Athens and Sparta are the two most famous cities in the history of ancient Greek. Geographically, the two cities are near each other and are known to have been rivals over many differences. Sparta is popularly known as a warrior estate, while Athens is known for arts, philosophy, and overall learning. This paper discusses Athens and Sparta's main differences in terms of government, religion, society, economy, and military life.
One fundamental way Athens and Sparta differed is in their forms of government. Athens government was a form of democracy whereby the citizens were given much more freedom (Perry, 2015). About ten percent of the population in Athens had voting rights. On the other hand, Sparta's form of government was an oligarchy. In that, the citizens had little say in the government's decisions.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Athens and Sparta also had different social set up and economies. Athens society focused on arts, learning, and philosophy (Perry, 2015). Also, Athens society's form of religion was deities, beliefs, and rituals. In contrast, Sparta city was more of a warrior city, and society's religion was based on their gods' symbolism. The gods in society were a symbol of strength and victory. Additionally, the Athens economy was driven by trade as their primary source of revenue, while Sparta's city economy was driven by conquering and agriculture.
Further, the two cities had different military capabilities. Athens had a powerful navy, while Sparta has a powerful land army. The Sparta military prowess was evident during the Peloponnesian war. The war broke out due to competing political ideologies. Also, the war was motivated by Sparta's growing fear because of the growing power of the Athenian empire (Perry, 2015). Notably, as Sparta had a strong military compared to Athens, the war was in favor of Sparta.
Conclusively, Athens and Sparta were some of the most famous city-states in ancient Greek. Even though the two cities were close geographically, they shared some significant differences. Athens and Sparta's main differences were government structure, social set-up, economy, and military capabilities.
References
Perry, M. (2015). Western Civilization, A Brief History . Cengage Learning.
