Throughout the 300 Greek city-states, Sparta and Athens were two of the most influential. Despite Sparta and Athens both being Greek city-states, they could not have been more different. Athens was a fair and equal society, with a great democracy and overall more powerful government. They had a strong economy and a great trade network. Athens also had remarkable culture. Contrary to this, Sparta’s policy was all about military strength. Their government was centered around war and their army and had almost no culture. Sparta had many enemies, so their trade was nonexistent. The life in Sparta was focused on military strength. Although living in Sparta had some benefits, Athens was a better place to live than Sparta because of its fair and equal …show more content…
The Athenian economy was superior to Spartan economy because of their relations with neighboring places. Athens was generally friendly to their neighbors, hence their economy depending on trade. Athens was nearby the sea and was therefore able to trade with other city-states and foreign lands. They traded honey, olive oil, silver, and painted pottery for items such as grain and wood. Athens had many jobs for citizens and even the poor were treated fairly. Their jobs went into arts, business, science, and many other things. Opposite this, Sparta’s economy depended on conquering other people. Most, if not all jobs were military related. They used the people they conquered as slaves to do all of the hard work for them. These people were called helots. Sparta got most of their food from the helots. Along with this trade, Athens made their own coin system while Sparta did not. Athenians used these coins at a marketplace called the agora. Even though there was all this trade and business in Athens, Sparta believed in no type of trade at all. Spartans thought that trade would weaken their government by bringing in new ideas. Athens’s economy is far superior because they didn’t rely on slaves and conquering, they created their own jobs and traded with other