Sparta and Athens

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Sparta and Athens

Mr. Curia's History Class

In the last lesson, we learned about how the Greeks thought about citizenship, and how it wasn't universal. Emerging from the Dark Ages, the poleis (plural of polis) had to sort out how they would be run.

Political Upheaval

Today when we talk about tyranny, we mean unjust rulers. In ancient Greece, they were men who seized political power through unconventional means, and remained in power only as long as they could convince their faction to support them.

Tyrant

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Because tyrants had to maintain popular support to stay in power, they listened more to the broad population. This annoyed the rich and the nobles. In many poleis, the nobles seized power and ruled as a group.

Oligarchy

​Some poleis began to recognize that each citizen had an interest in how decisions were made in the polis. They began to experiment with democracy to help with the tensions between the interests of different groups.

Democracy

Multiple Choice

What is a tyrant?

• An elected leader

• A rich person

• A ruler with absolute power

• A good boy

Multiple Choice

What is an oligarchy?

• A system where a small group controls the decisions

• A system where one person holds all the power

• A system where a random person is picked to make decisions

• A system where the people vote on decisions

Multiple Choice

What is a democracy?

• Rule by the strong

• Rule by the rich

• Rule by the military

• Rule by the people

Poll

Which system would you rather live in?

• A tyranny

• An oligarchy

• A democracy

The Spartans are known even today as ultimate warriors. Why?

Sparta: The Jocks of Greece

The driving fear behind Spartan civic structure was a revolt amongst the helots. Helots were the slaves of Sparta, and lived under a different form of slavery than many Greek slaves. To keep control, Sparta developed a...

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Slave Revolt

Modern military science says that to maintain control of an area with light resistance you need 1 soldier to every 10 people. For much of Spartan history, that is the ratio of hoplites to helots. Spartans lived their whole existence as an occupying army. This is partially due to the terrible treatment of the helots which caused them to be willing to revolt and seek revenge.

Military Society

​Spartan boys were trained for war in a system called the agoge. This was a military training system that lasted from 7 to 29. It is renowned for its brutality, and produced warriors designed to keep the helots in check. They were formidable opponents.

​​Men

Spartan women were among some of the best educated and powerful women in the ancient world. In order to be strong to survive childbirth and have strong Spartan sons they received education, exercised regularly, and would control their husbands' property while they were away at war.

Women

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Sparta's system was said to come from a semi-mythical figure, Lycurgus.​ He set down the Spartan system and laws in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi based on his three Spartan virtues: equality, military fitness, and austerity.

Since these laws were semi-divine, change and flexibility was not allowed.​

Some looked at the Spartan Constitution the same way that some people see the United States Constitution.

​Make it More Rigid

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Multiple Choice

What was the main motivation behind Spartan decisions?

• They wanted to be the toughest.

• They wanted to be the richest.

• They were afraid of their slaves (helots)

• They were preparing for a war against Germany

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the semi-mythical Spartan lawgiver?

• Louis

• Lycurgus

• Lysander

• Jeff

Athens is the other major polis that people think of in connection with ancient Greece, and it was very different.

Athens: The Theater Kids

Athenian education was very different from Sparta. They focused on what could today be considered a balanced education of math, drawing, music, and public speaking. When education finished at 18, they were supposed to be prepared to take on public life.

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Athenian educational style definitely won.

​The Education of An Athenian

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Solon was​ the legendary reformer of Athens. The nobles and farmers were at odds over debt and he was chosen to mediate. He helped by forgiving debts and freeing enslaved debtors.

Reform!

The nobles were unhappy with Solon's reforms for removing their power, and the farmers for not going far enough. A relative of Solon's was the next leader of Athens.

But not too much...

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​Peisistratus, this relative, became the next tyrant, and went further. He started land reform, breaking up big estates. He also hired the poor laborers to build temples. The next tyrant was Cleisthenes.

Oops! All Tyrants!

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Oddly, for a tyrant, Cleisthenes was trying to put himself out of a job. He made the assembly the main governing system, and also created a council of 500 to manage day to day issues and foreign relations.

Democracy* Finally!

Multiple Choice

How was education in Athens different from Sparta?

• Athens had more academic subjects and it was shorter

• Athens had the better football team

• Athens was full of theater kids and nerds

• Athens focused more on military training

Multiple Choice

How many tyrants did it take Athens to get to a democracy?

• 300

• 12

• 3

• 2

Multiple Choice

Who was the reformer who started fixing the tensions in Athens?

• Solon

• Solomon

• Squidward

• San Antonio