Why Is Sparta Better Than Greek Cities

Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. Athens government is a democracy which means all citizens get to take part. In Athens “ all men are on an equality” which means “ Not of the few but of the many” (doc 3 pericles). Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. Not everyone gets to participate.

Athens is superior towards Sparta throughout ancient Greek history. During the Archaic Age, Sparta was solely focused on fighting wars and training their children for these wars. Athens on the contrary, was a city that focused heavily on the arts and was a very relaxed and peaceful city to live in. In Athens, all men born to Athenian parents were citizens, in Sparta, only the wealthy were citizens. In 594 BCE, Salon, the new leader of Athens, he created a constitution that ended the political control of the wealthy. Unless someone was part of the 1 percent, Athens gave members of society more rights than Sparta. By 508 BCE, Cleisthenes came to power in Athens and creates a democratic constitution of all people. While this advancement occurred

Around 800 B.C. the Spartans were founded by Lycurgus and known for their militaristic society. In the late eighth century, Sparta fought in a war with their neighbors in Messinia, but unlike other wars in ancient Greece, the Spartans subjugated the entire population of Messinia, reducing them to helots. These people worked for the Spartans, like slaves, doing everything and anything they asked of them. The male children were taken from their mothers at young ages to serve the state, learning the art of warfare. Spartan life had one purpose and that was meant to defend the state.

Sparta: The Superior polis During the Greek Empire. During 750-500 B.C.E, Ancient Greece is a place that is known for some city-states, called poleis. Each polis differ particular on economically, politically, and military, When in doubt, however, the city-states did not get along. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive.

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.

The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Sparta was focused on their military, discipline, and to have a strong state. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. How do these two city-states differ?

Athens vs 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.

Imagine you had to choose between two very, very risky places to live in. Well, that is what people had to do 7,000 years ago. The two places are called Sparta and Athens, both had very harsh and violent laws. Trust me we are all very lucky to live in the places we do now compare to these two places. Now on to having to choose between the two, the only reason on why I would choose this place is because of the different laws for the men. Obviously, I would say that because I am a boy. I would rather live in Athens because of how fair the laws are compared to Sparta. There are many laws in Athens that are better than Sparta. One of the laws includes how they rule their kingdom. In Ancient Athens, it was run by the people themselves in the city. All of the citizens in Athens were happy they had that they had that freedom. In Ancient Sparta, there was not much freedom from voting for their rulers. The only reason that is because only a small group of wealthy, powerful men could rule Sparta. There are many more reasons why I think that Athens is better/ fairer.

During the late Archaic Greek and Classical periods, two particular city-states were in existence with significant similarities as well as differences. These two city-states, Sparta and Athens have unique formations of government, histories, goals, as well as societies.

Sparta was located on the southern peninsula of Greece, or the Peloponnesus. Around 725 B.C.E., Sparta launched a war against Messenia on the west which gave the Spartans significant land and caused the Messenians to become serfs. Then around 650 B.C.E., the existence of Sparta was threatened when the Messenian serfs (Helots) rebelled, causing Sparta to decide to permanently become a military system. The society in Sparta was purely military. Officials of the Spartan state decided which infants were physically fit to survive.

Sparta had the geographic advantage above Athens. Sparta is better because, according to Document G, “The Eurotas River provided much-needed water, while the nearby plains allowed the ancient Spartans to grow all the food they needed.” Sparta was already provided with enough supplies on their own and didn’t have to trade things with other city-states. Having rivers, mountains, and rivers gave the Ancient Spartans the right environments to grow many things such as figs and wheat, the Ancient Spartans also had enough room to raise cows for meat, milk, and cheese. Another reason why Sparta has the geographic advantage is shown in Document F, which states, “Sparta thus came to control some 8,500 km² of territory making it the largest city state

Around 500 BCE, a city-state on the Peloponnese peninsula Began to grow. This city-state is Sparta that bagan has just a cluster of houses on the Evrotas River.The boys would go to Military School from 8 to 20 years in age, practicing the Phalanx and other Military practices, the Men were ready to fight.In 431 BCE, Sparta and Athens broke out in a 25-year war known as the Peloponnesian War.In the end, Sparta did win against Athens, but both of them had suffered.In Sparta the weaknesses outweighs the strengths because the Helots the slaves do their dirty work, boys were abused ,the Spartans had a weak education.

The first reason, Sparta thought education was important because everybody needed to know about obedience, courage, endurance, and self-control. They also learned reading, math, science, and more. The second reason, the boys were taken from their families at age 7 to go to military training to protect their country. Then, when they reach to age 20, they go to a higher risk till their 60 years old. The third reason, the girls are allowed to go to school in Sparta. They learn how to write, read, and survival skills. They can participate in sports, and they are treated as equals.

Imagine being in Sparta. Your life is determined from the day you are born. Any baby too small wasn't deemed as fit in the city-state. A life in Sparta means you are here to serve your city-state. Sparta was a strong city-state on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Sparta had different enemies. On the inside of Sparta were the helots, a group of people who Sparta kept inside their borders. Athens and Persia were enemies of Sparta on the outside. Though Sparta had its strong suit, the city-states weaknesses greatly outweighed the strengths. The weakness’ of Spartan education outweigh the strengths in three ways: insufficient cultural education, harsh punishments, and it separated boys from their families.

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.