Similarities And Differences Between Athens And 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.

The Peloponnesian War pitted the Athenians against the Spartans. The Peloponnesians’ were an alliance of city-states controlled by Sparta. These two powerful city-states became locked in a struggle for dominance of the eastern Mediterranean area. The roots of the conflict and in particular this expedition is highly complex. As Thucydides says in his history of the war, the underlying cause was Spartan fear of Athens' expansive power. But, the triggering event was Athens' aggressive behavior towards Corinth, an ally of Sparta.

Athens and Sparta were both dominant powers in ancient Greece. However, a legendary rivalry existed between the two. When Athens ended its alliance with Corcyra in 433 B.C. and began to surround Potidaea, it threatened Corinth’s position. Sparta feared that Athens was becoming too powerful and tried to avert war. The Spartans believed that peace was possible if the Athenians would revoke measures against Sparta's ally, Megara. The Athenian leader, Pericles, refused to concur with this because Sparta and Athens had earlier agreed that conflicts would be solved by negotiation. If the Athenians would yield to Sparta's request, they would in fact be accepting Sparta’s orders. This was unacceptable, and as a result, war broke out. Athens and its Delian League were attacked by Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. Diodorus mentions that the Spartans did not just declare war, but sought additional support from Persia.

The Peloponnesian War between the city-states of Athens and Sparta (and their respective allies) lasted from 431-404 BC. Conflicts between the two cites dated back further, however, with

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.

Athens and Sparta were the main rival poleis in Ancient Greece around 4th century BC. Besides the fact that they were both called polis, the two cities had very little in common. Athens controlled the whole Attic region and could

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.

The political failure of the Greek led the country to a great war. According to Herodotus, who dedicate his life writing real ancient stories in the fifth century BC shows that the catalyst was a political conflict in Miletus started Persian war. Athens, Sparta and other polies

Athens and Sparta started off as allies standing side by side when they took on the Greco-Persian Wars lasting between 499 B.C. and 449 B.C.. They remained superior among the city-states for over a half

existing wars between each other” (Hdt. VII.145.1) in order to fight against Persia. However, only one Peloponnesian state (Sparta) offered help throughout the wars.

of events which I am going to look at to see if there was a single

The huge topic between Athens and Sparta that the two did not see eye to eye on, is what they educated citizens to be. Sparta trained it's people to be very skilled warriors, and included very harsh training to ensure a strong defense. But, on the other hand, Athens believed education was extremely important and trained their citizens to be scholars. Even with their differences, at the end of the day both Athens and Sparta are one country united and share the same goals.

Therefore, Sparta needed to check Athens’ control of the region. The need to keep a balance of power is the main reason of the Peloponnesian War. In short, the reason for Athens and Sparta going to war is for control of Greece, this concludes that the true cause of the conflict between the Athenians and the Spartans was the growing fear of Athenian

Peloponnesian war took place between 431 and 404 B.C. and involved two Greek city-states, namely, Sparta and Athens. Each of the participants in the warfare was backed by its closest allies as they sought to win at all cost, no matter how long it would take. The conflict started in early 440 B.C. when allies of Athens began revolting against frequent attacks by Sparta. At the height of animosities, situation changed from the clashes between limited formational units to complex military operations with large-scale atrocities. Athens led Peloponnesian combat against the Delian League led by Sparta.

(The Persian War was a war between city-states of Athens and Sparta and Persian Empire and was a two phase war. The Peloponnesian War was a war between Athens and Sparta that lasted over 20 years. (Classical Greece, 2010)