Compare And Contrast Athens And Ancient Greece

The Persian and Athenian Empire had a lot of differences than similarities. There were different people who ran the Empires and they were ran very differently. Trade routes were different but some trade goods were similar to others. The Persian had one person running the empire while the Athenian Empire had many city states instead of one person ruling the whole Empire. Each Empire believed in different many gods, some believed in two gods, and some people in one god. A lot of them believed in different gods and The Athenian Empire believed in the same god. Thier religious are different than others.

Athens and Sparta were two powerful city-states, different from each other where Athenian democracy focused on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focused on military force. Democracy is a system of government where citizens have the right to vote, whereas oligarchy is a system of government where only a group of people is in control and only their opinion or decision that were taken into consideration. Leading to the thesis statement that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, supported in three evidence points. Firstly, Athenian democracy allowed citizens participation in government that gave them freedom to vote and take part in legislation. Secondly, the Athenian government provided Athenian men better education, by being taught how to read and write to reach their academic advancement. Lastly, the Athenian democracy’s contribution to Athens military advancement that protected its citizens.

Spartan society was dominated. They believed that Military power was the way to provide security and protection for their city. Unhealthy baby boys were left to die. Healthy baby boys were raised to be soldier. Boys and Men in Sparta trained to be Soldiers from birth, they also remained in the army until the age of 60. Girls and women in Sparta had more rights than other Greek women. Sparta was ruled by 2 kings who led the army. They have more slaves than citizens helots grew crops and did other jobs. Boys and Men in Athens worked to improve body and mind. They had physical training but not trash and learning to read, write, sing play instrument. Girl and women in Athens received no education, taught, household task and had very few rights, but after the Persian War ended many City-States formed alliance called the Delian League which protected the Aegean Sea. Alliance’s are agreements to work together. Southern cities created the Peloponnesian League. Sparta declared war on Athens and threatened to tear all of Greece apart, which lead to Spartans invading Athens, surrounded the city and burning crops. Athens used their navy to keep their food steady, but Athens attacked Spartan cities. They fought for 10 years nobody won so they called a truce but Sparta attacked Athens now that they are weak, Sparta won and was in control. Sparta becomes the most

Sparta was a warrior society centered on the loyalty of the state and military service, at Sparta the children used to begin their training to become a warrior at the age of 7, leaving their houses to join the barracks, where they also learned to write and read. The Spartan army was considered the best in the world, due to their commitment to the training and their battle strategy, they could overcome any opponent, to increase their power in the battlefield, the warriors were taught to fight until the death, because giving up was a dishonorable act towards Sparta (“300”, 02/27). The society was divided into 3 different groups; Equals, Half-citizen who were considered full citizens, and the Helots who were slaves. The Spartan government, different from the Persian Empire, had a decentralized government, splitting the power between the council, which consisted in 2 kings and 28 nobles (man over the age of 60).(Dr. Kaz, lecture, 02/24) Sparta had an strong and stable government, being considered the best in Greece. The woman in Sparta had much more freedom than in other place at that time, as the men were always training for the army, the woman had an important role in organizing and controlling the city, they were also treated very well, because they regarded them as the producer of the Spartan soldier. (Dr. Kaz, lecture,

Women of Athens and Sparta It is surprising that two of the most successful and powerful Greece city states treated women so differently. Sparta was a city state that focused on military power whereas Athens focused on government and education. Even though these city states were only about 100 miles apart if we examine them we find that they are very different in how women are expected to act. Athens’s women were treated as second to men in almost all aspects and had very little freedom.

To begin, Sparta was huge on their military. Women were fully involved and were given physical training, as their husbands would leave from a young age for years and would only come back to their wives if they were to make a stronger family. Women were there to provide them with their equipment and know how protect their family while their husbands were gone. Unlike Athenian women they had nothing to do with their military. The men only went to the military for two years and then were able to come back which shows us how their military was not a priority to them. Athens was never big on military as Sparta was they were known to rather value philosophy, art, and such.

The role of women between both city-states also varied greatly, Spartan woman were viewed almost as equals to the Spartan men, and they were fairly well educated. They had freedom to go where they pleased within the town and were allowed to manage their own land. Although they were unable to vote they had a great deal of responsibilities. The Athenian women were secluded and stayed at home and viewed as property of their husbands rather than equals like Spartan woman. They were responsible for the domestic arts. Athenian woman were not taught to fight or defend their husbands property while they were away like the Spartan woman. Even the way their children were raised was completely opposite; in Athens boys attended school and the majority went on to be scholars and philosophers. Spartan boys were taken from their parents at the age of seven and trained to become great Spartan warriors although they received some education

Greece was organized into many different city-states. All city-states differed from each other in some ways but all shared some characteristics too. “City-state is an independent or nearly independent state in which political and cultural activities are concentrated in a single urban center” (Legon). They were the main city with an area of land around them. Every city-state had their own coins, government, and laws. The most common governments in the city-states consisted of monarchies, oligarchies, dictatorships, and sometimes democracies. Greek city-states all were very similar but had differences.

Greece had two major city-states or powers, Athens and Sparta. Athens had the organization of the politics and government in place and were probably the city with the most qualities toward present-day democracies, however, I do believe Sparta should also be recognized for having a prestige military, with the training and power it processed, which is also valuable to the present day government. Both were very useful to Greece, however; they were two very different city-states with different values to offer to Greece. Sparta was known for its powerful military and strong army. The training of the boys/men was so intense that they had a huge advantage with their military, which was very useful for Greece. Athens was known for their democratic

From the Ancient River Valley Civilizations, the Classical Civilizations spurred. From 600 BCE to 600 CE, empires began to emerge as smaller nations become united as one. In the Mediterranean region, the Romans and Athenians stood out as two of the most prominent peoples. The Roman Empire which lasted from 509 BCE to 476 CE conquered most of Europe and large parts of Asia. Within Ancient Greece, there are city states that are separated by geography but connected through extensive trading. Particularly, the city state of Athens became one of the most successful. Athens was the largest and most powerful Greek state and was the birthplace of many modern ideas. Despite experiencing a Golden Age, promoting similar political practices and ideologies,

Early Greece and Classical Greece both occurred at the same age, which is Ancient Greece. They might have happened in the same time frame, but they are both uniquely different. Their cultures might have the same roots, but each had its own differences, while also sharing things in common. Art in Early Greece was more delicate and refined in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. But before 1000 B.C. northern tribes like the Dorians invaded these cultures, which made the art forms in these areas decline heavily. But, when things were turning for the worst, art began anew, with a transformation from the curved lines in the Mycenaean age to geometric linear lines. Studies

As we have seen Spartan and Athens were two very great ancient Greek cities which were not similar in the way they organized themselves through their government. Sparta was strong militarily with a never say die attitude while Athens encouraged their boys to study and had a democratic government. The democracy practiced today originated from

Athens and Sparta, two rivals of ancient Greece that made the most noise and gave us the most traditions. Though they were close together on a map, they were far apart in what they valued and also how they lived their lives. Spartan and Athenian society were very different in many parts.

The ancient Greeks made city states that functioned as their society. These were small, usually consisting of a population of around eight to ten thousand people. Some of the famous city states are Sparta and Athens. Sparta imposed many tensions on the individual. Sparta was a highly militarized state and would pull the boys away from the family usually around age seven and put them into a state sponsored training regimen that would make them highly skilled warriors. If the boy was unable to complete the training for any reason they were seen as unable to be a Spartan and were usually seen as an outcast and removed from society. The Spartans, just like most other societies in ancient times, valued boys over girls. “Spartan parents often exposed female babies to the elements and leave them to die they also made decisions on male infants testing them and seeing if they would develop into a mature warrior and if not they would face the same fate as females.”1 This

In the land of Greece there were many city state but the two most powerful were Sparta and it main rival the Athens. These two city states were very different when it comes to how the government was ruled. The Athens was all for developing their intelligence and Sparta focused mostly on military since first born. Not fearing death and fighting for honor in the name of its state, Sparta became a massive powerhouse but how did this effect the way the other nations viewed Sparta and what training and preparation made Sparta so powerful?