Sparta and Athens Flashcards
Sparta is the most ______ city in the Greel world, in the classical and Archaic ages
Powerful
The spartans were a _____ society, making it ______ to gain information on them
A closed society so more difficult to gain info on them
how is Sparta the same as other poleis?
same in that it was patriarchal, polyhteistic, rested on versaille labour, econ based on agriculture, recovered both law and martial matter
How is sparta different than other poleis
clearly defined goals, expanded a lot trying to attain them
Also super patriotic, anti individualistic which made for power/sense of belonging
what/where is lanconia
The surrounding terretory of sparta
Important centre in bronze age, suffered same dark period and renewal
A lot of dorians live in this region
define sinoichism
How did sparta go through it
the banding together of different
After the dark aged, they when through sonoichism, and one town centre (sparta) became the ruling city
what problem did sparta have? what did this inspire?
Sparta had a problem - needed land to help feed growing population
Instead of looking for land they conquered their neighbours, and eventually gained control of plain of laconia
the people they invaded in Laconia almost all became ______, to ensure they kept lanconian plane
Helots
Define helot
basically the slaves of the spartans
had to surrender a portion of their land (kleros) and give it to the spartans, as well as the furit of their labour
those who did not become helots became ______
Perioeci
define perioci
Habitats surrounding sparta on lanconian plane
they were more free but obligated to fight in army, and not allowed to participate in government
in the early archaic period, sparta invaded _______ in he first messenian war
messenis
after the first messenian war, the messenians became ____
helots
the first messnian war lasted _____ years
20 years
after conquering Messenia sprats became ….. ?
one of the largest greek states
the second messenian war was fought against _____
Argos
we dont know much about it
the Spartans had some trouble in the second Messenian war, whcih caused what
Helots overhear their struggle in the war they were having and rebelled
what mistake did sparta make in ensalving the helots
Mistake to enslave people on their own land, esp when theres more slaves than masters (about 7 helots for every spartan master)
when the helots rebelled, and sparta won, what did this inspire
They realized if their hoplites could be trained to their highest potential military skill, they would have military advtg over helots and enemies
Reformed their goals
what two goals did the spartans have
2 new goals:
All male citizens trained to be soldiers, free from other obligations
Socialising them to accept the regimond and discipline required of spartan soldiers
Until the hellenistic period, spartans had the only _______ ______
Until the hellenistic period, they were the only professional soldiers
why could the spartan system be considered totalitarian
it touched on personal things like how to wear your hair, conditions of conjugal intercourse, decision of procreation, whether and when to marry etc
when training young boys, what was the spartan ideal this training was based upon
to be skilled and courageous in battle, not surrender, and give up his life for his city
the spartan training began at birth, what did they do?
examining all newborns on whether they’d be trained or abandoned
A panel decided whether or not child was going to be trained
All children got _____ ________
the same education
at what age did children leave home to be trained
7 years old
what did the young boys get trained towards? how did they do this?
Training to be resilient and strong
( barefoot, hair cut short, told to steal and punished for getting caught, learnt to deal with harsh weather as they fought in winters)
During the weekly inspections of the boys called _____, what did this entail
called the parade
They had to be naked
Male and female
They were given praise or were mocked by crowd on the ideal physique
What happened for boys in training from age 14-20
Performed their preliminary military service for first time
Grew hair long
Training every day
From age 20-30 Spartans could get married but…….?
Had to live wit da bois
what is the syssition? why is it important?
Acceptance into syssition was essential to becoming an adult
Syssition (dining group of about 15 others)
Each provided food and drink
Similar to symposia but different cause spartan were taught to drink in moderation
what did the helots do in the syssition
Helots would get fucked up doe and dance and shit to entertain spartains, they were encouraged to laughed at em - to teach them lesson about drinking too much and to view the helots as pathetic
Boys who couldn’t stand the lifestyle were called _______, had to wear dumb cloak and not allowed to be in office
Tremblers
Spartan woman were raised to ______ ______ to be
bare soldier to be
How were the spartan woman generally treated
Received better treatments than many other greek woman, exercising, going outdoors, well fed
what did aristotle think of the spartan women
that they had too much freedom
when would women get married
their mid 20’s
What did the marriage ceremony entail
the braide shaved her head
husband snuck into her room
they fuck
and then he sneaks back to his barracks
Same-sex sex was seen as _______ as long as physical attraction wasnt the primary driver
educational
why was the spartan population shrinking
From the beginning they were limited in growth
Lack of trade and colonisation
Never got with foreigners
Their lifestyle made it worse, infaticide, soldiers trained to give up life for sparta
Population decline was gradual
Made worse also by natural disasters, emigration and econ problems
Spartan referred to each other as _____
equals
the entire economy was based around what?
Economy designed to enable citizens to give their time to defending polis
Agriculture was produced by the helots for the spartans, which was their entire economy
define homoioi
Spartans referred to themselves as homoioi
every year sparta did something to ensure the helots stayed at bay, what was it? why?
Spartans controlled the helots by every year they would declare a war on the helots to be able to say they were rebelling and have an excuse to make em docile
spartans had a _____ kingship
which is???
Dula kingship
Two kings from two diff blood lines, one ruling at home and one ruling in battle
One of the few greek poleis that survived as a monarchy
the groups of 28 elders who, along with the kinn, proposed laws to the people at the assembly were called what
Gerousia
How were the gerousia appointed and how long did they rule
They were appointed by the people
They ruled for life
Explain the ephors and their level of power
had no responsibility of thei own, only rules for one year
if a law was passed that they saw as a bad law, not spartan, they would refuse the law and then the gerousia would have to make a new law
They even had power over the king
What is the assembly
the Gerousia would propose a law to the assembly
assembly is made up of spatan males
they would say “All opposed vs all for” and whichever was loudest would win
the law could not be passed unless approved by the assembly
Almost every polis in this area came to be a part of an alliance that modern scholars call the _________ ______
Peloponnesian league
When the Peloponnesian league voted on things, ow were the votes devided
Sparta’s vote was worth the same as every other polies combined
the Peloponnesian league had a _____ alliance, meaning what?
a defensive alliance
If an attacker attacked any of the poleis involved, they had every polei in the peloponnesian league on their side
Made for a relatively stable system
t or f
we have lots of information on athens
True
describe Athenian Synoecism
Athenian Synoecism banded together, but over and over again until they grew into a fatty land mass called Attica
the early athenian government had 9 _____
Archons
what is an archon
they gave advice and proposed laws
Carried them out if passed by assembly
What did the assembly do
They voted on the laws proposed and either passed em or didint
The failed tyranny of Cylon inferred what
Tried to become tyrant, failed, but
This means there was prolly some discontent in the people
Athens was poor in _____ but rich in Olives
Athens was poor in grain but rich in Olives
Civil crisi in Athens lead to the “shaking off of debts” which means what
“Shaking off debts” - people had taken on loans from wealthy, the loan in indefinite but from now own they owe ⅙ of all their exports to them
In athens, immigration is _______.
Why?
Encouraged
you can become an Athenian if you have artistic or craftsmanship abilities
if fathers did not teach their sons a skill or trade, they owe them ______
if fathers did not teach their sons a skill or trade, they owe them nothing
There were four wealth based classes of citizens. what would 2, 3 and 4 do
top 2 - could be an archon
3 - could dun for ant other type of office
4 - could be in the assembly
_______ made himself a tyrant with the support of the hill faction
Pisistratus
what are the three factions?
Hill - prolly everyone else and poor
coast - prolly merchants
plains - prolly farmers
How many attempts did is take Pisistratus to seize power as a tyrant
three (loser)
why was Pisistratus’ third attempt successful
got a private army and with support of hill people he became tyrant for 19 years till his death
what policies did Pisistratus stand for
- Land redistribution and interest-free loans
-Refurbished water supply, giving access to fresh water to people living in town - Renovated acropolis
- Created government backed currency
- Established trade routes
- public theatrical and sports festivals - first festival for dramatic plays
- Established sporting festivals too (panathenion) , where they were given prizes unlike in the olympics
how did Pisistratus’ dynasty collapse
Dude was assassinated by two young men because he insulted their sister
tried to make it so his two sons would take over
There was this parade of virgins (unmarried woman) and dude said naw sister u cant be involved (insulting af apparently)
In the reforms of Cleisthenes (tyrant), there was a reconfiguration of attica from ___ tribes to ___
4 ot 10 tribes
what is attica
Attica - was the surrounding area around athens
the tribes were ____ ________ connected
Tribes were not geographically connected (eg, tribe 4 is located in a few places)
Cleisthenes created a new council that could propose laws which included
_____ men
___ from each tribe
chosen at _____
legislative power given entirely to _______
500 men
50 from each tribe
Chosen at random
Legislative power given entirely to the assembly - all laws are to be decided on by assembly even if drafted
