Download Sparta Vs Athens: A case for Sparta that you don`t have to agree with

Sparta Vs Athens: A case for Sparta that you don’t have to agree with if you don’t want to
In Ancient Greece there were two different major forms of government, Oligarchy and Democracy.
The two city-states that best represent each form of government were Sparta (oligarchy) and Athens
(democracy). The democratic government in Athens, though decently equal, fair and fairly advanced
for its time, did not meet the needs of the Greeks. During a time of many military battles Athens decided to worry more about comfort and culture. It is the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude
as it’s first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece.
The Athenian democratic government, which may have given the citizens in Greece more freedom,
was not the best form of government at the time. The democracy in Athens cannot really be called a
true democracy since there were several flaws in the government and the way it worked. Only ten per
cent of the total population of Athens actually had voting rights and all of these citizens were upper
class men who were over thirty years old. Women, no matter what the class or age, were given no
freedom at all.
They were first owned by their fathers and then were passed from them to their husbands who then
gave them nothing more than the responsibilities of managing the household and educating the children. During a meeting of the Assembly, a policy could be adopted and formed into a law but once the
meeting of the assembly ended, the enforcement of that law was left in the hands of people who may
not agree with that specific law. Also, a rule of the Assembly said that if a certain speaker became too
powerful, he could be expelled from the country if given a majority vote by the Assembly. This rule
could easily be abused and really infringed on the freedom of speech that most democracies have.
The Assembly was made up of five hundred men who were chosen from a list of those who were
eligible to serve on the council. Since most of the population was of a lower economic class, the time
taken away from their normal work by serving on the Assembly lowered their earning potential , causing their already poor situation to worsen. Life may have been sophisticated and graceful in Athens
but the Athenians were often mocked by opposing countries and other city-states for having no bravery, patriotism or courage. This was shown by the repeated attacks on Athens. If the Athenians had a
more war-like reputation, they probably could have avoided many of those conflicts that eventually led
to the loss of the power Athens held in Ancient Greece.
In the city-state of Sparta, the government was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was
held by a group of five men called ephors. It may not seem very fair that the citizens had little say in
the decisions made by the government but, at the ti me, this was the better government. The Spartans needed to give up comfort and culture for a more disciplined military approach to control the
rebelling Messenians which eventually turned them into a deadly war machine. Over the years, the
Spartan’s ruthless and brutal reputation in war grew so large that other nations and city-states were
so frightened that they would not attack Sparta even though the Spartan army was not more larger
then eight thousand men. The Spartan men in the army would start their military training at the age of
seven and were trained to be tough and very self-sufficient. Every man in the army would fight with a
great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may have been rough but the rest of the Greeks
envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straight forwardness, and fanatical dedication. There was a
law in Sparta that banned all foreign trade and foreign travelling. This kept out all foreign ideas and
allowed them to have the element of surprise when it came to attacks. This law did not affect their
economy, which was already self-sufficient. Unlike the rest of Greek women, Spartan women had the
freedom of equal rights except for voting rights. Since men were in the military, the women had full
authority over their households and weren’t forced into a life of only childbearing and housekeeping
like the Athenian woman.
The best example of why the Spartan government was better then the Athenian government happened in 404 B.C. when the Spartan army were able to conquer the mighty power known as
Athens. The Spartan government was clearly better for that time period because they could handle
the rigors of the military craze which was growing amongst its enemies.
For that specific time period the oligarchy government in Sparta was better for the Ancient Greeks
than the democratic government in Athens. The government in Athens worried more about the citizens of its city-state then its own well-being. The Spartan oligarchy may not have given its citizens a
lot of freedom but it was successful in gaining attention and respect from the other Greeks and their
rival nations.
1) Easy question: Which government does the author of this article prefer? _____________________
2) According to the author, list the advantages of the Spartan government over the Athenian government in the T-chart below.
WRITE YOUR NAME IN THIS BOX
SPARTA
ATHENS
3) What do you think after reading this? Circle one....
ATHENS or
On a seperate sheet of paper, explain why. We’ll debate this tomorrow.
SPARTA
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