Sparta

  • Located in Peloponnesus, the southern part of Greece.
  • Developed a brutal system of strict control, because state-owned slaves outnumbered their rulers –s
  • Boys were forced to go without sandals, believing this habit would better prepare them to run and climb more nimbly.
  • Led and dominated the Peloponnesian league.
  • Strong Greek army
  • Boys were taken from parents at age seven and trained in the art of warfare.
  • They were not given enough food so they had to steal
  • Girls could participate in sports; treated more as equals.
  • Trained to dislike luxuries and fancy foods
  • The men lived most of their lives in military barracks
  • The parting cry of mothers to their sons was "Come back with your shield - or on it". Mothers whose sons died in battle openly rejoiced; mothers whose sons survived hung their heads in shame.
  • Did not possess city walls.
  • A small force of a few hundred made a legendary last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae against the enormous Persian army, causing very high casualty rates on the Persian forces before finally being encircled.
  • Believed to be the only Greek state that did not join forces with Alexander the Great during his campaign against the Persians.
  • At the age of seven, boys were taken from their mothers and grouped in together in “packs”.

Sparta and Athens

  • Fought against the Persians during the Persian War
  • Powerful Greek city-state
  • Slavery was legal and common. In certain cases slavery largely outnumbered citizens.
  • Women did not participate in the political life
  • Government was made up of an assembly

Athens

  • Located in Attica, north of Peloponnesus
  • Solon outlawed dept slavery and freed those who had already been sold into slavery for dept.
  • Claims to be the birthplace of democracy
  • Cleisthenes developed a legislature that debated laws before decided to approve or reject them
  • During time of Pericles citizens were paid for jury service so not only the wealthy could participate.
  • Led and dominated the Delian league
  • Strongest Greek navy
  • Schools taught boys reading, writing and mathematics, music, poetry, sport and gymnastics.
  • The education of a girl was limited and involved spinning, weaving, and other domestic art.
  • Women and girls were kept at home with no participation in sports or politics. Wives were considered property of their husbands.
  • Enjoyed luxuries and foods from all over their empire.
  • Possesses long walls around the city for protection against invaders.
  • Considered a center for literature, philosophy and the arts, as well as the home of Plato’s Academy.
  • Athens was the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles, and its many other prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world.
  • The summit of the Acropolis was covered with temples, statues of bronze and marble, and various other works of art.
  • One of the most architecturally advanced cities of the ancient world, including the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike and The Erechtheum.