Athens and Sparta

Vocabulary City-State- A large independent city that controls the area surrounding the city Oligarchy- Government run by a small group. Usually a government ran by the military Democracy- A government where people vote on all major decisions Ostracism- Voting to kick people out of the community

The Greek City-States Ancient Greece was not a united country The country was made up of a handful of independent city-states City-States had similar cultures Frequently fought with each other Athens and Sparta were the most powerful City-States

Sparta Made up of a handful of villages on the Peloponnesian peninsula An incredibly militaristic society

Reasons for Spartan militarism Early in its history Sparta conquered a number of surrounding villages The survivors were taken back to Sparta as slaves This meant there were more captured slaves in Sparta than actual Spartans Spartans made a decision at this point to become completely militaristic in order to control slaves and protect themselves from other city-states

Spartan education and training At birth children were inspected by members of the government If the children were considered week or sick they were left in the mountains (infanticide) Boys were taken from their parents at age 7 and sent to live in military barracks

Spartan education cont Very basic education Emphasis on obeying and serving Sparta Daily military training, P.E., wrestling and boxing

Military Service Officially joined the military at age 20 Could be married at age 30 but the men still had to live in the military barracks Released from military service at age 60

Spartan government Government is usually considered an oligarchy Sparta had two kings who ran the army A council of elders voted on issues Assembly of men over 20 voted for Kings and small issues

Spartan isolation Spartans were not allowed to travel unless it was with the military Outsiders were not allowed into Sparta Spartans were discouraged from studying philosophy, music, or art

Athens Athens was the largest city in Greece It was a trading port, there was constantly people coming and going, bringing new ideas A very rich city

Athens education Education was highly valued in Athens Boys were taught math, reading, writing, music, and P.E. Taught at home by servants or slaves until they were 18

Athens Government For part of its history Athens was considered a democracy, the first democracy in the world Citizens elected 9 men who ran the city and army of the city Large meetings were held where every male citizen could talk and vote Every major decision was made by voting at these meetings Citizens could vote to kick people they thought were dangerous out of the community, ostracism.

Women in Athens and Sparta Women in Athens were not educated, were not allowed out of the house without a male guardian Women in Sparta had an incredible amount of freedom and responsibility for an ancient society This was due to the fact that the men were constantly fighting or living in the military barracks

The Peloponnesian War

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Athens and Sparta A high level of mistrust and tension existed between Athens and Sparta They briefly cooperated to fight the Persians, but mostly they disliked each other Both cities wanted to be the most powerful cities in Greece

The Delian League After the last Persian war, Athens founded a defense alliance to prevent the Persians from attacking again. City-States paid money to Athens who built navies, armies, and forts for the Greeks Athens also used the money to rebuild itself after the Persians had burned it. Used the money to build the Parthenon

Delian league cont. Athens was growing very rich and powerful due to the league Many city-states wanted to leave the alliance but Athens wouldn’t let them Sparta was very afraid of how powerful Athens was becoming

The Peloponnesian War Several of Sparta’s allies convinced Sparta to go to war with Athens Athens hid behind the huge defensive walls they had built and let Sparta burn and pillage the country-side Athens navy raided the areas around Sparta burning and pillaging the country-side The war lasted for 25 years, every major city-state in Greece became involved

The Plague Athens was extremely crowded with people who had fled the Spartans in the countryside A plague broke out in Athens killing approximately 1/3 the people Eventually Sparta wins the war

Results of the war Athens decided to get rid of their democratic government All of Greece was incredibly damaged by the war The war made it easy for Greece to be conquered by Phillip and the Macedonians Generally seen as the end of classic Greek culture and time period.