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The best way to begin comparing Athens and Sparta is to know as much as possible about the history and culture of each -- for starters look both up on Wikipedia and go to the included links. An excellent way to learn more -- a good book that is both fun to read and very informative on the differences between the two cultures -- is commonly called "Plutarch's Lives" though it is really "Parallel Lives" by an early Greek historian named Plutarch (46 A.D. to 120 A.D.). One of his pair of "parallel lives" concerned the founding "lawgivers" of Sparta (Lycurgus) and Athens (Solon).

It is worth noting as you begin to study the similarities and differences between the two cultures that most of the earliest writing on the subject is by Athenians, as Athens was by far the more literate and cosmopolitan of the two societies.

It is important to note that the two societies were both Greek city states and had a great deal in common, including a common "larger" culture that included a shared set of historical and mythical beliefs, religious and ethical beliefs, etc. While Sparta is usually considered the more "warlike" society, both city states were usually in a state of constant war with one or more of their neighbors or enemies farther afield -- this was not just an accident of the political climate, as active participation in war was considered the defining aspect of manhood in both societies. In other words if there had been no wars arising out of natural conflict over territory and resources, they would have had to start one... and often did.

Likewise, though Plutarch, among others, looks askance at Spartans for their supposedly brutal treatment of their ethnically distinct serfs, the Helots, both societies were aristocratic slaveholding societies -- the "citizens" we know and learn about in general constituted the upper classes. The democracy in Athens was just for citizens and they did not constitute a majority of the population. While Sparta is not considered a democracy, its small elite aristocracy were trained from birth in an ethos not unlike that of our modern military academies, so, while organized on authoritarian lines, the society counted on the active support and participation of its citizens and thus required much the same level of consensus and "consent of the governed" as would be found in a more traditional "democracy."

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13y ago
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6y ago

Athens was a city-state on limited land, where the people subsisted through farming and trade -ts expansionary efforts were by military enforcement and taxing subjugated peoples.

Sparta took over southern Peloponnesian Peninsula and turned the inhabitants into serfs , lived off their produce, and were able to devote themselves to military training.

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9y ago

One of the main ways they were similar was in their form of government. Both Athens and Sparta had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta was ruled by two kings, who ruled until they died or were forced out of office. Athens was ruled by archons, who were elected annually. Thus, because both parts of Athens' government had leaders who were elected, Athens is said to have been the birthplace of democracy.

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5y ago
  1. Sparta was ruled by two kings while Athens was ruled by archons.
  2. Sparta trained girls in athletics while girls learned crafts and poetry from their mothers in the Athens.
  3. People in Sparta traded but in the Athens, they had their own money systems.
  4. Forms of Government Oligarchy Democracy
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16y ago

They had great things in common like theyre goverment

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12y ago

the Athens ladies stayed at home

the spartan ladies went to hunt

the Athens people did poetry

the spartan people fought all the time

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