There are many important city-states that played a significant role in how ancient Greece developed. Two of the most famous city-states, also known as the “superpowers” are Athens and Sparta. These two could not have been more different when it came to geography, government, society and ideas. As time passed Sparta and Athens went from being allies to absolutely hating each other. By around 650BC Sparta became a very dominant power in ancient Greece. They were situated in the southeastern Peloponnesus on a plain in between the mountains and the sea. They were geographically cut off, or isolated from the sea so they used the fertile soil to farm. Sparta always tried to be as self sufficient as possible, not relying on other cities for help. They were an extreme military city-state, with a rigid structure. One of the most important city-states in ancient Greece is Athens, which has been inhabited for over 7,000 years. Athens was located to the northeast of Sparta, in an area close to the sea called Attica. Since Athens was neighbors with the sea, they decided to build a huge naval fleet and trade with other civilizations around the Mediterranean. Athens was very into the arts, poetry, and ideas. They encouraged thinking and believed you could choose what you wanted to do with your life. Sparta was ruled by an Oligarchy, or a small group of retired high ranking military people. They had three layers to their government. The top tier was made up of two kings that could be
Did you know if a baby was born in Sparta and they were disabled they would be left on a hillside to die? Sparta was the best war state and most feared in Greece. Sparta had many great tactics in war such as flanking and round shields to protect themselves from arrows. Sparta was not just a war state, they had pottery, poetry, and architecture to do on the side of war. One of Sparta’s famous artists was Leonidas.
Sparta’s government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. While Athens seems to only have a democracy. In Document 2, an excerpt from “The Spartan Constitution” by Aristotle there’s a quote that states “they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy..” This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. It’s also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from “Funeral Orations” by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states “it is true that our government is a democracy, because it’s administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many..” This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a
“The City of Sparta lies in the valley of the River Eurotas. Along with having a river close by; the Spartans were also enclosed by the mountains of Taygetos to the West and Parnon to the East.” Their society was a slave based culture, which allowed the Spartans to become the only full time fighting force in Ancient Greece. Their society was manned by two kings; one of which took the reins of the army in times of conflict or war, while the other king remained in Sparta and maintained society. However, the kings did not have complete power in ancient Sparta. They took two of the 30 seats of the gerousia, or the council of elders; this council of elders prepared possible legislation such as declaring war for a citizen assembly to reject or accept.
In 750 BC, Greek city-states, known as Polis, started to develop. The Greek city-states had two levels with the Acropolis at the top, and the bottom tier with marketplaces, theatres, public buildings, and homes. Each city-state had their government, laws, and own rulers, but the two most influential city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were essential for many reasons, but the main reason they were significant was the fact they helped in the Persian War.
Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.
Sparta was governed as an Oligarchy where a few male citizens were elected to govern the city state in an annual
Athens and Sparta are two rivals of ancient Greece. Athenians and Spartans lived their lives different, and they valued different things. Athenians and Spartans had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta were ruled by two kings, those two kings either ruled until they were died or forced out of office. Athens were ruled by archons, they were elected annually. Athens in the birthplace of democracy. Spartans focused on war and obedience. Young boys were trained to be warriors. Young women were trained to be mothers and warriors. Athenians could get good education and could pursue several kinds of arts or sciences. For many years Spartan armies provided much defense of the Greek lands. The Spartans bravery and courage at the “Battle of Thermopylae” during the Persians Wars, inspired all of Greece to fight back with all their might against the invading Persians. Athenians and Spartans fought side by side in the “Battle of Platea”, which ended the Persians invasions of Greece. Spartans provided assistance for Greece when necessary. Athenians wanted to control land around them. That led to war between all the Greeks, this was the “Peloponnesian War”. After many years of fighting the Spartans won. In Greek spirit Sparta refused to burn the city of Athens. The culture and spirit of Athens was allowed to live on, as long as Athenians no longer desired to rule Greek. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Sparta is known as Sparti in Greek. Sparta is
Athens and Sparta, the two largest and most powerful cities in ancient Greece (between 800 and 323 BCE) were two different models of polis, their social, political and cultural values and ways of life were dramatically different. (Brand, n.d.)
(Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship, 2016) Spartan society & public office was made up of: The Kings: a dual kingship of two different royal tribes. The Kings were not true monarch because they were overruled by the Gerousia and the
Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.
Unlike many other ancient civilizations of the Near East, Greek history has a start like no other. The Greek civilization was based upon city-states, two in particular; Athens and Sparta. These two dominants in Greek history differ from any other near east society because of their historical background, geographical region and the cultural differences they display. The Athenian city-state was an open democratic maritime state, dominating Attica and supporting commercial and cultural expansion. The Spartan city-state had a tightly organized, militaristic, land based state, dominating the peloponnesian peninsula.
Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and well known cities among all the Greek nations. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. But there are some differences between these two power houses. For instance the way that these cities were governed and their political procedures and functions were quite different from each other.
Being the birthplace of democracy gives Ancient Greece a very important reputation. One of the most famous civilizations lies between three seas, the Aegean Sea, Sea of Crete, and the Ionian Sea. Such abundance of water makes Ancient Greece good in fishing and trade. Two of the biggest city-states were Athens and Sparta. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy, which means ruled by few powerful and wealthy people. Ancient Greece is also known for many things like the birthplace of the first Olympics, beautiful architecture, and famous philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The two biggest city-states have always had issues. Sparta and Athens are very different from the way they are administered as well as their practices. Athenians were the most scholarly types while the Spartans were more of the military type. Due to the fact that Sparta had a very military lifestyle, they were good at raising strong outspoken women in a society where women were kept at home.
Sparta and Athens were formed in two different ways. Sparta was originally four small villages in Southwestern Peloponnesus that became unified into one polis. They conquered two neighboring areas known as Laconia and Hessenia. These people were then forced to work in Sparta. Athens had established a unified polis on the peninsula of
Sparta was known in Greek as Sparti. The city lied at the southern end of the central Laconia plain, on the right bank of the Eurotas River. Its population was about 100,000 and it was located in the Laconia region. It had a fairly temperate but very dry climate. Sparta’s also depended on agriculture for their sustenance. They had a mandatory military service. Their system of leadership was Oligarchic and their descendants were mostly the descendants of the Dorian invaders. Athens, on the other hand, was the largest capital city of Greece. Its citizens were about 140,000. The region in which Athens was situated was Attica. The city of Athens had a Mediterranean climate. Athenians depended on trade and agriculture for survival. They did not have a military based system. They practiced Democracy and their descendants were mostly from Ionian descent. (Diffen, n.d).