Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. Athens government is a democracy which means all citizens get to take part. In Athens “ all men are on an equality” which means “ Not of the few but of the many” (doc 3 pericles). Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. Not everyone gets to participate.
In ancient Greece there were two major polises which allowed the Greek culture to achieve greatness during the 400-500 B.C.E. era. These two polises were Athens and Sparta; both city states differed in many ways before the start of the Persian War. There were low rugged mountains that separated these two city states so communication and travel were difficult. The government of these two city states can be seen as a primary difference between the two. Draco, Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleithenes were four leaders that greatly influenced the political development of Athens. Athens and Sparta differed primarily in their political, social, and economical aspects. But there were other difference that Athens and Sparta share which I will examine in this essay.
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
Were the people better served by the democracy in Athens or the oligarchy of Sparta?
Athens had a better government in my opinion. I think Athens had a better government because they created a democracy. According to the Athens and Sparta Document Set, a democracy means “rule by the people”. The Athens also got to abolish politicians they did not like. Athens also had ten generals, meanwhile, Sparta has two kings. In my opinion, I think that having ten generals is better than two kings because they understand you more. Sadly not all Ancient Athens were citizens, but if a free male would be a citizen if his father was a citizen of Athens. Later on, they changed that law, it was then bothering the father and mother had to be a citizen for the child to be considered a citizen. Sadly the women didn’t get that many rights but they soon they got more status. The Athens also made it to where not only the wealthy can engage in the jury service. In the Athens, you have to be an 18-year-old man to complete military training. On the other hand, in Sparta, you have to be a 30-year-old to complete military training. Basically, I’m trying to say that the Athens had a better
athens vs sparta “Athens was a democracy which means “rule by the people” ” . This quote is showing that Athens lets people have the right to say what they believe on and vote on what they choose. Athens would be a better place to live in than sparta because boys are not forced to join the army, many people could learn and get a decent education, and most importantly everyone has a right to say their opinion because their a democracy.
Imagine you had to choose between two very, very risky places to live in. Well, that is what people had to do 7,000 years ago. The two places are called Sparta and Athens, both had very harsh and violent laws. Trust me we are all very lucky to live in the places we do now compare to these two places. Now on to having to choose between the two, the only reason on why I would choose this place is because of the different laws for the men. Obviously, I would say that because I am a boy. I would rather live in Athens because of how fair the laws are compared to Sparta. There are many laws in Athens that are better than Sparta. One of the laws includes how they rule their kingdom. In Ancient Athens, it was run by the people themselves in the city. All of the citizens in Athens were happy they had that they had that freedom. In Ancient Sparta, there was not much freedom from voting for their rulers. The only reason that is because only a small group of wealthy, powerful men could rule Sparta. There are many more reasons why I think that Athens is better/ fairer.
As we look back upon the two significant differences in the governmental systems of Sparta and Athens, there are also many other characteristics that distinguish the differences and similarities of these two city states. The difference in land as well as population perceives a relative historical comparison. Sparta lacked land area and was forced to seek other land in the fertile plain of Messenia. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory.
ATHENS, THE CRADDLE OF DEMOCRACY, SPARTA, THE ART OF WAR Athens and Sparta, the two largest and most powerful cities in ancient Greece (between 800 and 323 BCE) were two different models of polis, their social, political and cultural values and ways of life were dramatically different. (Brand, n.d.)
So between Athens and Sparta both forms of Government were similar in ways but as time passed Sparta countered with the thought of two kings on the throne and letting one person gain absolute control. This is where the two separated until later. Even with similarities there were also difference between the two city's. Sparta was one to be ruled by few and Athens was all men are given the opportunity to vote and participate. Over time in Athens you seem to have a better chance of becoming somebody where in Sparta most people were slaves and under the control of the Aristocrats in the
Athens and Sparta, are two very powerful, and memorable civilizations. I have been spending time on researching both of these places, and deciding where I would rather live, as a young boy, and considering all of my options. After my research was done, I easily made my decision. I would rather live in, Sparta. My first reason for this claim is that, boys had a lot of weight to carry on their shoulders. By this I mean that, at the age of 7 boys could be thrown into the military to fight soldiers 2 to 6 times their age! Also, if the little boys were not impressing their parents as a soldier, they could over train them and kill their kids or over train them too much, and leave them out for dead, if they don’t kill them themselves. Another reason
Athens and Sparta differed in their ideas of getting along with the rest of the Greek empires. I think Athens would be a better place to live because it’s safer and you have a lot more freedom.
Athens By:Anabelle Ruf #23 This is a story about How Athens is better then Sparta. There is lots of reasons why Athens is better then Sparta but also there is some reasons why Sparta is better then Athens. Like the military is better in Sparta then Athens. But how does that help the world. NOTHING. It has done nothing to the world. Other then that and a couple other things Athens is better then Athens.
If I had to choose between living in either ancient city of Athens or Sparta, I would have to choose Sparta. As a woman, there are several advantages to being an ancient Spartan:
As the ancient Greek history shows, two well-known cities were Sparta and Athens. Each city-state was built on different and similar values. However if one was to compare these equally great city-states under the same umbrella, the question regarding which one had the best expression of arete would arise? In my critical opinion, Sparta was more representative of arete due to focusing completely on their primary goal: to be brave warriors.