Athens Vs Sparta Essay
Socio-Economic and Political Conditions in Sparta and Athens After 800 B.C.E.
Ancient Greece was in a pretty bad shape during the period from 1200 to 800 B.C.E, which is referred as the Dark Age of the Greece. Eventually, after 800 B.C.E, Greeks started expanding their empire from the Mediterranean towards east as far as the Black Sea, and towards west as far as the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, two prominent city- states named Athens and Sparta stood as two pillars in the Greek history. Although these two city -states are geographically close to each other in Greece, they were rivals and shared many differences. However, some of the social conditions were similar in these two city -states. During the Archaic age (800- 500 B.C.E.), …show more content…
Sparta is a city -state in the southern part of Greece which was under the control of aristocracy. In fact, Sparta’s asset was its powerful military, and it is the protector of Greece. Spartans oppressed the Messenian slaves after their revolt against the Spartans. In order to appease the non- nobles, who demanded equal rights, as they assisted the Spartans in the war, the aristocrats later, reformed the state system to “Lycurgan regimen.” According to this reform, all Spartans were given equal rights, and the state was ruled by two kings with the assistance from the nobles. Taking into consideration the economic situations in Sparta, the Messenian slaves called “Helots” did all the physical work while the men of Sparta devoted their lives for the military. Boys in their young age were forced into military training. Although family life was important to Spartans, their social life was compromised as men spent much of their lives in the military. So they established close relationships with other men in the military. The main aim of the Spartan men was to be trained as the best infantrymen and sacrifice their lives in the battle. Spartan women were good wives who devoted their lives in bearing children and had rights to own
Ancient Greece was in a pretty bad shape during the period from 1200 to 800 B.C.E, which is referred as the Dark Age of the Greece. Eventually, after 800 B.C.E, Greeks started expanding their empire from the Mediterranean towards east as far as the Black Sea, and towards west as far as the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, two prominent city- states named Athens and Sparta stood as two pillars in the Greek history. Although these two city -states are geographically close to each other in Greece, they were rivals and shared many differences. However, some of the social conditions were similar in these two city -states. During the Archaic age (800- 500 B.C.E.), …show more content…
Sparta is a city -state in the southern part of Greece which was under the control of aristocracy. In fact, Sparta’s asset was its powerful military, and it is the protector of Greece. Spartans oppressed the Messenian slaves after their revolt against the Spartans. In order to appease the non- nobles, who demanded equal rights, as they assisted the Spartans in the war, the aristocrats later, reformed the state system to “Lycurgan regimen.” According to this reform, all Spartans were given equal rights, and the state was ruled by two kings with the assistance from the nobles. Taking into consideration the economic situations in Sparta, the Messenian slaves called “Helots” did all the physical work while the men of Sparta devoted their lives for the military. Boys in their young age were forced into military training. Although family life was important to Spartans, their social life was compromised as men spent much of their lives in the military. So they established close relationships with other men in the military. The main aim of the Spartan men was to be trained as the best infantrymen and sacrifice their lives in the battle. Spartan women were good wives who devoted their lives in bearing children and had rights to own