It is a tale of two cities. Athens and Sparta are famous as they are two major city-states in ancient Greece. Here is a complete list of all their major differences and similarities.
Athens and Sparta were very different in terms of descent, values, political systems, military strength, fortresses, educational systems, economic models, and everyday social and family life. They were similar in aspects such as religion, language, citizen’s councils, and battle bravery. Sometimes they shared enemies, such as the Trojans and later the Persians.
The Main Differences Between Athens and Sparta
Athens was a major city-state of Ionian descent. Under Pericles’ democratic governance the city reached unprecedented levels of progress in almost all fields. The 5th century BCE was Athen’s Gorden Age and it produced masterpieces in architecture and the arts.
Sparta was an impressive city-state of Dorian descent. This was mainly a military power. Located in the Eurotas valley of Laconia in the southeast Peloponnese, 240 km (about 140 miles) to the south of Athens, the city was also known at the time as Lacedaemonia.
The Value System Of The Two Cities
Athens valued freedom, the individual, and independent thinking.
Athenians believed everybody owed to contribute to a state-servant to its people. Athenians admired educated citizens, who actively participated in public affairs and decisions, and were respectful towards the gods and their parents.
They met in the Agora, an open forum where participation was of key value. All decisions were reached through democratic procedures, namely voting by raising one’s hand.
Socrates was preaching that an unexamined life was not worth living and citizens discussed philosophy, the arts, the city’s affairs, and politics.
Sparta valued power and obedience to the state.
Spartans admired men who were healthy, strong, brave warriors ready to die for their country without any questions.
The soldier was expected to return from any battle either with his shield (victorious) or on it (dead). The actual phrase they used as a farewell was “tan i epi tas” meaning “with it or on it”.
Sparta reached its peak after winning the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE. even though its dominance in Greece did not last more than a few decades. In 371 BCE the Thebans defeated them at the battle of Leuctra.
The Two Political Systems
Athens’ political system was a democracy,
Athens was the first city where the citizens actually ruled. They met more than twice a month and decided collectively about everything.
Athenian democracy meant that everybody enjoyed complete freedom of speech and could propose issues for the assembly to vote upon.
Their voting took place by raising their hand. One citizen – one vote was the mantra.
Citizens were men, 18 years old or more, of Athenian descent, who paid their taxes and showed respect towards gods and their parents. They had the right to elect or be elected to state positions.
There were no barriers to entry to this big city council. The Athenians believed that as long as you were a citizen it was not important which family/tribe you were coming from. Also your wealth, inherited or self-made, did not give you more rights.
Sparta’s political system was an oligarchy.
Sparta had an unusual system of two equally powerful kings and a council of 28 elders, an oligarchy.
“Sparta was everywhere admired and nowhere imitated.”
Xenophon
Citizens of Sparta voted for the ruling council. In order for them to vote, they had to own even a small piece of property and be older than 30 years old.
Citizens approved or rejected the proposals of the senate, but they could not take the floor to make their own proposals.
The electoral procedure was by shouting. Only if there were any doubts about the outcome, did the authorities count the spartans’ votes.
The Economy Focus
Athens was a trading power.
Athens added other cities to its commercial, economic, and political sphere of influence.
It evolved to being the biggest commercial power in the area and many citizens became rich.
Athenians worked in fishery and agriculture, ceramics, decorated pottery, and metallurgy. Slaves were doing the heavy work and helping in construction.
Sparta was based on agriculture.
The Spartan society valued independence and self-sustainability. Their way was the Spartan way famous for its simplicity and austerity.
There were three groups of people.
- The ones with the civil rights and the obligation to maintain the warrior’s lifestyle (omii).
- Those that lived around the city and paid taxes to Sparta and took care of commerce and farming (periiki),
- Slaves (helots) did the difficult heavy duties under the supervision of the Spartan women..
Spartan men were either preparing for war or fighting.
The Education Priorities In Athens Versus Sparta
Sparta was a military city-state.
Spartan citizens were professional warriors and they spend all their time in military training.
A boy in Sparta would leave his home when he was seven years old and would receive all his education from the army. He would become a full-time soldier when he was 20 years old.
The teaching included worshiping the 12 gods, obedience to the state, and battle bravery as the ultimate value.
Athens was a city-state with an emphasis on civilization.
Athens’ educational system was based on philosophy, the arts, and the value of learning.
“An unexamined life is not worth living!”
Socrates
Socrates initially, and then Plato and Aristotle taught that “learning thyself” was the ultimate value. Plato even suggested that the only ones qualified enough to rule the country was the philosophers.
Ideology In The Two City-States
Sparta believed that a person’s benefit comes from loyalty to the state.
Spartans lived a restricted life emphasizing the value of having only the basics. They avoided luxury. In Greece still, today when we want to describe something as frugal, austere, we call it Spartan.
This military society focused on expanding through a series of wars so as to acquire more slaves. They succeeded in controlling neighboring kingdoms.
Eventually, they expanded their power over Athens as well, by winning the Peloponnesian War.
Athens believed that power should be used for the individual’s benefit.
The expansion was the focus for Athens as well but via a more complicated process that included both military power and trade alliances.
Athenians used their trade power, their infrastructure, and culture, to create alliances which then served to enhance Athens’ interests.
Military Forces – Army and Navy Power
Athens was protected through Walls and a powerful Navy.
The Sacred Rock of Acropolis is essentially a fortress in which Athenians would find protection from enemies. Athens was a powerful naval force.
In 480 BCE Persians attacked Greece. Pythia, the priestess of the god Apollo in the Oracle of Delphi, claimed that the wooden walls will save Athens.
Themistocles, a genius statesman and general, interpreted this oracle innovatively. Instead of reinforcing the city’s walls, he saw a need for additional naval power. This led to an enormous fleet of ships and the famous naval battle of Salamis which led Athens, Greeks, and – some claim – the western civilization to victory.
“The wooden wall will remain invincible!”
oracle by pythia towards the athenians, 480 bce
Sparta was a leading military land force.
Athens is not the only city in Greece where there was an Acropolis. Acro-Nafplia in Nafplio, or Acro-Corinthos in Corinth, are some examples of similar fortresses built by city-states at the time, so as to protect their people in case of invasion.
Not in Sparta.
When asked where the city’s walls were, they answered that “Spartans were the city’s walls!”.
Mountains surrounded the city and Spartans used this natural environment for protection in the case of an attack.
It is true that they were famous soldiers. In the previously mentioned war against Persians, they also played a crucial role in the positive, for the Greeks, outcome.
Woman’s Status in Athens and Sparta
Women in Athens were very restricted.
Women in Athens were not considered citizens, they had no voting rights or any active public role in the community. They could not participate in athletic events and it is not clear if they could attend theater plays.
As was the norm at the time, Athenian women did not have an education or any profession. Their only active role apart from the family was religion. Their sphere of influence was solely the family household and the children’s upbringing. Within their housework, they were weaving and sewing clothes. The well-to-do Athenian women with all their household occupations rarely left their homes.
On the other hand, the poor were forced to work outside their home. Among others, they worked as hairdressers, feeders, fruit pickers, and in their old age as saleswomen, as is evident by relevant vase representations.
Women in Sparta had considerable power.
As we have experienced in modern times during both World Wars, women’s abilities and rights become apparent when men are away fighting.
This was the case for Spartan women too.
They had much more status and freedom than the women in Athens. The Spartan society valued healthy baby boys who would become strong soldiers. Thus women were encouraged to keep fit and exercise. The aim was for them to bear healthy sons.
They received some education and were able to own and manage the household’s property. There was no one else to deal with these matters anyway as men’s focus was constantly on their military duties.
Everyday Life
Everyday life and relationships in Sparta.
Men received a compulsory military education. Formal education started when they were 7 years old. The aim was for them to become exceptional soldiers.
They acquired this status when they were 20 years old.
At that stage, they briefly returned home so as to get married.
Marriage for Spartans, both men and women, was in their early twenties. But their everyday life together at their home did not start for another ten more years.
After the wedding, men returned to the army barracks and did not officially leave them until they were 30 yrs old. Unofficially, they were repeatedly visiting their wife, thus producing heirs.
At the age of 30 years, the soldier left the army barracks he had entered as a boy and lived at his home. Also, it is at that age that the Spartan men acquired a voting right.
Spartan women enjoyed a unique level of autonomy in the men’s continuous absence. They received some type of education and were famous for their independence. They took part in athletics and, unlike most women of their time, could own property.
Women basically took care of everything that was not military-related. The children, the household, and the property were their domain with the help of the slaves.
With reference to the newborns, there is the belief that there was a council of elders who decided upon their physical health. When a baby was considered to be not healthy it was thrown from a gorge, the infamous Ceadas.
Everyday life and relationships in Athens.
For men in Athens, the military obligations were the same for all. At 18 years they joined the army for two years of training. In Greece today, this is the system we still follow, more or less.
After this period men were free to decide their next steps. They studied philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, the sciences, and art.
As citizens, they were expected to participate in the city’s decisions.
They enjoyed complete freedom of speech. When a citizen was speaking in the Agora, no one had the right to interrupt or stop him!
Women in Athens were in a very different position. They did not have access to education, a profession, sports, or participation in any of the city’s decisions. They had no property of their own, they could not work or inherit.
Women in Athens were married very young around 14 years old. Love in a marriage was not a prerequisite. Marriage meant that women got their role as wives and later on mothers.
Men were free to seek romance in eteres. These women, professionals “in the world’s oldest profession”, enjoyed freedoms, unlike any other women. They had a knowledge of literature and were not unfamiliar with the arts. They were cultured and participated freely in the men’s gatherings.
Similarities Between Athens and Sparta
- Athens and Sparta were large and influential city-states in Greece.
- Athens and Sparta shared Myths and worshiped the same Greek gods and goddesses.
- Both cities attributed their names to a member of the Zeus family. Athens after goddess Athina, daughter of Zeus. And Sparta from the city’s founder Lacedaemon, a son of Zeus. Sparta was Lacedaemon’s wife. The city was named after her, while the people were called also Lacedaemonii.
- They were famous for their bravery on the war-front.
- They had compulsory education only for men.
- They had significant military forces and fought as allies their common enemies firstly the Trojans and later the Persians.
- They had slaves, people from the territories of the war they had been victorious at.
- In their political systems, they both had city councils, although with different roles.
- They shared the same language, Greek.
Sparta reached the height of its power after defeating Athens in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. However, Sparta’s decline began a few decades later, after a defeat against the Thebans at the Battle of Leuctra.
Athens and Sparta both left a fascinating legacy for the generations that followed.