greece led to spacious sea routes. In Greater Athens, more than half of the population is employed in the manufacturing industry. There are textile, leather and footwear, clothing, 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 per year, most of the imports (about 70%) and about 40% of exports are transported through it. The largest Greek banks are located in Athens. The end of 2009 was the beginning of a recession in the economy and economic activity.
The economic activity of Athens and Sparta
| Athens | Sparta |
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The economic activity of Athens in antiquity included agriculture, handicrafts, maritime trade. There is a variety of industries. Modern agriculture in Athens is in decline, the economic crisis has de alt a heavy blow to many businesses in the city. |
In Sparta, crafts and trade were poorly developed. The Ilons were engaged in agriculture, the citizens themselves devoted all their time to the military 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.
