d. they feared an uprising by their helots. 8. The Lycurgan reforms resulted in a. the establishment of a permanent military state in Sparta. b. more constitutional rights for Spartans.…
The Athenians and Spartans were rulers in their own right and developed different political systems. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, the birthplace of democracy. Athenians were patrons that support, protects, and believed in living and dying as a champion. Their foundation was primarily focused on economic growth. Spartans believed in being resilient and self-disciplined. Sparta was extremely powerful after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Sparta was dedicated to the military and to the state. Spartans believed in education and military training.…
Lycurgus was an important figure throughout Sparta as he was responsible for setting up a large amount of the Spartan’s social and political institutions. In source A Herodotus shows just how effective Lycurgus was “Later he reorganised the army…by these changes Spartan Government was put upon a sound basis.” He was responsible for introducing laws and advice or prophecies received from a god through the medium ship of a priest or priestess. As Plutarch, on Sparta explains: “Lycurgus . . . brought an oracle about it from Delphi, Which they called a rhetra.” Therefore with the evidence provided, it is quite obvious that Lycurgus had significant importance to not only Spartan Society but also the government and the military. Through Plutarch it is evident that Lycurgus reformed the military quite significantly as he states “The Egyptians claim that Lycurgus visited them too, and that it was from the Egyptians that he got the idea of separating the military from the menial workers, thereby giving Spartan society its refinement and beauty.” Therefore, Lycurgus had travelled to research new militaristic tactics. According to Xenophon there was a Spartan Cavalry. It was not large enough to protect the hoplite infantry however it was often used for reconnaissance. (The ancient…
In ancient Greece the city-states was in a constant state of war with one another. allies quickly became enemies, and enemies quickly became allies. As the Greek philosopher Plato said, " only the dead has seen the end of war".…
Bibliography: Ellen Papakyriakou/Anagnostou. (April 7, 2013). History of Sparta. Available: http://www.sikyon.com/sparta/history_eg.html. Last accessed 14th June 2013.…
Imagine being taken away from your family and your home when you were just seven years old. The Spartans may have built one of the finest militaries of the ancient world, but their culture was so harsh that the word “Spartan” has become synonymous with an austere way of life. Spartan society was carefully constructed around a strict moral code and sense of duty, and its people underwent extreme hardships and deprivation on their way to becoming accepted as full citizens. It is with this cruel way of life that lead to the greatest, hardest, and most disciplined warrior 's who ever existed in the ancient world.…
After the helots revolted, the Spartans had to develop a new way of life. There were almost 10 times the amounts of helots as compared to the free citizens. To do this, the Spartans made changes that turned their city into a military academy and camp. An official would decide if an infant was fit to survive, and if he was, he was taken from his home at age seven, and trained to become a warrior. Their constitution was mixed, with various parts of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. The goal of the new government in Sparta was to “win glory in war”.…
Cleisthenes had a great influence in every level of greek society. During the era of tyranny Cleisthenes held up a heroic like image and around 510 when that era was over and the olympic games started democracy started. Men from any level in society were able to compete and show their athletic ability. One of the things that were wrong was that women were not allowed to compete or even attend. If an attempt to have a democracy is being made it should be done to the fullest extent. It should not only apply to men. That is a flaw in Cleisthenes goal. Even though when this was going on and it was helping improve the government, people were still hungry for power. The way people thought had not changed and that showed with Sparta. Cleisthenes introduced an idea that people liked and were willing to fight…
Sparta was an important part of Greece during the Archaic and Classical periods. Sparta was famous for the sheer power and strength of its military. Spartan hoplites (high-ranking soldiers) were professionally trained and sported distinctive red cloaks, long hair, and the lambda-emblazoned shields. Spartan warriors were among the most feared fighters in all of Greece. They fought with distinction at battles such as Thermopylae and Plataea in the early 5th century BCE. In Greek mythology, the founder of Sparta was Lacedaemon, a supposed “son of Zeus.”…
As humanity has progressed throughout history, there have been a number of times in which the interest and involvement of politics has changed. As we look back we can see that as the eras changed, interests of the people changed as well. One example of this is during the time of the Ancient Greeks. At this point in Western Civilization one polis by the name of Athens located on the coast of the Aegean Sea felt that political participation was a key factor in everyday life. Unfortunately not all Greek city-states were on the same page as the Athenians. While Athens took pride in their democratic elections, their assembly and their Council, other city-states such as Sparta took a much more different approach. Sparta was a society in which…
Sparta is a small town located in the northwest mountains of North Carolina. Sparta is the county seat of Alleghany County. The community was named for the ancient Greek city. As of the 2003 census, there were 1,818 people, 825 households, and 441 families residing in the town (Town of Sparta). The population is predominantly white, about 94.06%. Of the 825 households about 16% have children under the age of 16. The median income for a household in the town was $22,474. About 18.3% of the population are below the poverty line.…
The classical Greek civilizations of Athens and Sparta showed some similarities, yet also showed a large number of differences. For example, these city-states had completely different views about women and their rules on female freedoms show this. Athenian women, like most of the women in other Greek city-states, were considered to be useful only for child-bearing and domestic jobs. Sparta, however, was the oddball out, giving the women of their civilization many more rights and freedoms. “Teaching a woman to read and write? What a terrible thing to do! Like feeding a vile snake on more poison.” (“Contrasting Patriarchies in Athens and Sparta”).…
The kleros was an allotment of public land that the state granted to each Spartiate and it held great importance to the Spartan society. According to Plutarch, as Spartans were full-time professional soldiers, the state was also obliged to support them with helots to farm the land and take care of the livestock. The produce from the kleros was vital as it was the basis of the Spartan economy. It provided a surplus so that the state had income to pay for weaponry or equipment produced by the perioikoi, and goods to trade outside of Sparta by boat. Moreover, the produce from these estates was further crucial for daily life; supporting Spartan citizens and their families, the helots as well as the Spartiate’s continuing contribution to the syssition…
Ancient Sparta and Athens, while both being located in Greece, shared very different views. Whether it was government, or the way they lived, nearly everything was conflicting between these two cities. In this essay, I, will explain my reasons for wanting to live in Sparta rather than Athens.…
His changes, however, did not change the social ills of the day as now there were three warring factions, the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor. They all had their own agendas, each wanted something different, and no one would talk to the other. The unrest continued, and with the curtailment of the nobility, Peisistratus, a tyrant, eventually took over, creating a benign autocracy/tyranny. While this helped win against the Persian invasions, the people again revolted and demanded more say in political matters (Cartledge, 2011). Once again, from the aristocracy, a reformer was chosen, Cleisthenes. His reforms broke up the three factions, dividing up the Athenian people among the 10 tribes. Each tribe had members from each of the three factions. This broke up the impact of any one group over the other. He restructured the government by creating a council of 500 or a Boule (Brand, n.d.) who set policy and laws, and an assembly of all the native, free-born, men who voted to accept or reject the council's proposals. Thus, (direct) democracy and “rule of the…