1. Sparta and Athens Key Terms: Alliance Peloponnesian War
Talk with
your partner
about what
you know
of Sparta and
Athens.
Sparta and Athens
Key Terms:
Alliance
Peloponnesian War
What’s the big idea?
The two most powerful city-states in Greece, Sparta and Athens,
had very different cultures and became bitter enemies.

2. Spartans and the Military
was
everything!
Spartan society was dominated by the military.
The Spartans believed that military power provided security and protection.
Spartan society was started by Lycurgus (ly-KUHR-guhs after
a slave revolt.

3. Boys and Men in Sparta
When a boy was born, the government took him away.
If the boy was unhealthy, the baby was taken outside the city and left.
Healthy boys were trained to be soldiers.

4. How was Spartan society different than American
society in regards to theft?
Boys and Men in Sparta
Boys trained by running, jumping, swimming, and throwing javelins.
They weren’t given shoes and weren’t given warm clothing during the winter.
Boys weren’t given enough food to survive. They would be encouraged
to steal their food. If they were caught, they would be whipped.

5. Spartans didn’t have furniture or eat nice food.
Boys and Men in Sparta
Spartan soldiers lived together in barracks and barely visited family from
They stayed in the army until age 60.
They believed that having luxuries made them weak.
Even their
enemies
admired their
discipline.

6. The Life of a Spartan Soldier
Where would you
be if you were
a Spartan male?
Ages 7-12 : Values Training
Boys left home and got a
basic education.
Ages : Physical Training
Boys built physical skills through exercise.
Ages : Military Training
Men learned how to fight as a part of an army.

7. The Life of a Spartan Soldier
Ages : Military Service
Soldiers formed the body of the Spartan Army
Age 30 : Full citizenship
Soldiers could participate in the assembly and
move back home.

8. Girls and Women in Sparta
Women had more power in Sparta.
They owned land and ran households while men were at war.
Women didn’t do jobs that other Greek women did, like weave clothing, but left them for slaves.
Spartan women also trained physically. They
believed that with strong mothers, children would
healthier.

9. Helots grew
all the crops.
Spartan Government
Spartan government was set up to control the city’s helots (HEL-uts), or slaves.
Helots lived horrible lives and worked very hard.
Helots outnumbered Spartans, but fear of the army kept them from rebelling.
Sparta was ruled by two kings
who had very little power.

10. Athens and the Athenians
Athens was Sparta’s main rival.
In addition to physical training, the Athenians valued education, clear thinking, and the arts.

11. Boys and Men in Athens
Unlike Spartans,
Athenians learned
to read, count, and
sing. They also
studied the Iliad
and the Odyssey.
From a young age, boys from rich families improved both body and mind.
They trained but only had to devote two years to the army, not all their lives.
Athenian men defended their city from age Older men only served in time
of war.

12. Boys and Men in Athens
Rich boys in Athens hired tutors and studied philosophy, geometry, and astronomy.
They also learned to speak in public, which helped them later to participate in government.
Many boys weren’t wealthy enough to visit tutors but
worked as farmers or craftspeople for rich Athenians.

13. Girls and Women in Athens
Disobey
men
Serve
government
NO Rights!
Girls received almost no education.
Some learned to read and write from private tutors, but most learned household tasks.
Women in Athens had almost no rights at all.
Athenian women could not:
Buy/own
anything
Leave
their
homes

14. Alliances Form
City-states formed alliances with others to make their military goals easier.
Many cities in southern Greece, including Sparta, banded together, forming the Peloponnesian League.
This league wanted to stop Athens from growing stronger.

15. The Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War began when Sparta marched into Athens.
Sparta waited for Athens to come out and fight, but they did not.
Athen’s navy sent food so Athenians could survive without leaving the city-state.

16. The Peloponnesian War
Athen’s allies also attacked Spartan allies, making it so some Spartan soldiers had to leave Athens to protect the allies.
Disease swept through Athens, killing many.
Neither city-state could gain the upper-hand.
Eventually they came to a truce.