I got to tell ya, their beds aren't that bad for being ancient. Anyway, today there was this man walking outside shouting something in greek, he said that there would be a voting taking place at the square down south. It would be about wether or not to help Sparta out with their small dilemma. He went on ranting about how their form of government was what made them stuck in this problem. I learned that Sparta's form of government is called an Oligarchy, which means it is ruled by a powerful few. He said that Athens had a Democracy in which the citizens had the power. That made them/us special. |
I decided to see what the vote looks like. There were these people standing on a podium talking about something and then someone else would go up and counter that. It was sort of like a debate. I thought, 'This is a democracy, but it is very different from the US.' Turns out this democracy is called Athenian, or Direct Democracy. the citizens just vote on a subject rather than (like the US or Rome) electing an official to represent them. That is called a Representative Democracy. Well, Rome was into that type of democracy until Tyrants took over, they called themselves "Caesars." All of a sudden, Democracy slowed down and another form of government called a Monarchy arose. There is one more type of Government that I didn't mention and it is called Theocracy, or a kingdom ruled by religious people. Vatican is an example of a Theocracy. I've learned too much. I think I have a headache. I'm going to sleep now. Bye. | |