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

SpartaGrowing Up in Sparta

• 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 SpartaThe Persian Invade• Persian Empire was extending its control through the

middle east around 500 BC• They attacked Greek City-States in Ionia (Asia Minor)• They 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 SpartaConflict 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• 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