Download Sparta v. Athens

February 24th, 2016
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Bellringer: Would you rather be a citizen of Athens or Sparta? Justify your
answer with two supporting points for your chosen city-state as well as one
negative for the other city-state.
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Athens vs. Sparta discussion-take notes on your own paper (what you feel
is important to write down; key ideas, people, events)
•
Any time remaining, please read 9.2 (Athens and Sparta) for information
that will be on your test.
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Homework: Study Guides due tomorrow (see Mrs. Petzke if you have lost
yours); Chapter 9 Test Friday
Sparta vs. Athens
Paraphrase the notes on your own paper; this information can be
found in 9.2 in your textbooks
Boys & Men in Sparta
• Daily life in Sparta was
dominated by the army.
• Sick boys were left to die.
• Healthy boys were trained from
an early age to be soldiers.
• As part of their training, boys
ran, jumped, and threw
javelins to increase their
strength.
• Training began at 7 and
military service from ages 2030 but could be asked to fight
until the age of 60!
Boys & Men in Sparta
• Spartans were trained to be tough so:
– They weren’t given shoes or heavy clothes, even in the
winter.
– They weren’t given much food.
– Boys were allowed to steal food, but if they were caught,
they were whipped.
– Spartans believed that the most important qualities of
good soldiers were self-discipline and obedience.
– Spartans had no luxuries like soft furniture or expensive
food.
Discussion Questions
(with your neighbor)
• What are the benefits to having soldiers
whose ONLY job was to fight?
• Why would the Spartans only give soldiers
the bare essentials? (i.e. no luxuries)
Discussion Answers
• Benefit of having to focus only on fighting:
Soldiers would be trained from an early
age, so the fighting/toughness would be
second nature to them
• Spartans only given essentials: They
wouldn’t become “soft” in times away from
battles. Think about spoiled professional
athletes…they wanted Spartans to keep
their edge.
Girls & Women in Sparta
• Spartan women had more
rights than other Greek
women.
• Some women were allowed to
own land.
• Spartan women thought
spinning cloth and weaving
were jobs for slaves.
• Spartan women received
similar physical training as
Spartan men.
• Discuss: Why would they want
their women to have similar
training to the men?
Discussion Question
• They would want their
women to receive
similar training so as
to avoid a “weak link”
or “nurturing” part in
their society; no room
for weakness! Also,
so these women
could have strong
Spartan babies.
Spartan Government
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Sparta was ruled by two kings. Why have two kings?
Elected officials ran the day-to-day activities.
Sparta’s government was set up to control the city’s helots or slaves.
Slaves grew all the city’s crops and did many other jobs.
Even though slaves outnumbered
the Spartans, the fear of the
Spartan army kept them
From rebelling. Slaves outnumbered citizens 20 to 1
Slavery in Ancient Sparta (Read
together)
• slavery in Ancient Sparta
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In Spartan society, all slaves were owned by the state. The helots (as the Spartan slaves were
known) outnumbered the citizen population by about twenty to one. Helots formed the basis of the
Spartan economy and were essential to food production, however, they were treated like animals.
Helots were bound to the land, unable to leave.
Helots were legally viewed as enemies of the state. They were forced to wear humiliating clothing
to distinguish them from the Spartan population and were publicly punished through annual
beatings to remind them of their servile position. One ancient writer, Plutarch, described how the
young Spartan men could run throughout the country armed with daggers and murder helots at
will. This was intended to terrorize them to keep them under control. There was no penalty for
killing a helot.
In wartime, they acted as servants to the warriors or served as light infantrymen. Only the state
could emancipate [free] slaves but how often they used the power was questionable. One Greek
writer describes how after a victorious battle, the helots were asked to name those who were
champions so they could be manumitted. The two thousand who stepped forward were murdered.
The Athenian, Critias, best described the situation in Sparta: “The free were more free, and the
slaves more fully slaves than elsewhere.”
Boys & Men in Athens
• Athenian boys worked to improve both
their bodies and their minds.
• They had military training like Spartan
boys, but it wasn’t as long or harsh.
• Athenian men only had to serve in the
military for two years.
Boys & Men in Athens
• Athenian men also
learned to read, write,
and count as well as
learn to sing and play
musical instruments.
• Men had training in public
speaking in order to
prepare them for
participation in the
assembly.
• Boys from poor families
were taught to read and
write, but often became
farmers.
Girls & Women in Athens
• Girls received little or no education. Girls and women from wealthy
families may be taught privately
• Most girls learned household tasks
like weaving or sewing.
• Despite Athens’ reputation for
freedom and democracy, women
had almost no rights.
• They had to obey their husbands and fathers.
• They could only leave their houses on special occasions.
• What is the woman in the picture doing? What does this say about
Athenian society?
Government in Athens
• Athens had a
democracy, but that
was limited to only
free males.
Battles
• Athens fought most of
their battles at sea.
• Sparta fought most of
their battles on land.
• The Peloponnesian War
was fought when the
Delian League (Athens)
and the Peloponnesian
League (Sparta) fought
each other for control of
the Greek World.