Sparta and Athens 4.2

By the end of the Dark Ages, many nobles who owned large estates had overthrown the Greek kings. They created city-states. Each city-state was known as a polis-or a tiny independent country. The main gathering was usually a hill called an acropolis. Below the acropolis was an open area called an agora. This was a market and place where people meet and debate issues. The Greeks were the first people to develop the idea of citizenship, in which citizens of a country are treated equally and have rights and responsibilities. In Greek city-states, only free, native-born, land- owning men could be citizens. Citizens could vote, hold office, own property, and defend themselves in court. The military of the city-states was made of ordinary citizens, not nobles. These citizens were called hoplites and fought each battle on foot instead of on horses

Sparta and Athens

Tyranny in the City-States, pg. 125 Nobles had seized power from the kings during the Dark Ages. Noble rule did not last long. Farmers, who had trouble financing their farms, had to borrow money from nobles and often could not pay back the debt. The farmers lost their land and had to work for the nobles or were sold into slavery.

Unhappy farmers demanded changes in the power structure of the city-states. Merchants and artisans wanted to share in governing, but because they did not own land they could not. Who was allowed to govern/be a citizen? –Land owning, native-born, free men This unhappiness led to the rise of tyrants, or people who take power by force and rule with total authority.

Tyrants overthrew the nobles during the 600s B.C. Tyrants maintained their popularity by building marketplaces, temples, and walls. The Greek people eventually tired of the tyrants and created oligarchies or democracies. –An oligarchy is a form of government in which a few people hold power. –A democracy is a form of government in which all citizens share power. –Sparta was an oligarchy; Athens was a democracy.

SPARTA Spartan men given plots of land to support themselves after they joined a military club –Did not work land themselves –Work done by helots Slaves (captive workers) owned by the Spartan state Manufacturing also done by helots Spartan men lived off the work of others so that they could devote their entire life to being a soldier Spartans feared that one day the Helots might rebel as a result the government prepared boys for war

SPARTAN TRAINING I Every new-born infant examined by committee –Abandoned to die if it showed any type of deformity Enrolled in special military troops at age six –Remained members until age 18 –Girls still lived at home but boys lived away from parents –Put through increasingly brutal series of classes designed to make them used to suffering and hardship Also designed to break down family relationships Education focused on music, dancing, and athletics FOX STORY

SPARTAN TRAINING II Began formal military training at age 18 –Took 2 years to complete Applied for admission into a military club after successful completion of training –Membership was official indication that a boy had become a man –Application for admission had to be voted on by other members of club Vote had to be unanimous Not allowed to marry or have a family for 10 years –Still had to have meals with club until he was 60 Military clubs formed basic unit of military service

SPARTAN WOMEN Also trained in sports to become healthy mothers –Given a lot more freedom than other Greek women Applied for admission into a military club after successful completion of training Membership was official indication that a boy had become a man Application for admission had to be voted on by other members of club Vote had to be unanimous Not allowed to marry or have a family for 10 years Still had to have meals with club until he was

Spartan Diet Based on what you know about the Spartan’s what do you was they main food source? a vile-tasting dish called black broth which was pork boiled in animal blood, salt and vinegar. Why? To make them stronger, lack of food or abundance of bad food will not affect them while at war

SPARTAN GOVERNMENT Oligarchy: Two Branches of Government –Council of Elders Two Kings –Led army and Sparta in general –Hereditary Gerousia 28 man council All members over 60 years old Drew up proposals for legislation –Assembly of the Spartans All full male citizens Voted on legislative proposals Presided over by five elected officials called ephors The Spartan government kept foreign travelers out and discouraged its own citizens from traveling in order to maintain control of the country. King Leonidas

ATHENS Northwest of Sparta lay the land of Athens. And the two civilizations could not be any more different. Boys in Athens attended school to learn reading, writing, arithmetic, sports, and music. And at the age of 18 they became citizens. Athenian girls learned household duties from their mothers.

SOLON The government of early Athens was an oligarchy. –Entered a period of internal turmoil around 630 BC –Wealthy landowning aristocrats controlled all of the land Solon given job to reform city’s laws and restore internal peace and order –594 BC –He cancelled all the farmers’ debts and freed those who had become slaves. –Widened political participation Allowed all citizens regardless of wealth to serve in Assembly, but assembly had few powers Solon’s reforms were popular among the common people

REFORMS OF SOLON –WHAT DID HE MISS? Farmers wanted land taken away from the aristocrats but Solon refused to do that Athens did prosper but fighting continued and tyrants began to take over

CLEISTHENES The tyrant Peisistratus seized power 30 years after Solon’s reforms. –He won the support of the poor by dividing the large estates among the people and loaning money to the people. Cleisthenes took over when Peisistratus died in 508 B.C. Created a democracy in Athens; all males could belong to the assembly He had won their support because he promised to give them a legal political voice While foreign born men, slaves, and women were still excluded this was the first step toward a democracy