Athens vs.

Sparta
 Comparison Activity
• As a class we will compare the following topics. There
is a writing activity to follow so take notes and follow
along!

• Topics to discuss:
– Population/Location
– Government
– Social Structure
– Allies/Military
– Lifestyle/Values
– Education
– Role of Women
– Cultural Achievements
– Food
Athens VS Sparta
Population / Location

Government

Social Structure

Allies/Military

Lifestyle/Values

Education

Role of Women

Cultural Achievements

Food
 Population
Athens Sparta
150,000 Athenians  8,000 Adult Males
50,000 Aliens  Over 100,000 slaves
100,000 Slaves and semi-enslaved
Note: (By 432 B.C. largest city- people
state)
 Government
Athens
• Direct democracy
• Elected officials
– 10 generals/magistrates
• Assembly of 500: all
male citizens; passed
laws
• Trial by jury
Sparta
• Oligarchy: rule by few
• Two kings: led army
• 5 Overseers: ran day-to-
day operations of Sparta;
had veto power
• Senate: 28 men over 60;
elected for life; acted as
judges; proposed
legislation
• Assembly: all Spartan
males
 Social Structure
Athens
• Freemen: all male citizens
• Upper: Aristocrats
– Land owners
– Naval captains and military
leaders
• Middle: small farmers
• Lower: craftsman
• Metics: foreigners
• Slaves: treated less harshly
than other Greek city-
states
Sparta
• Spartiates: Land owning
military professionals
• Perioeci: foreigners who
were craftsman, artisans
• Helots: Farmers/Slaves
who worked on the
Spartiates land
– Gave 1/2 of all their produce
to Spartiates / military
 Allies/Military

Athens Sparta
• Delian League: • Peloponnesian League:
collection of city-states • Superior army on land
that pledged loyalty to
• Entire culture was
Athens
focused on the art of
– Athens taxed them for
protection war
• Athens had very strong
navy and was
expanded by
Themistocles
Peloponnesian War
 Lifestyle / Values
Athens Sparta
• Democratic values • Militaristic values
• Participation in • Citizens were not
government is a civic permitted to own
responsibility luxuries
• Many religious holidays • Travel outside the
empire was banned
• Theatre/sporting
events • Children were taught
to respect elderly,
• Trading empire brought women, and warriors
contact with many
other cultures
History Channel Battle of Thermopylae
• Start Film at10:35
https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=gBMUuhlhL8A
 Education
Athens
• Schools taught reading,
writing and mathematics,
music, poetry, sport and
gymnastics
• Ages 5-14 (wealthy went
until 18)
• Academies were set up to
study philosophy and ethics
• Girls were taught
homemaking skills
Sparta
• Boys: at age 7 they were
taken from their parents
and taught the art of war
– Had to steal to survive
– At age 20 they entered the
military
– At age 20 they were able to
marry
• Girls: at age 7 they were
reading and writing,
gymnastics, athletics and
survival skills
 Role of Women
Sparta
• Girls were educated
• Could participate in
sports
Athens • Goal was to produce
healthy babies
• Women were kept at • Married at 18
home
• Enjoyed a great deal of
• Could not participate freedom
in athletics • Could own and control
• Some women held their property
high posts at religious • Expected to protect land
ceremonies while husband was at
war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IInECJ
0Utsc
 Cultural Achievement
Sparta
• Military supremacy
Athens • Simple lifestyle
• Art • “ideal” community
– Sculptures
– Pottery
• Architecture
• Drama
• Literature
• Philosophy
• Science
• Medicine
• Mathematics
• Democracy
 Food
Athens Sparta
• Enjoyed food from all • Spartan Broth: pork,
over the empire blood, salt, vinegar
• Trade brought goods • Trained to dislike
from all over the luxuries and fancy food
Mediterranean region • Men lived separate
from wives for much of
the time

Wife Swap Video Clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=uLyW5UYPYYs
 Discussion
• If you were a young teenage girl of the citizen
class, in which city-state would you rather live?
Why?
• If you were a slave, in which would you rather
live? Why?
• If you were a boy of the citizen class, in which
would you rather live? Why?
• If you were a young soldier, in which would
you rather live? Why?
• If you were a very wealthy person of the citizen
class, in which would you rather live? Why?
Battle BC Video Clip: True 300
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhgMn9rvn_Y