Sparta and Athens

The cities of Sparta and Athens formed during the Archaic period, in the context of the formation of the first Greek polis. This process was consolidated between 700 BC. to 500 a. C. when the nomadic Genos (tribes) became sedentary.

Even if they called themselves Helenes and sharing some customs and traditions, such as deities and the privileges of the local aristocracy, the Greeks were totally independent from each other.

They had marked differences, which does not allow us to affirm the existence of a Greek nation. And, of all cities, Sparta and Athens constituted the two greatest antitheses of Ancient Greece.

Note that Spartan society had already become a Greek power around 520 BC, when it ruled the Peloponnesian League.

It was at this time that the frictions with Athens began. In 510 BC, Cleomenes of Sparta tries to defeat the Athenians, but is defeated.

However, a few years later, in 480 BC, these two cities will unite against King Xerxes of the Persian Empire, with Athens crushing its naval force and Sparta crushing its land forces.

Despite being victorious against the Persians, rivalries between the Greek powers gradually increase.

Athens begins to emerge as the greatest maritime power in Greece, after the creation of the Delian League, which started the Peloponnesian War in 432 BC. In it, Sparta was victorious in 404 BC, however, the attrition caused by the confrontation weakened both cities.

This made possible the domination of Thebes in 370 BC, which became the dominant power until the conquest of Greece by King Philip of Macedon in 338 BC.

Key Features of Sparta

Sparta (or Lacedaemon) emerged around 1200 BC, when the Dorians, who mastered metallurgy techniques to manufacture iron, conquered the southern Peloponnese.

By 700 BC, they had already defeated their enemies and conquered the entire peninsula, turning them into vassals and slaves.

This gave Sparta a large amount of fertile land, which facilitated its isolation and earned it the sobriquet of xenophobes (aversion to foreigners).

About his education, it started at age 7 for men and 12 for women.

Basically, their training consisted of physical and psychological preparation, of a militaristic nature, to transform men into powerful and obedient warriors.

In turn, women were also trained for combat, and their education prepared them to conduct all domestic affairs in the absence of their husbands. In addition, they were welcome at assemblies and sporting competitions.

The only ones to have political rights in Spartan society were the direct descendants of the Dorians. They were served by the Periecos, descendants of the conquered Achaeans who practiced trade and crafts. Finally, the base of society was made up of the helots, slaves captured during wars.

Politically, Sparta divided power between two kings (Diarchy), one military and the other religious, who governed respecting the decisions of the Gerusia (council composed of 28 elders over 60 years old); and the Appeal (council formed by Spartans over 30 years old).

Key Features of Athens

The city of Athens was established by the Ionians around 1600 BC, in the region of the Attic peninsula. Other Creto-Mycenaean peoples such as Achaeans, Ionians and Aeolians also made up their people.

As they did not have fertile land for agriculture, the Athenians dedicated themselves to fishing and maritime trade. They took advantage of their strategic geographic position to develop the trade in wheat, grapes and olives and ceramics with the Greek colonies in the Mediterranean Sea and in Asia Minor.

More balanced, the Athenians reconciled physical and mental development during the education of their citizens, which was a privilege of wealthier families.

They highly valued art and literature, which made Athens the cultural center of Greece and the birthplace of Western Philosophy and Democracy.

However, women did not enjoy much of this education, as they were raised to be docile and submissive, gifted only for everyday domestic activities.

Athens knew a monarchic system of government until the 8th-7th centuries BC, when Democracy was established.

His government was essentially an Oligarchy (Government of the few), in which families were more important according to their proximity in the kinship line with the founders of the city.

Thus, the large landowners (Eupatrids) got the best properties, while those further along the kinship line (Georgians) got the smaller ones.

In turn, specialized artisans (demiurges) did not have land and status and the Thetas were the basis of society and could often be subjected to slavery.

The government in Athens emanated from the Ecclesia , a popular assembly, attended only by male citizens, over eighteen years of age, with at least two years of military service and children of a father born in the polis.

To learn more, read also :

• Ancient Greece
• Democracy
• Athenian Democracy
• Exercises on Ancient Greece
• Greeks:Gods, Civilization and History