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Name: __________________________
Date: ______________
Sparta vs. Athens
Sparta
Sparta, found on the Peloponnesus, was conquered by the Dorians around
1100 B.C.E. Over the next few hundred years, the Dorians took over the region
around Sparta, enslaving the people. This explains why Sparta always had far more
slaves than citizens. At its height of power, Sparta had only 25,000 citizens but
250,000 slaves. This numerical imbalance caused the Spartans to live in constant
fear of a slave rebellion. This fear caused the Spartans to build a strong army.
They bragged that they needed no walls to defend their city; the soldiers were the
only walls they needed.
The government of Sparta started as a monarchy. There were originally two
kings, one to represent each tribe that had conquered the area. The monarchy
developed into an oligarchy. Power was concentrated in the hands of a thirtymember assembly and five ephors who ran the government. All Spartan citizens
belonged to an assembly that could only vote yes or no on laws proposed by the
assembly or the ephors.
The Spartan economy was very simple. By law the only occupation of a
Spartan man could hold was that of a soldier. The people who lived in Sparta’s
surrounding communities provided trade and craft items. Each citizen received a
plot of land from the government which was worked by helots, state owned slaves
assigned to the land.
The Spartan government controlled a person’s life from the day they were
born. When a baby was born, a government inspector came to look it over. If the
baby did not seem healthy, the inspector took the baby to a distant cave on a
mountainside and left it there to die. The Spartans wanted only babies who they
thought would grow into strong adults.
All Spartan children lived at home until age seven. Then the boys left their
families to live with boys of the same age in barracks. Boys were taught to read
and write but the emphasis of their education was on physical skills. Running,
jumping, boxing, and wrestling were important parts of a Spartan boy’s day.
Schools were harsh and discipline was strict. The boys slept on the floor and were
only allowed to wear light clothing, even when it was cold.
At age 18, young men entered the military where they received military
training and continued to live in a barracks until age 30. Age 30, men ended their
military training and gained full citizenship. Even though they could now live at
home, they continued to eat their meals with the other soldiers at the barracks.
Spartan girls did not receive the formal education of boys but much
emphasis was placed on physical education. Spartan girls practiced running,
wrestling, and discus throwing. The Spartans believed girls had to be strong in
order to bear healthy children. Most girls married and began to raise their families
at age fifteen.
Name: __________________________
Date: ______________
Athens
Mycenaean Greeks who fled from the invading Dorians founded the city-state of
Athens. It was originally a monarchy but developed into an oligarchy as power passed
from the king to the wealthy landowners. As Athens grew it had a more difficult time
feeding its population. Many farmers lost their land to the wealthy and were forced to sell
themselves into slavery. This caused many citizens of Athens to become discontented and
lead to the rise of the tyrants.
A tyrant was a ruler who took power by promising things to the discontented
masses. Tyrants canceled the debts of farmers, redistributed land, and allowed people
other than the wealthy to have a say in government. Hippias was the last tyrant to rule
Athens. He was thrown out in 510 B.C.E. and replaced by the world’s first democracy.
In the Athenian Democracy, a council of 500 citizens drawn randomly each year
proposed new laws. An assembly, made up of the citizens, met about every nine days to
vote on these laws. In the courts, citizens served as jurors who decided the guilt or
innocence of the accused. The Athenians paid council members and jurors so the poorer
citizens as well as richer ones could take time off from their work to take part in the
governing of their city-state.
The biggest flaw in the Athenian democracy was its limited citizenship. Only
males over 18 could become citizens and this was usually only if their father had been a
citizen. Thus, citizenship was granted to only about 15% of Athens’ population.
Farming was the economic activity of most Athenians. A majority of farmers
owned just enough land to feed their own families though there were some people who
owned large tracts of land. Barter was used to exchange goods until 570 B.C.E. when the
Athenian government began to make gold and silver coins. The use of coins allowed
people to purchase any kind of good and helped Athens become an important center for
trade.
Taxes were very high in Athens. They were used to fund government projects
which improved the city-state. These projects added to the city’s beauty and prestige, and
provided jobs for merchants and craftsmen.
Athenians took education very seriously and tried to provide a combination of
physical and cultural education. This education was only provided to wealthy boys who
began school at age seven. They learned reading, writing, arithmetic, poetry, music, and
dance while devoting a lot of time to athletics like gymnastics and wrestling.
At age 18 all boys joined the army for two years of training. Upon graduation,
they received a shield and a spear and joined the reserve force. The reserve force was
called into duty during times of war. The Athenian government basically ignored the
training of women. They learned crafts and poetry from their mothers and married around
the age of fifteen.