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.
Sparta relied heavily on its military for economic growth. This created many weaknesses in its economy. First of all, Sparta relied on their slaves to produce goods. However, a resistance from the slaves or a movement could have caused a disruption. The fact that there were 224,000 slaves in Sparta but there were only 32,000 citizens in Sparta (Women & Slaves, Athens and Sparta, Document P), exacerbates the effect that an uprising could have. Spartans were so afraid of an uprising that they “asked the helots to choose their best fighters, saying that these slaves would be set free as thanks for
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Every region possesses different strengths and weaknesses which can shape the goods and services they offer. Trade is imperative if you want to have different goods. In the introduction of Life in Two City-States: Athens and Sparta, the text explained that “Athens was a walled city near the sea. Close by, ships came and went from a busy port supporting trade.” Trade was easy to establish and ports allowed for ships to come into Athens. This gave Athens many resources that their region did not have, which sped up development. New cultures and ideas could also be introduced through interactions with other civilizations. In conclusion, Athens had the potential to develop faster because of its access to new ideas, resources and other