In ancient Greece, Athens was the leading city-state. Although Sparta’s military was arguably the strongest, Athens had been developing all aspects of civilization. Athens had a unique government, laws, and entertainment. However, the people of Athens would soon be tested when the great Persian Empire attempted to invade the Greek mainland. 

In 621 BC, a man named Draco established a new justice system for the city of Athens. Before Draco, the families of murder victims or other violent crimes took it upon themselves to punish the perpetrator. Draco understood that families would still want to enact vengeance upon the person who harmed their loved one, but wished to create an unified justice and trial system. To attempt to satisfy the families, particularly harsh and heinous punishments were implemented. Later in 594 BC, Solon reformed Draco’s laws and lessened the severity of punishments. He also canceled all public or private debts, freed debt slaves in Athens, and changed the criteria for political participation from ancestry to wealth. Before Solon, only individuals born into certain families had a say in the government, but it was changed so the rich or property owners also had representation. 

The government of Athens consisted of the Assembly, the Council of Five Hundred, the courts, and the magistrates. All male citizens were members of the Assembly. However the Council of Five Hundred and the courts were made up of random men chosen from the citizen body. The magistrates were the highest authority in Athens and were either elected or chosen officials. A common punishment issued by the Athenian people was ostracism. This was the practice of exiling a citizen for 10 years if 6,000 or more citizens wrote his name on a pottery shard. There did not have to be concrete evidence that this person committed any sort of crime, but if 6,000 Athenians wanted him gone, he would be banished.

Athens, like many others of its day, was a slave society. The enslaved were former POWs, criminals, victims of slave raids, or debt slaves, before Solon’s reforms. Because slaves usually did all the manual labor, labor of any sort was looked down upon in society. To labor with one’s hands was to degrade oneself to the level of a slave. Therefore, it was not acceptable for a citizen to labor. Similarly, trade and commerce were also held in contempt. Merchants were seen as untrustworthy liars and were generally scolded by the populus. 

A career in the military was praised and encouraged in Athens, though not forced like in Sparta. Athens’ military might was especially impressive in regards to their navy. During the Persian Wars, the Athenian navy bested the Persian navy on numerous occasions, establishing themselves as the preeminent naval power of their time. 

Athens was an influential civilization in many ways. From becoming the first democracy to expanding navy warfare, it’s hard to deny the city’s historical reputation. Although at one point being the leading Greek city-state, long wars with Persia and Sparta would soon weaken Athens, ending their golden age.

When one hears the word Sparta, images of elite soldiers fighting the forces of Persia usually come to mind. However, few know of the home life of Sparta or how they became the ancient military powerhouse they’re remembered as today. 

Spartan militarism began with the invasion of Messenia in the 8th century BC. After conquering Messenia, Sparta enslaved the inhabitants and gave its own citizens use of Messenian lands. The slaves were treated poorly by their Spartan captors, a situation which boiled over and eventually resulted in a mass slave revolt. The Spartans quelled this rebellion, but to prevent such an uprising from happening again Sparta became much more militaristic in order to keep the Messenians in subjugation. Moving forward, this is why Sparta would have such an intent focus on military strength. 

At age seven, Spartan males left home for 13 years of military training. The boys were given one cloak, no shoes, and just enough food to keep them alive. The winters were cold and the food was barely enough to live off of, so they had to steal or forage extra to survive. However, if they were caught stealing, they would be harshly punished. 

After this arduous training at age 20, these soldiers entered into the citizen army and were allowed to marry. At age 30, they became citizens but despite this achievement still had to eat at public mess halls. This helped to enforce the idea that the State and Sparta were more important than one’s own family. Even though the quality of each individual soldier was far superior to that of Athens or the other Greek city states, the Spartans did have two significant challenges. Firstly, Sparta did not have a strong navy to rival the Athenian navy. Secondly, fears of slave revolts forced Sparta to keep a significant amount of troops in the homeland. These disadvantages would become evident in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Nevertheless, on land Sparta’s military was unmatched. 

While Sparta’s military prowess is often discussed, life in Sparta is relatively unknown by most people. Even though certain aspects of their history, such as their treatment of the Messenians, were abhorrent, we still must learn what led up to them being the Greek superpower they would eventually become.