Life in Two City-States Athens and Sparta

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Life in Two City-StatesAthens and Sparta
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Introduction

• Ancient Greece was a collection of city-states,
  each with its own government
• Two of the most important city-states were Athens
  and Sparta but they had very different
  governments and very different ways of life
• Athens was a walled city near the sea
• Sparta had no walls and was a farming community
• We will examine each citys government, economy,
  education and treatment of women and slaves

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Comparing the Two City-States

• Athens and Sparta security
• Read the section of text provided and create
  Venn Diagram in your notebooks

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Athenian GovernmentWho Participated?

• Athens became a democracy around 500 B.C.E.
• Athens only allowed free men to be citizens
• All men 18 or older, born in Athens, were free
  men
• Women and slaves were not citizens

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Athens GovernmentHow Did It Work?

• Every citizen could take part in the citys
  government
• A group of 500 men called the Council met
  everyday
• To chose the council Athenians would collect
  names of all men 30 years or older every year and
  from those names 500 men would be chosen as the
  council for that year
• The council ran the government day to day
  business and suggested new laws to vote on

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Making Laws in Athens

• Proposed laws had to be approved by the Assembly,
  a larger group than the Council
• The Assembly met on a hill about every 10 days
• At least 6,000 people had to be present in order
  for the meeting to take place
• If not enough people showed up, slaves would
  gather more citizens with robes dipped in red
  paint
• Men were embarrassed to appear with stained robes
  so they tried their best to attend the Assembly

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The Assembly Continued

• The Assembly debated and voted on laws proposed
  by the council
• Every citizen had the right to speak at the
  Assembly meetings
• Some speakers were more skilled than others and
  some spoke longer than others
• Sometimes a water clock was used to time a
  speaker
• Most men enjoyed taking part in the assembly and
  they were proud of their freedom as Athenian
  citizens

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Economy

• An economy is the way a community or region
  organizes the manufacture and exchange of money,
  food, products and services
• How does the American economy work?
• What do we manufacture?
• How do we exchange our money, food, products and
  services?

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Athenian Economy

• The Athenian economy was based on trade
• The land around Athens did not provide food for
  all of the citys people but Athens was near the
  sea, so Athens would trade with other city-states
  and some foreign lands
• The acquired wood from Italy and grain from Egypt
• In exchange, Athens traded honey, olive oil,
  silver and beautifully painted pottery

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Athenian Economy Continued

• Athenians bought and sold goods at a huge market
  place called agora
• Merchants would sell there goods at small stands
• People bought lettuce, onions, olive oil, wine
  and other foods
• People also bought pottery, furniture and oil
  lamps
• Most Athenians made their clothes at home, but
  leather sandals and jewelry were also popular
  items at the market place
• Slaves were also sold at agora

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Athenian Economyand Money

• Like most city-states, Athens developed its own
  coins to make trade easier
• Coins were made of metal such as, silver, gold
  and bronze
• Athenians decorated the flat sides of the coins
• One of the coins had a picture of the god Athene,
  on the other side of the coin was her favorite
  bird, the owl

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Education in Athens

• Athenian democracy depended on having good
  citizens
• Athenians believed that producing good citizens
  was the main purpose of education
• Since only boys grew up to become citizens, boys
  and girls were educated differently
• Athenians believed that a good citizen had a
  sharp mind and a healthy body
• Education meant physical training and book
  learning

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Steps to the Educational Process in Athens

• Until age 6 or 7 boys were taught in the home by
  their mothers or male slaves
• From ages 6 to 14 boys went to school
• In school, teachers taught reading, writing, math
  and literature
• Books were rare and expensive so they were read
  aloud in the classroom and the boys had to
  memorize everything
• To help learn the boys used writing tablets

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School Continued

• Coaches taught sports such as, wrestling and
  gymnastics to strengthen the students muscles
• Boys also studied music
• At age 18, Athenian men began their military
  training
• After their service, wealthy men might study with
  private teachers
• These teachers were expensive but taught the men
  about public speaking, debate and politics

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A Girls Education

• Most girls did not learn to read or write
• Girls grew up helping their mothers around the
  house
• They were taught to cook, clean, spin thread and
  weave cloth
• Some girls learned ancient secret songs and
  dances for religious festivals
• Girls usually married by age 15
• Wealthy families chose husbands for their
  daughters
• Girls from poor families often had a choice

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Women and Slaves in Athens

• Women and slaves had fewer rights than men
  because they were not citizens
• Athenian women could not inherit or own property
• They could not vote or attend the Assembly
• A few women had jobs like selling goods in the
  market
• Some women could become priestesses
• But most women had their greatest influence on
  the home

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Athenian Women continued

• Athenian women had separate rooms in the house
  and could not go out alone
• She would spin, weave and supervise the slaves
• She also educated her young sons and daughters
  until they were married

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Athenian Slaves

• There were many slaves in ancient Athens
• Most people who were not poor owned at least one
  slave
• Some slaves were born into slavery and other were
  prisoners of war
• Slaves performed many jobs, including tasks that
  required a lot of skill
• Some slaves ran households and tutored children
• Some slaves were trained craftsmen or skilled at
  working on farms
• Some slaves even worked as city clerks
• The most unlucky slaves worked in the silver
  mines, which meant they worked 10 hour days
  cramped in tunnels 300 feet below the surface.
  They had little air and were often whipped.

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Spartan Government

• Spartans government was very different from
  Athens
• Sparta was more like an oligarchy, although they
  had an Assembly, their laws were decided on by a
  small group called the Council of Elders
• The Council of Elders was made up of 2 kings and
  28 men
• The two kings inherited the position and shared
  equal powers
• The other 28 members were elected by the Assembly

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Sparta Government Continued

• To be elected to the Council of Elders, men had
  to be at least 60 years old and from a noble
  family
• Some historians believed Assembly men shouted for
  the man they wanted in the Council the most,
  whoever had the loudest shouts would win a
  position
• Council men served for the remainder of their
  lives

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The Council of the Elders

• The Council of Elders held the real power in
  Sparta
• It prepared laws for the assembly to vote on, and
  it could stop any laws passed by the Assembly
  that it didnt like
• The Assembly and the Council was made up of only
  men
• The Assembly did not debate issues like the
  Assembly in Athens
• Members of the Spartan Assembly only voted yes or
  no

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Spartan Economy

• While the Athenian economy relied on trade the
  Spartans relied on farming and conquering other
  people
• Sparta did not have enough land to feed its
  people, so Sparta took the land it needed from
  its neighbors
• Spartan men spent their lives as warriors and so
  slaves and non citizens farmed and produced
  needed goods

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Spartan Economy Continued

• Spartans would turn their captured neighbors into
  slaves, called helots
• Helots continued to live in their villages but
  they had to turn over much of their food to the
  Spartans
• The Spartans also made use of non citizens,
  called periokoi
• Periokoi were not slaves but they could not take
  part in government
• Sometimes Periokoi would fight in battles but
  mostly they made necessary goods for Sparta like,
  red cloaks, shoes, tools, weapons and pottery

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Spartans and Trade

• Spartans did some trading for goods but not
  nearly as much as the Athenians
• In general, Spartans discouraged trade because
  they did not want their people to be influenced
  by other city-states, they felt this would ruin
  their government and way of life
• Sparta did not use coins, instead they used heavy
  iron bars as money
• Legend has it, a Spartan leader decided to make
  it heavy and bulky so it would be hard to steal

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Education in Sparta

• The purpose of education in Sparta was to produce
  men and women who could protect the city-state
• If a baby did not appear to be healthy and strong
  it would be left to die
• Spartans valued discipline and strength
• From the age of 7, all Spartan children were
  trained to fight
• Even girls received some military training

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Spartan Education Continued

• Students learned wrestling, boxing, footracing
  and gymnastics
• Spartan men lived and trained in buildings called
  barracks
• They were taught to read and write but Spartans
  did not think those skills were very important
• What was important was to be a brave soldier

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Boys in Sparta

• Video Training of a
  Warrior
• Spartan boys were taught to take pain without
  complaining
• Boys would march for hours and days without shoes
• They were not fed well during their training and
  they were taught to steal food as long as they
  did not get caught
• At the age of 20 the men were given a difficult
  fitness test, if they passed they became Spartan
  soldiers and citizens
• Even if they passed they still lived and trained
  in barracks until the age of at least 30

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Women in Sparta

• Spartan women lived the same simple life as
  Spartan men
• They wore plain clothing with little decoration
• They did not wear jewelry, perfume or cosmetics
  like women in other city-states
• Like men, they were expected to be strong,
  healthy and ready to fight
• A women was expected to look after her husbands
  property in times of war
• She also had to guard against invaders and
  revolts from slaves

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Spartan Women Continued

• Spartan women had more rights than women in other
  city-states
• They were free to speak with friends of their
  husbands
• They could own and control their own property
• They could even marry another man if there
  husband was at war too long

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Spartan Slaves

• The slaves or helots were people who had been
  captured by the Spartans
• There were more helots than citizens in Sparta
• The Spartans were afraid the helots would revolt
  so they treated them harshly
• The government often declared war on the helots
  so they could kill any that might rebel

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War on the Helots

• At one period of time the Spartan government
  asked the helots to choose their best fighters
• They said these men would be set free as thanks
  for their hard work
• Two thousand helots were chosen
• The Spartans immediately killed everyone of them

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Helots had Rights?

• Helots actually had some rights
• They could marry whomever they wanted
• They could pass their names onto their children
• They could sell any extra crops they owned
• If they saved enough money, they could even buy
  their freedom