More handpicked essays just for you.
Political and military of Athens and Sparta
Military strategies and tactics civil war
Athens culture, politics and social characteristics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Political and military of Athens and Sparta
Hello forengieners! I’m Mr. Sparta! Today I’ll be giving you a tour of our one and only city-state, SPARTA but first. I want to make some points clear to you about the scandalous Athenians. One: You can’ NOT trust Athenians. Two: You cannot trust them. Have I made themselves clear? The Athenians might be smart but their not as strong as us. Who needs brains when we have power? Now, let’s get into our tour. First, and foremost, in Sparta, military is highly valued. We believe military power is the best way to keep our citizens safe. Unlike the Athenians, we train our boys at an early age to become great warriors and make their city proud. Besides training, we also teach our future generations to read, write and count. But most importantly,
“No man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go against the enemy and fight with his hands.” The preceding was quoted from “The Spartan creed” by the poet Tyrtaeus. There are two authors in this primary resource reading which include Tyrtaeus as well as Xenophon, whom authored “The laws and customs of the Spartans”. These two works give great detail to the Spartan society. As history has presented it, Sparta was a smaller polis and yet was one of the most, if not most, influential societies in history. What we know of this culture comes to us from excavation of its heritage as well as literary works such as these. But are these “eyes” into history factual and creditable enough to base our own interpretations of such a masterful race? These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion. This lacking may have been due to both writer’s motives for their work.
From this evaluation and historical representations given by philosophers and historians during approximately the same era that is represented within 300. It is argued that the popular culture incarnations of Sparta as the ‘Noble, selfless fighters with a warrior mentality’ and the Persians as the ‘Evil, tyrannical, overindulgent, oppressors’ were not entirely historically accurate.
The education of the youth establishes a precedent for the differences between the way Spartans and Athenians lead their lives. At age seven, training for the military began for all Spartan boys, they’re forced to leave their homes and go to military schools, where they endure all types of harsh training and discipline. The main lesson was learning to take pride in enduring pain and hardships. During their teenage years they were taught wrestling, ...
In ancient Greece, Sparta was known as a prominent city-state and a dominant military power, emerging victorious in numerous armed conflicts. Sparta’s success was believed to be attributed to its political and social system, which mainly focused on military training, and was created by the constitution drawn up by Lycurgus, a lawgiver. However, Sparta progressively declined and in 371 BC, they suffered a calamitous defeat at the Battle of Leuctra, ceasing to be a dominant military power. While various reasons could have led to Sparta’s decline, it was primarily population issues, which appeared to be due to Sparta’s overly strict citizenship requirements, which ultimately led to Sparta’s defeat at the Battle of Leuctra. This essay will examine how Sparta’s demanding citizenship requirements were linked to the strict military requirements, corruption and unequal land distribution, which reduced the number of male Spartans in the population, causing
The main summary of the book is “Plutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC.” “Through his Lives of Sparta's leaders and his recording of memorable Spartan Sayings he depicts a people who lived frugally and mastered their emotions in all aspects of life, who also disposed of unhealthy babies in a deep chasm, introduced a gruelling regime of military training for boys, and treated their serfs brutally. Rich in anecdote and detail, Plutarch's writing brings to life the personalities and achievements of Sparta with unparalleled flair and humanity.” This is only a small summary of
In the years following the Persian Wars in 479 B.C., Athens had come out on top being the most dominantly powerful of any Greek city with a navy that had superior strength that increased day by day. The Athenians “ruled with heavy-handed, even brutal force as well as with reason” (Kagan 2). This was due largely to the fact that Athens had a stable and effective government, which only increased their advantage in proving themselv...
The training regiments and social structure of the Spartans were geared towards building the strongest men and nation physically, but without the artistic and political training, the warriors or Sparta were unable to bring the Grecian empire together. History remembers so much from the philosophy teachings of Socrates and the Athenian paintings, dishes, and sculptures, but little is remembered about the other superpower in Greece and of the warriors of Sparta.
Athens’ main concern was the status of the individual person. They believed that education of the mind was what mattered most and that citizens should be allowed to gain knowledge in any field of their choosing and pursue a career in what they’re passionate about. Sparta did not feel the same way, instead they were more concerned about the group as a whole. These mindsets created quite the gap between the two cultures; Athens was about learning and craftsmanship, but Sparta only cared about warfare. Because of these ideas, Athens became a city that valued family life unlike its neighbor who saw procreation as only a means of building a better military of
Around 5th century BCE Sparta started to dominate the eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was never really big, but they were strong because of their perfect battle formation called a phalanx. In order for he phalanx to work, intensive training and education was required. However, did the intensive training and education outweigh the weaknesses? The strengths of their training and education did not outweigh the weaknesses because the Spartans trained their people too harshly, many forms of education were banned, and the Spartans mistreated the Helots. These flaws in the Spartan system could’ve caused uprisings and rebellion
Sparta, an ancient Greek city-state, is well-known for its militaristic lifestyle and its soldiers’ prowess in battle. Though war was an essential part of life in Sparta, many other aspects contributed to its society. Sparta’s origin, unique government, slaves, bold women, and elite warriors all shaped the legendary city-state and defined its culture. In approximately 650 B.C., Sparta was formed in the Peloponnese peninsula in Laconia by several smaller city-states that merged together. Located near the fertile farmlands of the Eurotas River, the Peloponnese peninsula was an ideal area to establish a new civilization (Sekunda 3).
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.
The democracy was able to develop in Athens but not in Sparta simply because of the society that was built, and the way people tended to act. Though the military may have prominent in both societies, it was bigger in Sparta because it was taught from a young age. Because of this, a more militaristic type of government would have been found as much more fitting for Sparta than a democratic society. The fact that seven year old boys in Sparta went to live in the military barracks to undergo intensive physical training showed just how important it really was in that society. So having a government system based on the military just makes sense. Of course the military was also very important with the Athens, but the children went and learned
In the city-state of Athens around fifth century BCE, men and women worked around the clock, making sure that their oikos (household) reflected exceptionally upon the polis (city-state). Citizens were the only people who had full control over the household, while everyone else who was not a citizen lacked and/or lucked out on many of the privileges. Being a citizen came with many entitlements, but it also brought a great deal of responsibility with it as well. Running a highly respect oikos required effort from not only the men, but also from the women, who played many vital and significant roles. Daily responsibilities were split among men and women; however, in order to maintain the oikos both had to contribute exponentially, and no work of either sexes was more important than
I read the reading assignment with great interest, answering a question that I have had for a very long time. The question that seemed to have no answer was simply “how did the ancient armies such as those of Athens and Sparta keep their soldiers fighting in war? Paying them doesn’t seem like a logical answer, since they would probably just take the money then run away at the start of war. The reading assignment brought to light Athens and Spartan community, public office, and governmental structures of the 2 city-states.
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Sp...