Comparing Ancient Athens And Sparta

Athens and Sparta are two powerful city-states, different from each other in such way that

Both the elected kings, as well as the Ephors, created a general assembly, whose purpose was to vote on and pass legislation and make civil decisions. Sparta’s system of government was very exclusive and open to members of only the highest social standing. Citizens were deprived from civil rights, warriors were wrongfully accused of erroneous crimes, which was known also as “tresantes” (the tremblings) “They had to shave half of their beard to show their status and accept to be beaten, until they prove themselves worthy in battle.” (Fanourgakis, Manolis 1.) Sparta’s laws, handcuffed their citizens to their political empowerment, you had no choices or social freedom.

The social structure of Athenian society included Freemen (aristocrats, middle ranks and thetes), Metics (those from outside Athens) and slaves (“The Greeks”). Spartan social structure was based on how well one served the city state. The class structure is as follows, Spartiates (military professionals), Perioeci (freemen) and Helots (serfs, treated slightly better than slaves) (“Sparta” 2). Basing the social structure of the state on service gave Sparta a great excuse for differentiated treatment of men. In Athens, only boys went to school and were educated in various subjects, whereas girls were kept at home to restrict their abilities to the domestic arts. Spartan girls and boys were educated and challenged mentally and physically, males and females were seen as almost equals in education (“The Greeks”). Educating young girls created a society that Spartan women wanted to contribute to. In Athens, wealth was flaunted, as people often enjoyed foreign luxuries (“The Greeks”). Displays of wealth were highly discouraged in Sparta (Creighton 34). Food, clothing and speech were kept minimalistic to create a uniform image of Sparta (Creighton 34). Minimizing gaps in social class created a society who fiercely protected each other and that was willing to sacrifice everything they had for the state. For the above reasons, Spartan society superseded

Ancient Greece was a land made up by a series of city-states. The two most well-known of those city-states were Athens and Sparta. Traditionally, Athens is viewed as a peaceful place where learning and culture were the main activities of its citizens while Sparta was considered an aggressive culture determined to be the military power in the Greek area. Unlike the typical Athenian who spent his days reading and learning the typical Spartan concerned himself with the activities of the state and preparing himself for war or so tradition says.

Use your impressions of Athens and Sparta to discuss and compare daily life in the two city-states.

1- The people in Sparta didn’t have the right to participate in public life and made decision making for community if they weren’t male citizens and free, and moreover should be originate from Spartan parents. In Sparta there were two kings and also include three groups that constituted the government. These groups

With a population of 100000, only 8000 were Spatiates while the rest were helots. It was considered as an Oligarchy with a mixture of monarchy, some element of democracy like Athens, and ruled by Aristocrats. Two kings were the chief commanders, with 5 annually elected ephors and 28 councilmen or gerousia (n.d., Brand P.J.). All Spartans could participate in the vote during the assembly, a feature similar to Athens. Sparta was divided into three classes being the Spartans who were all in the military forces, the Perioeci who were free but non-Spartan citizen and being mostly involved in crafts and trade, and finally the helots who were the slaves. Women were more independent that the one in Athens. Sparta was part of the Peloponnesian League and was the most powerful there. They had the best army throughout Greece. Their focus was mostly on the military aspects of life and they had little education except for military training, Math, reading, and writing. Women were trained to become good mother and had the power to reject her son after a defeat in war. They were also getting a better education such as reading, writing, math, and sports. They had more power in terms of freedom and were supposed to guard their husband’s property while the latter was at war (n.d., PBS). The culture of Sparta revolved around the military and had very minimal focus on other aspects of life. The Spartans were encouraged to dislike luxury and their main food was a broth made up of pork blood, vinegar, and salt (n.d., Diffen).

Athens was a cultural and economic powerhouse, and the birthplace of democracy. Sparta was an imperial city state, and had two kings (Brand, n.d.). (1)

Beginning with the differences, Sparta and Athens were operated by different governments. Athens became a democracy in 507 BCE. Athens is believed to be the one of

After many years of being an oligarchy, Athens shifted into a democracy which is when the state is ruled by the citizens. Sparta however, stayed an oligarchy. The rule and kingship of Athens were based on land-owning families and wealth. Over the years, each king of Athens added greater reforms to their democratic society. However, Sparta’s rule was much different. Sparta was ruled by two hereditary kings from two separate families. It was unusual that the kings went out to war with their army instead of staying back at their palace like a normal king would do. Although Sparta was

Athens and Sparta by Mr. Ducksworth states, “Where they differed was that while Spartans had militaristic values, Athenians were democratic.” Athens would have been better to live in because were not forced to fight, they had good education, and they were democratic.

From the very beginning Athens and Sparta were rivals, fighting for fertile land for farming of grain. In ancient times as now grain was a source of nutrition and trade. Since Greece was surrounded by water the cultures within Greece were bound to become traders and explores. Sparta was to the southwest in the Peloponnese while Athens was to the northeast in Attica so geography played a large part in the way Athens and Sparta developed. The topography of Greece is varied from lowlands, small peninsulas and mountains. The mountains separated the two cultures which in turn created their own unique societies and two completely different governing bodies.

In “Athens and Sparta”, Mr.Duckworth states,”The Spartans emphasized only on expanding their power and gaining control over the other kingdoms while the Athenians also gre infrastructure wise in ancient times.”Athens also considered as the birthplace of Democracy.The Athens became the foremost trading power of the Mediterranean by the 5th century BC.

The city of Ancient Sparta did not have wall. Its walls were its strong warriors, young men equip with spears and shields. This radically unique city was unparalleled compared to cities in its time and present day. The ideals related to the equality males and females were some of the most unique aspects of Sparta. Women had power and responsibility in their own right. Its strict militaristic mentality was the backbone of its well-run city which was unlike the city of ancient Athens. Athens was dynamic and open to the world yet its democracy excluded people. Although good order was important, women played the part of dutiful wife, not being seen or heard as a valuable part of society. Sparta and Athens were radically different in its

Great post! I like how informative you are comparing and contrasting Athens from Sparta. One topic you briefly touched on was their government. Sparta was governed by two kings simultaneously. Their reign lasted until death, or they were forced to resign. Athens on the other hand was ruled by Archons, who were elected annually.