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ATHENS
The history of the ancient world is fairly well known for the people of
the time wrote their histories on stone tablets. Though these stories
and poems are full of facts they are full of myth as well.
A thousand years before Christ was born the Greeks were a divided
people with cities acting as nations. These were called city-states.
Athens was a city-state founded just before the Trojan War, a war in
which many Greeks fought against the city-state of Troy.
After the Trojan War, Athens grew in power. The city was named after
the warrior goddess Athena who protected the city and was
symbolized by an olive tree that she planted.
The people of Athens valued art, education, and literature. During the ancient times, Athens
prospered as a strong cultural center. Athens was originally governed by a monarchy, which
means a king. Some of the kings were good, some so bad they were driven out. In 507 BC
the Greeks had tired of monarchy and created a new government called democracy.
The democracy of Athens was not like the democracy in America today! In Athens every
male citizen of the city was allowed to vote. Only land owners could be citizens, so generally
the wealthy were the ones that voted. Under democracy Athens continued to grow, and
many large structures were built in honor of the various Greek Gods. Many of these structures
still exist today!
Athens continued to be the shining beacon of culture in the Greek world, and was envied
by many. Athens produced the best poets, pottery, writers, and ideas. Its form of
government was very advanced compared to the inefficient monarchies of other Greek
city-states, and the city grew wealthy off of sea trade.
In terms of military strength, Athens relied on their navy. The Athenians had a large navy of
galleys; these ships used sails and oars and could not venture far out to sea, but usually
hugged the coast. Athens’ navy allowed their army to rapidly travel wherever it was needed
and thus keep the city-state safe.
In battle the Athenian ships would attempt to ram their
foes and board them with well-armed and armored
warriors.
SPARTA
1000 years before the birth of Christ, Sparta was a strong city in Greece. The city was so strong
that it acted like a nation controlling large amounts of territory. Sparta and other powerful cities
like it were called city-states.
Sparta’s history started in earnest with the Trojan War. The King of Sparta’s wife Helen, had been
abducted by Paris the King of Troy. The King of Sparta gathered a massive army and navy and
hunted down his missing wife and fought a war that took many years.
Eventually the city-state of Troy was defeated and the Trojan War ended. Sparta’s power in
Greece grew because of the war and the Spartans began a period of exerting their dominance
in the region.
The Spartans have left virtually no record of their existence. It is thanks to other Greek city-states
that we know so much about Sparta today. The reason Sparta left so little is because they were
a culture based entirely on warfare. Sparta made no art, no fanciful buildings, no pottery, no
poems, or plays. Sparta made weapons and armor, trained men to be incredible warriors, and
told their women to produce as many sons as possible so they too could be a part of the Spartan
war machine. Sparta was governed by the rule of a King, who had to show military strength or he
would be deposed. In Sparta tradition was very important and change was discouraged.
Life as a Spartan was all about harsh training, stoicism (accepting anything), and warfare. Life
outside of soldiering was to be lived simply, and today we use the word “spartan” to indicate a
person who chooses to have very little. Every Spartan male hoped to find his death in battle, and
Spartan soldiers were raised to be incredibly self-conscious. Spartans would choose suicide over
showing any sign of weakness in front of their fellow soldiers. They bore any pain they had silently,
and rarely showed any emotion at all except for ferocity when in battle.
Artwork from other Greeks and battle relics indicate that Spartan soldiers wore red cloaks, and
shields painted with a red symbol. Spartans produced the finest most deadly soldiers in all of
Greece, and on top of this they had bronze armor, helmets, swords, and spears. Each Spartan
soldier was a one-man army!
Sparta’s strength was its army. Spartan soldiers were called hoplites and each man was a welltrained well-armored warrior, but he was also taught to fight in a group. Spartans organized their
men into tight formations called phalanxes. Phalanxes linked the hoplites shields together and
used a wall of spears and swords to devastate the enemy. This made Sparta a strong city-state.