The Differences Between Athens And Sparta History Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

Athens and Sparta may be on the same country and even on the same continent, but many differences can be found between these two city-states, "They were close together on a map, yet far apart in what they valued and how they lived their lives" (White, 2010). Some of the things they have differences, are the types of government each of then used to rule their cities. The education may have some similarities but at the end they differ in little things, as the military organization. The citizens on these two cities were in some part similar but also a little different as many of the things I had already talked about on the above. Both, Sparta and Athens did different things for their benefits and this things gave them the opportunity of unite more and the formation of a new government call democracy.

There were three types of governments used by this two cities; monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. Each of them with different characteristics and that it identity and differ them from each other. Monarchy for example, is a type of government that consists that a king or a queen are the ones that rule the city, making everyone do what they order to do. Oligarchy, on the other hand "is a government in which a small group of citizens gather together" and they are the ones that control the taking of decisions (White, 2010). This were the types of governments that Spartans and Athenians used to control they cities, which at the end created the formation if a new government called democracy; a system of government in which citizens vote to make governmental decisions.

On Sparta, the people that could be citizens were only the men and they need to be 30 years old. No women were allowed to be considered a citizen and of course they were only used to be housekeepers. Some of the women in Sparta owned lands and that was one the reason they were the freest women in Greece. Like in here, this author says: "Citizen women were free to move around and enjoyed a great deal of freedom. Spartan women could own and control their own property" (Unknown Author, "Let's Compare at the time of Pericles, about 475 - 430 B.C").On Athens, the wealthy noble people that owned land were the ones that were consider citizens. One similarity between this two cities, were that no women where consider citizens but on Athens they weren't allowed to own land. They also divided themselves into common people that didn't own land and the helots, which were free Greeks that had lived in Sparta before they were conquered.

Not all the things between Sparta and Athens were completely different, there were some things which they had similar things. For example, on the way of government they both had a person or persons which were the ones that control the city and the things they were suppose to do. For example, "Both Athens and Sparta had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta was ruled by two kings, who ruled until they died or were forced out of office. Athens was ruled by archons, who were elected annually" (White, 2010). Their military tactics and movements weren't completely the same but they both had an army that

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could help them. Also the weapons they used were similar, as helmets and swords. The educations for these two cities were similar in the way that they teach things, not the same things but they learned things. Also this education was mostly for men in both of the cities.

Some differences they had on the things I just said were notably marked and they were constantly seen. On their government for example, "the Spartan form was called oligarchy, but it had elements of monarchy , democracy, and aristocracy"(Unknown Author, "Athens vs Sparta"). They had a king which went with them to war and all the things they assisted, but he wasn't the one that took the decisions; the citizens were the ones that decided things. Instead on Athens, they used the democracy as they way of governing, which for them was more organized, but they were impartial because only the wealthy noble people were the ones that could vote. On their military part, Sparta only focused themselves into teach their people to fight and know how to defend themselves, instead Athens gave the options to men to take the decision if they wanted to join the army or not and study another thing.

At the end, both of these city-states helped to the formation and evolution of the democracy, which in now days are used in most of the countries around the world. Sparta in somehow used the democracy but only a little group and even more in a group of old men which they didn't had knowledge of the things that were happening. Athens, on the other hand already used the democracy but a very restricted way which limited the common people to vote. Both of this forms of government opened the eyes of many tyrants and rules which at the end, when Greece united for the fight of power between Persia. It evolved and in a way it expanded around, giving new options to the world.

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