Athens vs. Sparta DBQ Athens and Sparta were two of the world's greatest ancient civilizations. Though they were both city-states in Greece they had their differences. Some of the largest contrasts were education, government, and the roles girls and women played in their societies. In Sparta the schools for children were very harsh and military based.
Camille Sicat #26 3/16/16 Writing/Social Studies Power of the People: Athens vs. Rome Essential Question: Citizenship in Athens and Rome: Which Was the Better System? Prior to the idea of people being “citizens” of a nation, people were subjects, with no rights and forced to serve under the iron fist of their ruler. The idea of people having rights and responsibilities to their country originated in Athens, Greece circa 500 B.C. (Background Essay). Rome, however, far surpassed the Greeks in their social contract theory of citizenship (Background Essay) for the following reasons: 1) More people were considered citizens i.e. females and sons of freed slaves; 2)
Even to this day, we still use Athens and Sparta’s societal systems and structures because they were so revolutionary. Athens even introduced the idea of democracy, and Sparta had a strong military culture. Although Athens and Sparta were close together, Athens focused on leadership and education while Sparta focused on the military and war. However, due to their different governments and cultures, each has their strengths and weaknesses. However, because Athens focuses on its future leaders, Athens is the better model for a society.
Athens vs. Sparta Whether it's government, education, art, or military, Athens and Sparta have always had many similarities as well as differences in ancient Greece. Sparta and Athens did not share the same view and opinions. As a result of these disagreements, the two ancient Greek city-states were rivals. They both had very different methods of teaching, military training, women's rights, and more. Spartans focused most on the training of war, and Athens focused most on knowledge and intelligence.
Sparta was about fitness, survival, and war while Athens was about public speaking, debate, and music. As you may see, Sparta and Athens may seem like two whole different worlds, and it’s clear that they deemed each value of theirs’ important, but which city-state would go to great length to preserve that value? Sparta was more committed to their cultural value than Athens. Spartans valued military power. For instance, “Their whole lives were about military training even after 30 the Spartan boys were required to serve the military until they were 60” (Document 2).
This contrasts the two cities in their perspective of what they need. Sparta powers their army with the number of Helots within the confines of their territory. Athens sees military as important but has almost as many resident aliens in their city as Sparta has natural citizens(Document 6). Looking at a list of imported goods and exported goods into the two cities, you can see how Sparta imports materials needed for supporting an army like iron, ivory,and copper. On the other hand, Athens import necessities in which the need to survive on such as wheat, skins, and salted fish to eat.
Aristotle once said in his book Politics, “Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects” (Aristotle). Ancient Greece was ahead of time, so that everyone felt included. Your gender, social position, and religion do not play a part in the amount of rights you have. Greece was split into many city-states, all with their own types of government and differences. Mainly, Athens and Sparta are most well known.
Sparta was abusive to children, and any society that abuses its citizens shouldn’t last, and Sparta didn’t. Sparta was a Greek city-state whose sole purpose was military strength. While Sparta lasted for 300 years, any strong society would last longer. They also abused their slaves and killed them with no warning. The weaknesses weighed Sparta down, so here are some of those weaknesses.
Back in the day, Greece was not a unified country like today. Greece was made up of many city-states that were constantly at war with each other. Some famous examples of the city-states are Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Athens and Sparta dominated Greece but were always at war with each other. Sparta had the superior land army but Athens had the better navy.
With the withdrawal of Sparta and the Peloponnesian leagues, a congress was called on the island of Delos to institute a new alliance to continue the fight against the Persians. According to Thucydides, the official aim of the League was to "avenge the wrongs they suffered by ravaging the territory of the king." In reality, this goal was divided into three main efforts— to prepare for future invasion, to seek revenge against Persia, and to organize a means of dividing spoils of war. League members swore to have the same friends and enemies, and dropped ingots of iron into the sea to symbolize the permanence of their alliance. Over time, especially with the suppression of rebellions, Athens exercised hegemony over the rest of the league.
The subject that I have chosen to focus my report on is the groundbreaking social commentary present in the 1966 television show Star Trek. The original series takes place in the 23rd century on a ship called the USS Enterprise. In this imagined future the earth has unified under the United Federation of Planet, which is founded with many altruistic Principles. In this future of humanity evils such as poverty, racism, sexism, authoritarianism, imperialism, classism, and war are eradicated. With the absence of these negative aspects of human society the principles of an Egalitarian, peaceful society stand unhindered.
Today, many of the world’s government structures were based on the principle of one of Greece’s city-states. Greece became a country advancing well before its time, strong in both military and brain power. This country was able to produce two city-states that became foundations to advancing the rest of the world. The first city-state, Athens, is thought to be the first to implement a democratic government while Sparta became known for their military power. While Athens and Sparta provide the world with advancements they differ in the ways of government structures, social motivations, and cultural differences.
I would like to educate the masses on a matter of frequent debate. This is none other then Athens vs Sparta, and I can say the thorough research and facts have lead me to concluded that Sparta is a much better city-state then Athens. Sparta is better then Athens because of its respect of women, more equal school system, integrity of government, treatment of slaves, and superior military. First of all, women were given far more rights than in Athens. First of all, Women in Sparta could own there own land, participate in politics and the olympics among other things.
Aside from this, that is about the only thing Sparta had going for them. Meanwhile, Athens was busy focusing on creating democracy and making famous literary works, like it was no big deal. Sparta, not so much, they just wanted strong jocks. After a reviewing a few elements of Athenian culture, it is clear to see Athens was clearly better than Sparta.
Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.
