Athens Vs. Sparta

The city-states Athens and Sparta were rivals in ancient Greece. Geographically the two were very close to each other, but they had a very different economy, cultural values, and way of governing. Both city-states had two very different ways of doing things. I will be highlighting the major differences.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

When you think of the first governments you think of Athens and Rome, but which one was a better system? Athens and Rome were both great governments because they both elected officials. Well which was a better system Athens or Rome? Rome was a better system thn Athens because they were more organized, they were more freely given to citizenship, and they had less people in their council.

The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that

Have you ever think about what Rome and Athens had people achieve to become a citizen of Ancient Rome or Athens? These two civilizations started before Jesus was born. The civilizations had advanced societies and both valued citizenship. Rome was a patriotic empire, while Athens was a democratic city. Rome has a better system of citizenship because of Rome’s senate, tolerance for other civilizations, and their censors.

During the late Archaic Greek and Classical periods, two particular city-states were in existence with significant similarities as well as differences. These two city-states, Sparta and Athens have unique formations of government, histories, goals, as well as societies.

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, the most famous and richest of the Greek city states dominated the ancient world for a long time. The Athenians developed, many new war tactics that were adopted by other Greek city states. Sparta was also a powerful Greek city state and one of the most feared military powers in the ancient world. Spartans grew up in a different society and used many war tactics that were different from traditional Greek warfare (Paton). At one point in time, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful civilizations in the whole world thanks to their very effective war tactics. Some strategies they used were good armor, intense training and surprise attacks. Spartans began training at a young age and were fierce fighters. Athens was rich and had a good navy. In the Persian war, Athens and Sparta worked together and ended up winning. But Athens and Sparta were two very different societies (Hayes 117). Even though the Spartans won the war the golden age of Greece ended this show how military power can make or destroy a great civilization.

Athenian democracy ensures that a citizen in a society acts according to what society deems appropriate rather than by an individual's assumptions of what is acceptable. Athens as a whole stresses the importance of an active citizen whose life is intertwined with the government. In essence, an Athenian citizen can participate in the decision making of the state and will be enthusiastic in carrying out policies that pass in the assembly. Pericles, an Athenian statesman, makes it clear when he says that "each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well" (p.147 Thucydides). Socrates, a Greek philosopher, is a firm believer in examining one's actions in life and ensuring that a morally righteous

In both of these poleis, the governments tried to prevent class distinctions between civilians. Part of the reason Spartans did not have many luxuries was because everyone in Sparta was considered equal in status and the government wanted to discourage the development of social and class distinctions. While in Athens, it showed that the commoners were displeased that the aristocrats had more luxuries than they did so they ended up rebelling, which in turn caused Athenian democracy to become the government so all Athenian land-owning males had a fair

Both Sparta and Athens prove to be unique societies in history because of their opposing values. While Sparta focused on a militaristic culture, in which the army continued to increase in strength and numbers, Athens, however, emphasized their cultural values in arts and literature. Military focus existed in Athens, but was not as focused on its power as Sparta was. Though the location of both ancient civilizations was relatively close in proximity, Sparta and Athens were anything but allies. The nations were peaceful for a short period of time, but as time went on, the struggle for power and expansion grew. Thus causing both civilizations to direct their attentions to eliminating any nearby threats to their expansion.

Ancient Greece; a land of wonders. In this presentation, I will explain the social, political, religious, intellectual, technological, and economical aspects of Ancient Greece. You will learn how the Greeks lived, and what the Greeks did. Learn some of the inventions, philosophers, writers, and historians of Ancient Greece. There is also information about Greek social structure, government, wars, and trade.

Dating back to 449 B.C., Sparta and Athens always had an alliance, but as time grew that balance slowly began to fall as one felt threatened by another. Before any sight of unsteadiness the Spartans and Athenians had a bound partnership. Beginning after their domination of the Persian war, the two states slowly became aware of one another’s growing power. More time went by, and the Spartans began to grow conscious of the other states, feeling wary and paranoid around them (Fox, 170). No state was particularly to blame for the strain on their peace treaty, nor for the war, it came as the two states developed. Eventually the two states had clashed enough and declared war. Although the Spartans gave the Athenians a chance to back down and temporarily stall war, the two states would never be equal, their allies resented one another far too much. The growing urge for power was bound to take over sooner or later. Finally, after 7 years of uneasy tension, Sparta could wait no longer and declared war against Athens (Fox, 167). Although the Athenians and Spartans lived together in peace for so long, they existed in a fragile balance that was bound to eventually lead to war.