What Is The Difference Between Athens And Sparta

“All of the Greeks knew what was right, but only the Spartan did it” Athens and Sparta though close in proximity were two governed and operated completely different. Throughout history in ancient Greece it seems to that you cannot have a conversation of fully understand one without the other. Athens was founded in 3000 BC and Sparta which is a much younger city-state was founded in the 900’s BC and both Athens and Sparta were principal enemies of one another. Though an Athenian and of aristocratic background Plato was fascinated by Sparta and viewed it as kind utopia and in his book the Republic the described is all based on Spartan organization and skill. Sparta was a society that did not change it was the same for 700 years this made Sparta
Sparta was an Oligarchy which means that there Is a small group of people who have control of a country in Sparta’s case there was a consul of elders two kings and twenty-eight men. To be a part of the assembly you had to be at least sixty and from a noble family. Economy wise the Athenian Economy was based on trade and barter system trading things like honey, olive oil, silver, and pottery. Athens also had a currency that consisted of coins that they would use at the Agora. Sparta on the other hand relied on farming and war or stealing to possess the things they needed. Sparta was not interested in trade because they feared weakening their city-state. Instead of coming up with a currency system that would make purchasing or trading easier Sparta had iron rods for currency because you could not steal them. The education between the varied drastically too. In Athens it was thought that to produce decent citizens dwelling in your city-state that you need to educated them. Boy and girls were educated differently which is also a really good time to express that the Athenians were extremely misogynistic. The boys were taught at home until they were six and then they were sent to school to learn reading, writing, and math from six to fourteen. At eighteen men began their military training. Girls were taught to cook, clean, spin thread, and weave. If women did learn to read or write in Athens it was not formally. Spartans felt that the purpose of education is to produce men and women to protect the city state and if a child is born with a disability, deformed, or weak he or she will be left for dead on a hillside. All Spartan children were taught to fight. Military training for Athens