Rise And Fall Of Sparta Research Paper

Although, Sparta had weaknesses they did have the strongest military of their time. The Spartan army perfected a battle formation called the phalanx that is still talked about today. Sparta’s weaknesses still outweigh the strengths because of the reasons I listed above, they lacked education, they didn’t last over 300 years and they abused their

The government in Sparta followed a very different coarse than that of the Athenians. It was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was held by a group of five men called ephors. Working below the ephors was the Council of Elders and an Assembly. Male citizens over age sixty could serve on the Council while anyone, male or female, over the age of twenty could be a member of the Assembly. Though the citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government, the system worked effectively. Over the years, the Spartan's brutal reputation in war grew so great that other nations and city-states were too frightened to attack Sparta even though the Spartan army was no larger then eight thousand men. The Spartan Constitution called for all men to begin their military education at the age of seven, where they were trained to be tough and self-sufficient. Every man in the army fought with a great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may have been rough, but the rest of the Greeks envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straight forwardness, and fanatical dedication. The beliefs of Sparta were oriented around the state. The individual lived and died for the state. The combination of this philosophy, the education of Spartan males, and the discipline of their army gave the Spartans the stability needed to survive in Ancient Greece.

The different geographic location of Athens and Sparta had a great impact on their military strategy and technologies. Athens was close to the sea, therefore it expanded by conquering nearby islands. This necessitated the construction of ships, which was expensive and required a lot of wood material and cheap labor. Both of those were supplied by Athens' allies; wood was purchased with paid tributes and labor came from conquered slaves (Pomeroy, p.22). Sparta was situated far inland on the Laconian plain and had no access to sea. It directed its military expansion towards the neighboring poleis and relied mostly on its standing army. In return, its allies were expected to provide military support to the Spartan army in an effort to appropriate even more land on the Peloponnesian peninsula.

Many of the arguments against Sparta reason that government officials did not grant enough power to the people of the city-state, and therefore favor Athens. This is not the case. The kings, elders, and rulers of the Spartan government knew what was best for the citizens of Sparta, and, as a consequence, created strictly regimented rules that shaped Spartan lives for the better. Although Sparta did not have a significant amount of participation in law by common people, it was able to create and sustain an advanced city-state through discipline and a form of government that placed stress on health and military supremacy.

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.

Sparta was ruled by a king or at some point two kings. These two kings were from two separate families of royalty and neither of them had absolute power. The king or kings had to be consulted by the Ephors. The Ephors had a lot of power and authority in the Spartan government. They were a group of five elders, men over the age of 30 who would serve in this position for a year. They had the power to bring up charges against anyone in Sparta, including the king. Unlike Athens who was set on trying to establish a peaceful democratic atmosphere; Sparta was a lot more militaristic and strict. One of the Spartan government’s main priorities was the strength of the Spartan army. They believed that strength, endurance and numbers were a key part in a successful and powerful army. Therefore every Spartan boy at the age of seven would be taken away from their mothers and put into training for the next 13 years.

In the fifth century BCE, Sparta developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was limited in size (population), but its military was famous for its toughness. Even with a small population of an army of about 8,000 men, they managed to defend Sparta from incoming attacks. Unfortunately, Spartan boys were forced to join and receive training from age 7. Like the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was able to shield itself, but all the warriors died.

The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.

Historically the city state of Sparta had a social hierarchy that was different from many of its neighbours, it was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training for the male citizens. Its citizen inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (citizens, who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi or Perioeci (freedmen), and Helots (state-owned serfs, enslaved non-Spartan local population). Spartan society was ruled by two kings originating from the two ruling families, whose powers were checked by a council of elected Ephors or elders. These Ephors/elders were chosen from the ‘Spartiates’. Below this class was a middle class which was called the Perioeci. The lowest class, which was also the largest, was a group known as the Helots. The Helots were the subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia, basically Sparta. They were tied to the land and primarily worked in agriculture to support the Spartan society and its citizens. According to a number of sources the Helots outnumbered the Spartiates quite considerably. Figueira in his article in ‘Helots, Chapter 8’, gathers all the potential ratios of

And the name "Spartans" is sometimes used to refer to "all" the people who lived in this area. Why, you may ask. Well this is because this whole area, which contains Laconia and Messenia, was in truth ruled by the Spartans. But strictly speaking the name "Sparta" refers only to the city situated by the river Eurotas, which flows through Laconia, and the term "Spartans" refers solely to the people who belonged to that city (It was also known as 'Lacedaemon'). Sparta was not built around a high and defensible hill or citadel, as most Greek cities were; and the Spartans never built walls around their city, as the Athenians had done, for example.

The history of Sparta was the great exception to the political evolution of the city-states. Despite the fact that Spartans in the end were all Greek, Sparta failed to ever move in the direction of democratic rule. Instead, its government evolved into something more closely resembling a modern day dictatorship. If the Spartans had followed the other Greek city-states in their political practices they might have been able to avoid their own downfall and could have even become stronger.

In everyday Spartan life, Kings has many privileges. They were treated differently in the education system, could choose their own syssitia and were given animals for sacrificial means. As well as these, Kings were also given double rations, but it was not expected that they would eat it all themselves. It was tradition that a King would give the extra rations to a citizen whom he thought worthy.

Sparta was one of the most powerful city-states in Greece and in order to increase a food supply, the Spartans turned to their bordering country Messenia. In the eighth century B.C. the Spartans conquered the Messenians and set up a new type of social system. The Messenians would work the soil to supply the Spartans with the food supply, which would leave the dominating class available for a life of military training. The Messenians outnumbered the Spartans and without a strong hold the lower-class citizens would eventually overtake them by physical force.

Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began at birth, imprinted through society and the political system. The education of the Spartan male children prove that the military and war was constantly a huge part of Spartan society, and the laws and systems that Sparta was governed by, only enforced the militaristic attitude into the society of Sparta. That the Spartans needed to be ready for war is proved by the discord between the Spartiate and the helots, who outnumbered and under ranked the Spartans.

Sparta and Athens were formed in two different ways. Sparta was originally four small villages in Southwestern Peloponnesus that became unified into one polis. They conquered two neighboring areas known as Laconia and Hessenia. These people were then forced to work in Sparta. Athens had established a unified polis on the peninsula of