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Were Athens Superior Or Superior?

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The argument of which two city-states, Athens or Sparta was superior has finally been answered. The two city-states had been bitter rivals for years trying to see which of them was superior. A city-state is an area that includes the city and the surrounding land around it. They have their own government, culture, beliefs, customs etc. Each city-state was different from the rest of the city-states. Superior means “better” than, and one of the two city-states Athens and Sparta was definitely superior. Athens was a superior city-state because of their economy, education, and government.

The first reason Athens was superior to Sparta was because of Athens great economy. In the text it states, “Athenians bought and sold goods at a huge marketplace called the agora” (Franklin 5). The agora allowed the citizens to buy and sell what they wanted to. The Spartans discouraged trade. In the agora they could buy household items and they could buy and sell slaves. That made them superior because they could trade to make money and buy what they wanted to. The trade of Athens might have been superior but so was their education. …show more content…

Franklin says, “Athenians believed that a good citizen should have both an intelligent mind and a healthy body.“ (8) The boys in Sparta were taught to fight at the age of 7 with little other education. Sparta only thought of war and never thought of peace and education like Athens. In Athens, they were taught different subjects than just war in Sparta. The men still went to war but started their training at the age of 18. Over all, the education of young boys and girls is better in Athens than in Sparta. The education in Athens helped to make superior military soldiers and government

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