Sparta and Athens

The Great Contradiction

• “There was once a Spartan boy who caught a fox for food. As he prepared to kill, dress and eat it, a pair of Spartan soldiers approached. It was a crime for a Spartan boy in training to consume food beyond his meager rations, so he hid the fox under his shirt. When the soldiers confronted him, he refused to admit what he’d done, and instead, without crying out, he allowed the fox to chew open his stomach. What a great Spartan he was!”

-ancient Spartan fable

The Greek Polis

• Polis – Greek concept of the city-state• Loyalty to the polis was held higher than a

pan-Greek identity• Although all Greeks felt themselves above the “barbarians” around them, they still believed their individual polis to be superior to others

The Rise of Athens and Sparta

• Greece declines– fall of the Mycenaean

• By the fifth century BCE– Athens and Sparta– Opposite in almost every

way – Except for language and

culture• Conflict would bring about

the decline of both…

Sparta• Landlocked polis • located on the Peloponnese

– large peninsula connected to mainland Greece by a narrow isthmus

• Protected by mountains and difficult to reach by sea

• None of the Homeric Sparta remains in tact – destroyed by unknown conquerors Artist’s depiction of ancient Sparta

Early History

• nomadic• By 700 BCE, –War to conquest against

the Greek – Spartans victorious, enslave

MesseniansMessenia

A Military Revolution

• hoplites – foot soldiers with large shields and spears marching in unison in lines of phalanx– never before tried– Relied on citizen-soldiers

working together as equals and relying on one another for protection

A phalanx

Spartan Dominance

• “helots” – conquered Greeks – as slave labor

• “Lycurgus” had invented the new Spartan way

• Based on the belief– all Spartans were equal– conformity – duty to the state were everything

• totalitarian governmentLycurgus

Spartan Government• Ruled by two Kings• 5 elected Ephors– all citizens were part of the “Assembly”

• Power of elders strictly enforced– At age 12, boys forced to

become partners of Spartan warriors

– Meant to show:• Full controlled by the state and its

elders, the citizensKing Dorieus of Sparta

Spartan training

– Strongest boys: • sent into mountains with only

daggers, told to go to Messenia to declare “war” on helots• Could not to return until they

had murdered a helot– At age 20:• Spartan men would become “citizens” and could marry

– Still had to live communally until 30

Spartan Culture

• Only those that could contribute to the state valued– sickly or handicapped babies abandoned

to die• Discipline valued above all • Boys began training at 7– living in barracks – Not given enough food– instead encouraged to steal – Beaten if not following rules

• State-run education – first in world– Warriors willing to die for their country– crush individuality

As Lycurgus said: “Brief suffering

leads to the joy of lasting fame.”

Sparta

• Spartans believed suffering was an integral part of the path to adulthood

• Women trained as well– good breeders of soldiers

• Expected to produce healthy sons for military• Had to exercise constantly!

• Obeyed fathers/husbands• Men were busy with war, so

women ran the estates.

A Spartan woman

Sparta“Come back with your shield or come back on it.” •Extreme xenophobia•No trade– no interest in events

outside the territory they controlled

•Change with the invasion of the Persians and rise of another Greek power to the east

A New Power Emerges

• Attica,– Known as: Athens

• Named for its patron goddess, Athena

• Very fertile part of Greece• close to the sea • major center of commerce

Attica, Greece

Early Athens

• Initially just a village• Nobleman named Solon to rule

– Introduces many reforms, gives land to poor

• “Tyrants” begin ruling Athens – Continued reforms, granted more

rights and expanded citizenship• Gradually evolve into rule by the “demos” – the people– Represents the emergence of

democracy

Solon

Athenian Government

• A tyrant named Pisistratus expanded the power of the Assembly, as did Cleisthenes, later on

• Athens, begins to flourish as a democracy– Outlawed “debt” slavery– Citizenship to

foreigners– Gave poor rights– Council of 500– Created a legislature

Pericles of Athens

Golden Age of Athens• A Persian invasion led to the destruction of

Athens• Athenians were victorious in the end– emerging more powerful than ever

• Golden age = 460-404 BCE • Advances in:– the arts, sciences, architecture

• Athens gains military might – Possess largest navy in Greek world