Sparta and Athens

Greece was broken up into city States. These are essentially cities, but each had its' own government, laws, culture, etc. The two biggest were Athens and Sparta

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​What is a city-state?

Athens was a large city-state in northeast Greece. They focused on education, government, art, and philosophy. The origins of our type of government(democracy) can be seen here!

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Athens!

More about Athens

• Athens was one of the oldest cities in Greece dating back to 11,000 BCE!

• It became a major center for learning in the 400s BCE

• This is when Athenian culture took off, with plays, art, and philosophy becoming a major part of their lives

Athenian Democracy

As mentioned before, Athens was an origin of our democracy we have today. Democracy means the people get to take part in the government. Athens had the people vote for laws and members of their government. Athenian men who were not slaves were able to vote.

Plato was a very famous philosopher from Athens.

​He opened the first western University or college. He had many famous writings teaching about life.

Plato 428-358BCE

Socrates was another Athenian philosopher, but he was inspired by Plato. He taught to question everything around you. He was put to death for his teachings. He inspired MLK Jr. and Benjamin Franklin.

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Socrates 469-399 BCE

Aristotle was another Athenian philosopher who was an actual student under Plato. He focused on science. He invented the scientific method, a way to observe the world around you and make discoveries.

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​Aristotle 384-322 BCE

Sparta was essentially the opposite of Athens. Instead of focusing on the arts or learning, Spartans focused on the military and combat.

​Sparta had kings rather than a democracy, the most famous being King Leonidas

​Sparta

More about Sparta

• Founded around 1000 BCE and became a major military power by 650 BCE

• Boys were put into a program called the Agoge, where they were trained hard to become the best soldiers

• Sparta fought against Persia in the Greco-Persian wars in 480 BCE at the battle of Thermopylae

King Leonidas was the Spartan king who led Sparta in the Battle of Thermopylae. He took 300 Spartan soldiers and held off the (up to) 300,000 Persian soldiers to protect Greece. All 300 were killed in battle defending Greece.

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Leonidas 540-480 BCE

Athens and Sparta eventually came to clash as they both gained more power. Sparta feared Athens was too powerful and attacked in 431 BCE

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​Peloponnesian War 431-404BCE

​There were several large battles, including some at sea. The war ended with the Spartans defeating Athens. Sparta then became the main city-state of Greece.

Greece at war