When could ancient Greeks lose their jobs and if so was it possible to get another one?

Answer 1

The ancient Greek societies from Kingdome to Aristocracy to Tyranny and Democracy were mostly farming societies. At Kingdoms it was the King's duty to collect and redistribute the city's product among its citizen. Their rights were to bring arms and participate at wars defending their city and Kings. The people of a city that was conquered were enslaved and not slaughtered were obliged to work for their masters for their every day food. The educated ones were nursing/ teaching the children of their masters and were living a better life than their enslaved compatriots. At occasions some were released either in recognition of services provided or they bought their freedom. In the later cases that they gained freedom they could live within the city's territories without civil rights of the hosting city and were permitted to conduct business of services and trade. In case of wars were mobilized but had little involvement in the battlefield A similar mode of living existed in all other cases but the difference was that in the aristocratic system the city's land belonged to the families that had a royal or aristocratic descent. In tyranny the tyrants taxed everybody. In democracy the land belonged to individual citizens who with the help of slaves or paid labour cultivated their farms. If somebody lost or sold his land usually lost his citizenship and of course his civil rights to elect and be elected. The city rulers had to plan all public interest works i.e. roads, bridges, armour, ships of war, the city walls, theatres and everything was constructed with the city's funds from the taxation of all financial activity and the volunteer sponsorship of various projects and activities such as the performances of tragedies/ comedies by the wealthy persons of the city [actually they were competing about who would provide the best sponsorship]. The life of an average citizen in ancient Greece was organized to three hours work, three hours personal development -gym, education, literature, three hours leisure time/ personal care - breakfast, meals, hygiene, rituals, family issues and three hours city/ public issues [agora, ecclesia = parliament]. The above were applicable for the cities that moved in the time span from kingdom to democracy with most characteristic example the one of Athens. On the other hand Sparta and its allies maintained a system closer to kingdom with the involvement of the citizens in the government of the city/ kingdom. For instance there was a King/ General of all armed forces but in order to take a decision on war issues it should be approved by the political authority of the apella/ ecclesia=parliament of Sparta. The land belonged to the state and it was cultivated by the slaves of wars [είλωτες=helots]. Spartan citizens, men and women alike, from the age of six or seven were mobilized and lived their life in camps, where they were educated and daily trained for war and prepared to defend their state. Spartans were the only Greeks that did not participate to the Alexander's forces in his expedition to Persia that lead to the fall of the house of Achaemenid.