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Differences between Athens and Sparta
Differences between Athens and Sparta
Differences between Athens and Sparta
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Athens vs. Sparta
Athens and Sparta had many social differences, and so the way the Athenians lived was very different from the way the Spartans lived. Athenians wanted the people to, "Know thy self" and be one with their body and mind. They also believed in philosophy and in Athens there were some of the greatest philosophers. There were many people in Athens that studied philosophy. Philosophy is the study of methods and limits of human knowledge. The Athenians also believed that the individual came before the group. The Spartans were almost completely different from the Athens. Sparta life revolved around the army and it was a military society. It was so extreme that they wouldn't care for sick babies. At the age of 7, the boys would be taken from their homes and placed in a military barracks and they would serve the military until they were 60, which meant most of them spent their whole lives in the military. The women had more freedom and were brought up to be strong and healthy. The Spartans believed that the group came before the individual.
The city-states of Athens and Spartan had different political views. Athens was a direct democracy and many of there ways are still used today. A direct democracy meant that the citizens could vote on the issues directly and that the citizens hold the power. The citizens consisted of any man born in Athens. The non-citizens were women, foreign-born males, and slaves. All of the citizens could belong to the Assembly, and they choose by lottery because they thought election favored the rich, and they wanted it to be equal. They also had a system called the ostracism, in which the citizens would write the name of an undesirable politician and if they person's name appeared more than 6,00...
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...st problem was that, they had trouble governing themselves and the Spartans used poor judgment to make all of Ancient Greece like Sparta. The low control over Ancient Greece, made it weak and a new alliance was formed that overthrew Sparta. This alliance was known as Thebes. Thebes also made poor choices and were overthrown by Macedonians. The city-states could not fight back, and so the Macedonians ruled. When Alexander the Great ruled Ancient Greece, he was able to unify the city-states. The locations of Athens and Sparta caused many important events in World History. Their conflicts and lack of unity as a region hurt, but also at the same time helped both city-states and the region. Even though the city-states had many differences eventually they united as and are still united today. The geographic settings play a big part in how people and civilizations develop.
The governments of these two city-states were not alike in many ways. “It is true that our government is called a democracy, because its administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of the many,” (Document 3). Athens’ government was what we would consider today a direct democracy. This means that their government was run by the people, or in other words “the many”, rather than a couple government officials, or “the few”. Although Athens was running their city as a government by the people, Sparta had a different form of government. “it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy,
Following its domination of the Peloponnese, Ancient Sparta is often depicted in history as a utopian society of egalitarianism, patriotism, and military might. Even today, Sparta rouses the interest of historians due to its extraordinary society, form of government, and ways of life. Spartan life was dissimilar to that of the surrounding Greek states in two major ways. First, practically all aspects of life, including work, childbearing, and child rearing were dominated by training and preparation for the production of a tough, disciplined army. Second, collectivism and temperance of improper behavior were focuses of Sparta; in heavy contrast to the surrounding Greek states ' remarkable sense of individualism and overindulgence. This enduring
When two great and powerful city-states ban together for a common cause the results will in turn will have great expectations. Those expectations were met when an undermanned Greek army defeated the large Persian Army throughout the course of the Persian War. The problem occurs when each of the city-states’ own ego gets in the way of the cause. They handily defeated the Persians, but the Athenians took the credit for it, and paid homage to themselves, through elaborate celebrations of victory. In their minds, they were at the head of Hellas. The Spartans took exception to this and rightfully so. The credit has to go to them as well, for the large part that they played in the victory over Persia. This dissension in the end had a lot to do with the Peloponnesian War. Never mind the military structures and governments that each set up, which made their differences clear cut. There was no way to avoid the war between these two great powers, it was inevitable, just as Thucydides had predicted.
Athens and Sparta were all very big, successful city-states in the ancient world that conquered many lands and won many battles. Ancient Athens and Ancient Sparta seem similar; they have very different functioning societies. Athens was known for its impressive art and culture while Sparta was a very war-like city-state and their society was completely based on having a great military. The thing they had in common was that social status and the jobs that each rank of society had was very important. The social status was crucial to Sparta and Athens because, without it, both Greek city-states would not be able to function.
Some people may think that they are quite similar, Athens and Sparta. They both have a council like element in their government, but it is different. Athens’ assembly is consisted of five hundred members that are all chosen randomly. Whereas Sparta’s Council, only had twenty-eight men, that had to be older than sixty, and are elected for life. Their social ranking are some what similar because they have three different rankings, but the Spartan’s lowest class, the Helots, are treated better than the Athen’s slaves. The two city-states are very
Spartan men dedicated their lives to the forces, and other services to the state of Sparta. Leaving their wife to the family wealth, and owning all property. Athenian men were away discussing politics, and when they came home they expected obedience from their wives. Athenian men had to be in control at all times while in public, but no social control behind closed doors. Athenian women never inherited any property, and they were left available to male relatives.
When you think of the Spartans, what is the first thing that you think about? Well most people think about how they centered their life's around warfare and conquest of other territories. The Spartans even had a so called military training and solicitation program known as the Agoge. Which was used to emphasize duty, disciple and perseverance to the young Spartan boys. Even though the women of Sparta could not participate in the military, doesn’t mean they wasn’t important. They were educated and were more privileged than most Greek women of that time (“Sparta”) This shows the importance and role of all men, women and children, and the kind of lifestyles they possessed.
Athens and Sparta are both infamous Greek city states. Both could not be more different, yet similar in the way they governed their own city state. Another, main difference was the women’s rights and roles in the system. Athenian and Spartan women both were considered to be second to their male counterparts. Spartan women had more rights than Athenian women. Through, research realizing that the Spartan women were slightly greater role than Athenian women.
Sparta and Athens - Explain and Contrast Both Sparta and Athens were Greek city-states. Sparta was a strict military ruled city-state where the people established themselves as a military power early. However Athens was more of a political city-state that was more involved with their economical stature than their military forces. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them.
In ancient Greece during the 7th and 8th centuries, different armies and cities were fighting for control of land and power. During this time period, it was very gruesome and many people died because different states wanted to expand their control over new territories so they could gain more power. With all the different armies and militaries fighting for control, there was one that stood out as the elite of all militaries, Sparta. Quickly Sparta became known throughout Greece as the most highly disciplined and coordinated militaries in the world.
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
Each had their own version of political councils that were give specific power and tasks that they were to oversee and uphold. Equally, both city-states defined citizens as being only males who were born from descendants of either Athenian or Spartan born parents. Although very similar in structure, Athens and Sparta had their political differences. The main difference being Sparta’s focus being on war and employing a two king system to oversee the army as well as policy at the same time. Today this could be similar to the president and vice-president dynamic. Athens’ structure was much more complex than that of Sparta which gave more freedom to the people; this was partly due to breaking down regions into 10 separate states that formed the larger entire state of Athens. Below are some of the similarities in there government
Greece is a country united by its name, but divided by its ways. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, their societies were different. Sparta was focused on having a perfect military, whereas Athenian daily life revolved learning and knowledge. When Spartan boys were being trained for an army, Athenian boys were being trained for life. Both of these societies revolved around different government, education from when kids to teenagers, the responsibilities each individual had to keep their spot, and how women played a role throughout each city state.
In the year approximately 500 B.C., the Greek civilization came upon a time of peace. Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave