Transcript Athens and Sparta

Sparta
Sparta
Living in Sparta
• Life was harsh and cruel
• One basic rule of law: Put Sparta’s needs above
your own
• Sparta had a huge, powerful army
• Spartan citizens only trained for war
• Helots farmed the land
• Helots greatly outnumbered Spartan citizens
Sparta
Sparta
Growing Up in Sparta
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If a baby was born and it looked unhealthy, it was left to die.
Boys began military training at 7
Boys were encouraged to cheat and steal, but were punished if caught
At 20, boys became soldiers
At 30, they could join the Assembly
At 60, they could retire from the army
Girls had more freedom and opportunities than any other girls in Greece
Girls exercised and trained to have strong bodies to have healthy babies
Women ran farms and estates
Spartans only interest was to be strong, brave and powerful in battle.
Spartan women told their men, “Come home with your shield, or come home
on it.”
Athens and Sparta
The Persian Invade
• Persian Empire was extending its control through the middle east
around 500 BC
• They attacked Greek City-States in Ionia (Asia Minor)
• The Ionian Greeks asked the mainland Greeks for help
• The help didn’t work and the Ionians were conquered by the Persians
• Persians then invaded Greece with a huge army
• King Darius wanted to punish Athens for helping the Ionians revolt
against the Persians
• They intended to conquer all city-states
• Athens and Sparta and other city-states joined together to defend their
land
• The Athenian army of Hoplite soldiers defeated the Persians at the
Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE even though they were outnumbered
20,000 vs. 10,000
• The Persians left Greece defeated
Athens and Sparta
Athens and Sparta
The phalanx
The phalanx formation was a
block of soldiers of many rows
wide and deep carrying 21 foot
spears.
The Athenian Hoplite
The Hoplite was a citizen soldier who
paid for his own armor and weapons
Athens and Sparta
The Persian Wars
• In 480 BCE the Persians invaded again led by Darius’ son
King Xerxes
• Athens, Sparta, and many other city-states united to fight
the Persians
• Famous battle of The 300: 300 Spartans fought 5,000
Persians at the pass at Thermopylae. They held them for 2
days before all being killed
• Athens built triremes, huge ships, to fight the Persians
• At the battle of Salamis, the Persian navy was destroyed
• Xerxes left Greece in defeat in 479 BCE never to return
Athens and Sparta
Athens and Sparta
Conflict and the Athenian Army
• After the Persian War, City-states formed the Delian League to protect themselves from
invaders. Sparta did not join
• Athens became the most powerful city-state. They controlled the sea, trade, and silver
mining
• Athens prospered from the alliance, due to tributes paid to them, but other city-states
did not
Sparta and Athens at War
• Athens used the Delian League to become rich and powerful
• Pericles was the leader of Athens: He built palaces, temples like the Parthenon, roads and
walls.
• Pericles often used money from the Delian League to improve Athens
• Sparta and other city-states formed the Peloponnesian League to protect themselves
from Athens
• In 431 BC, the Peloponnesian War began ( Athens vs. Sparta )
• Athens had powerful navy, Sparta had a powerful army
• Sparta could not be attacked by sea.
• Sparta invaded Athens. The war lasted 27 years
• Plague killed 1/3 of Athens’ population
• Sparta won the war and Athens never recovered
• But, the war weakened Sparta too, and they were eventually conquered as well