ATHENS vs. SPARTA Greek city-states
location
Laconia & Attica
MILITARY The Spartan warrior was the most feared soldier in Greece The Athenian trireme allowed the navy to protect the Athenian way of life
Social structure ATHENS SPARTA FREEMEN ARISTOCRATS SMALL FARMERS URBAN CRAFTSMEN & TRIREME ROWERS METICS – CAME FROM OUTSIDE ATHENS; NOT ALLOWED TO OWN LAND SLAVES – LOWEST CLASS, NO RIGHTS, PROPERTY OF MASTERS SPARTA SPARTIATES – MILITARY PROFESSIONALS/ CITIZENS OUTSIDERS – FREEMEN; ARTISANS, CRAFTSMEN, MERCHANTS HELOTS – CONQUERED PEOPLES; TREATED LIKE SLAVES; OWED 50% OF PRODUCE TO SPARTIATES
Women’s roles Athenian: Spartan: sequestered in the home not educated responsible for handicrafts and textiles Spartan: Controlled home and land when husbands were fighting “Come back with your shield, or on it.”
EDUCATION Athens Sparta No formal education for girls Boys learned rhetoric, mathematics, reading writing, poetry, music, gymnastics Sparta Military school at age 7 for boys Lived in barracks and stole to survive Girls learned athletics
SPARTA’S LEGACY Military contributions The Phalanx (shown in the picture) Training and fighting styles Plato viewed Sparta as the first attempt at forming an “ideal” community Simple lifestyle Laconic – of few words Spartan – frugal, simple, plain
Athenian legacy – Philosophy, architecture, drama, art
Athens – birthplace of democracy Adult male citizens directly participated in affairs of the state Trial by a jury selected by lot Ostracism – people could be banished from Athens by vote Council of 500, the Assembly