Record of the Council of Akte Nea, About 420 BCE
1Akte Nea is a small Greek colony on the coast of the Black Sea. Like other Greeks, its settlers speak Greek, worship the same gods and send athletes to the Olympic Games, yet every Greek city-state runs its own affairs. Today the council must decide which city-state's government to copy. Each speaker may speak once.
2Ariston, a potter who once lived in Athens, spoke first. "In Athens, every citizen man may come to the Assembly, speak his mind and vote on laws and on war. Citizens are picked by lot to serve on the Council of 500 and on juries, so even a potter can hold office. Free debate sharpens minds. In the marketplace, a stonemason's son named Socrates asks people what justice and courage really mean, and he answers their replies with more questions. Athenians also pay for festivals where plays by writers such as Sophocles are performed, and they built the Parthenon, a marble temple to the goddess Athena."
3Damon, a soldier who once fought beside Spartans, answered. "Sparta has two kings and a council of elders. The assembly of citizen men shouts yes or no to what the leaders propose, but it does not debate. Long speeches waste time when enemies are near. From about age 7, Spartan boys live and train in groups to become soldiers, and no army in Greece is feared more. Spartan girls exercise too, and Spartan women may own land. Athens calls itself ruled by the people, but women, enslaved people and foreign-born residents there cannot vote."
4Damon also admitted a danger. "Spartan citizens do not farm. Helots, enslaved people who greatly outnumber the citizens, do that work, and Spartans live in fear that the helots will revolt."
5Next the council turned to a second question: how to spend silver from a good harvest. One member proposed hiring a doctor trained on the island of Kos, where followers of Hippocrates teach that diseases have natural causes, not punishments from the gods, and that a doctor should watch a patient closely and write down every sign. Another proposed building a theater for plays. The vote on both questions will be held tomorrow.