T&R on "Two Ancient Cities Follow Diverse Paths"

Trevor Jones                                    1/7/15

Thoughts and Reflection on "Two Ancient Cities Follow Diverse Paths"                                                    

Source: James C. Davis 

Athens and Sparta: The Two Greatest Greek City-States

The two greatest city-states of Greece, Athens and Sparta differed greatly in many ways such as their form of government, war strategies and culture. Sparta had a very bizarre form of government. They had a council of 28 elders, each man older than 60 years old, as well as a board of five overseers, and an assemble of all the Warriors in Sparta's heavily armed infantry. This group of Spartan upper class warriors and landowners as well as Lycurgus made decision for the city state as their form of government. However, the Athenians government was a form of democracy in which men with Spartan citizenship could only take place in. Men over thirty could be apart of the Athenian council and had full rights under Cleisthenes, which means that even poor men could serve. Law courts were set up and lead to voting from all male citizens. These two city-states were also very diverse in war tactics for multiple reasons including their government and their geography. Sparta was ruled by a military caste rather than by a democracy like that of the Athenians which means the Spartans thought less, and took more chances. The Athenians used their geography to their advantage and used their enormous hills and mountains as walls to keep out intruders as well as developed massive naval power which they used to fight off the Persians, Spartans and multiple others. 

Throughout their timeline, the Greeks accomplished many significant things. Some of these things include making alliances, forming their government as well as mathematics and literature (plays). The creation of alliances between city-states helped and hurt both Athens and Sparta. When Athens sent ships to help the Ionian's rebellion, The Persian emperor was furious and later launched attacks on Athens, which ended unsuccessfully, but still did damage to the Athenian people. The formation of government was also a success in both city-states because it defines each one and gave it structure under its leader(s). As I mentioned earlier, Athens and Sparta had very diverse forms of government which made each city-state function differently. These city-states also accomplished mathematical achievements as well as some of the greatest literature of their era, including the most famous of all Greek tragedies is Sophocles' Odeipus the King.

In America today, we still have multiple traditions that are taken directly from Greek legacy including Democracy, a large navy and the Olympic Games. Today we still hold a similar form of democracy in America, where each man has a chance to be granted citizenship and will have the right to vote. We have also taken to Greek's legacy by establishing a very large and powerful navy which allows us to intimidate and defeat any threats in war. The Olympic Games however has been a long lasting tradition directly from Greece that still takes place in America and the world today. The Spartan that was the winner of the Olympic Games was permitted to stand beside their King in war. This has changed a bit today but still has the same principal.