Compare And Contrast Sparta And Athens

Essay One - Chapters 2 & 3 By: Brian Harmon In 2000 BCE, Greeks of the ancient world began settlements and founded cities in the Far East. The Aegean Sea was their ruling center in these civilizations, all while developing many settlements throughout the Far East and beyond. They developed a way of life on their own due to natural terrain divisions and isolation from surrounding civilizations being out of reach, known as the Greek Dark Ages. During this time the Polis came to be due to these divisions in the country and democracies being formed, due to changes within the fundamental structure within these colonies. During this time tyrannies developed and cities emerged along with the two most important states, Sparta and Athens. Sparta, which was a mixed government entity with a monarchy type of ruling, and Athens was the founding state of democracy. Although there were several hundred Polis, their histories are not as known as the two most powerful Greek states of Sparta and Athens.
Sparta was the leader; they launched many won wars to acquire land, most notably on Messenia. During a second war with the Messenian’s the Sparta realized they were outnumbered by the “Helots” and had to make big, life changing changes to their city and ways of life in order to maintain their control. The new Spartan system was strict for young men, from the age of seven young men were taken from their mothers and trained in the Spartan military ways until the age of thirty, of which then would be considered a full citizen of the society, but would not be relinquished of his military duty until the age of sixty, military duty was all that was permitted of men. Then at the age of sixty they could be a part of their family life again. The Polis was strictly to be their number one commitment until