Out of the many Greek city-states that existed, Sparta was one of the most powerful. Sparta was founded around 1000 BC, and from 800 BC to 600 BC Sparta develops their entire unique culture (Lasseter, Guilford 2016). They go on to conquer the lands of Laconia and Messenia, enslaving these people and calling them Helots (Lasseter, Guildford 2016). These helots were what allowed Sparta to focus so much time and effort into their military, and made them one of the most powerful Greek city-states. Therefore, the best model of civilization to live in would be Sparta because of the strong military, self sufficiency, and better women’s rights than Athens. As stated above, Sparta’s military was unrivaled by any civilization at that time. They were …show more content…
As stated before “The women of Sparta enjoyed more freedom than women from other Greek city-states” (O’Pry 2015). Spartan women were treated almost equally from birth compared to the men of Sparta. They were educated the same, and it was also believed that strong Spartan women were needed for strong male babies. Spartans were less likely to leave their female children out in the wilderness to kill them compared to Athens, where it was more prevalent. (O’Pry 2015). Unlike Athenian women, Spartan women were allowed to inherit property and wealth from their husbands. Spartan women were able to educate themselves meaning that they could run businesses and farms.(O’Pry 2015) They would also constantly tell their children that they should, “Come home with your shield or on it.” meaning that they need to fight with honor and courage or die in battle. As stated above, Spartan children, especially women had a smaller chance to be left out in the wilderness to die compared to Athens. This allowed Sparta to have a generally big population, which lead to huge armies. This also lead to women being able to run their farms and businesses without the constant need for a male to oversee their work. The fact that Sparta’s women’s rights were superior to Athens made Sparta the better model of civilization to live in, especially if you were a