Two city-states: Sparta and Athens

1. Read the following text and fill in the chart with the correct information
In Ancient Greece there were two different major forms of government, oligarchy and democracy. Oligarchy
refers to a small group of people who govern a nation together. Democracy refers to a system of government in
which every person has the right to participate. The two city-states that best represent each form of government
were Sparta (oligarchy) and Athens (democracy). The democratic government in Athens, though equal, fair and
advanced for its time, did not meet all the needs of the Greeks. Athens focused more on culture than on war,
while Sparta did the opposite. The oligarchy structure in Sparta enabled it to keep war as a top priority.
The Athenian democratic government gave the citizens in Greece more freedom. The democracy in
Athens cannot be called a modern democracy but it was the forerunner to modern democracy. Ten percent of
the total population of Athens had voting rights and all of these citizens were upper class men who were over
thirty years old. Women, no matter what their class or age, were given no freedoms at all. They were first
owned by their fathers and then were passed from them to their husbands who then gave them the
responsibilities of managing the household and educating the children.
During a meeting of the Assembly, a policy could be adopted and formed into a law but once the
meeting of the assembly ended, the enforcement of that law was left in the hands of people who may not have
agreed with that specific law. One rule of the Assembly stated that if a certain speaker became too powerful,
the Assembly could vote, by majority rule, that he be expelled from the country (ostracized). This rule could be
abused, and fear of expulsion kept some from speaking out. Ancient Athens did not have the freedom of speech
that is a feature of most modern democracies.
The Assembly was made up of five hundred men who were chosen from a list of those who were
eligible to serve on the council. Since most of the population was of a low economic class, the time taken away
from their normal work by serving on the Assembly likely affected their earnings.
Life was sophisticated and graceful in Athens, but the Athenians were often mocked by opposing
countries and other city-states for lacking bravery, patriotism and courage. Athens was repeatedly attacked since
Athenians didn’t have a war-like reputation. These conflicts eventually led to Athens losing power in Ancient
Greece.
In the city-state of Sparta, the government was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was held
by a group of five men called ephors. The citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government. The
Spartans gave up an emphasis on comfort and culture for a more disciplined military approach in order to
control the rebelling Messenians. This approach led to battles which eventually turned Sparta into an effective,
deadly war machine.
Over the years, the Spartans’ ruthless and brutal reputation in war grew, so that other nations and city-
states chose not to attack Sparta, even though the Spartan army was not larger than eight thousand men. The
Spartan men in the army started their military training at the age of seven and were trained to be tough and very
self-sufficient. Every man in the army fought with a great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may
have been hard but the rest of the Greeks envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straightforwardness, and
fanatical dedication to their country. There was a law in Sparta that banned all foreign trade and foreign travel.
This kept out all foreign ideas and allowed the Spartans to use the element of surprise when it came to attacks,
since outsiders were not familiar with their land or military strength. Even though there was no trade going on,
this law did not have a negative effect on the Spartan economy, which was already self-sufficient. Unlike other
Greek women, Spartan women had equal rights with men, except for voting rights. Since men were in the
military and often away from home, the women had full authority over their households. In 404 B.C. the
Spartan army was able to conquer the mighty power known as Athens during the Peloponnesian War. After its
victory over Athens, the Spartan government was able to counter and hold off the many attacks that were
launched by its enemies and maintained power for over 40 years.
 ATHENS SPARTA
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT

RIGHTS OF CITIZENS

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

MILITARY STRENGTH

REPUTATION