Athens, Sparta, and the Persian Wars

1. Government-how is their government set up; who is in
charge; how does it work?
Athens Sparta
Only citizens could vote Oligarchy
Council of 500 ran day to day business 5 ephors
500 30 year olds and older, Council of Elders
chosen each year 2 Kings and 28 elected men that
were older than 60 and from a noble family
The Assembly debated on laws Had the most power in Sparta
At least 6000 citizens
Assembly
Very large; male citizens; could
The “birthplace” of democracy. vote yes or no by shouting

2. SPARTAN GOVERNMENT:
Five Ephors: unlimited power.
Council of Elders: 28 members all over 60
years of age; proposed laws on which the
Assembly voted.
Kings: two kings elected by the
Assembly; served as high priests,
judges, and army commanders.
ATHENIAN GOVERNMENT:
Assembly: all citizens over 30 years of
age; elected the officials and voted on Assembly: all male citizens over 20 years
major policies. of age; enjoyed full and final power.
Council of Five Hundred: citizens over 30
years of age; chosen by lot, fifty from
each tribe; proposed laws to the
Assembly.
Court: chosen by lot from the citizens; no
judge; juries were very large; each juror
voted by secret ballot.
Archons: nine citizens who at one time
were all-powerful, but after reforms the
Council of Five Hundred took over most
of their powers.

3. Economy-How does this city-state make money? How does it
conduct trade? Do they have a currency?
Athens Sparta
Based on trade- traded with many places Based on farming and conquering land-
needed land for growing population
Used the agora to sell goods
Turned neighbors into helots and used
noncitizens (perioikoi)
Slaves were also sold at the agora
Discouraged trade
Developed coins to make trade easier
Used heavy metal bars as money
Spent lots of money beautifying the city

4. Education-What do children learn? Who can go to school?
Athens Sparta
Based education on making good citizens Purpose: to produce men and women to
protect and defend Sparta
Valued a sharp mind and healthy body
From 7, boys were taught to fight, read,
and write
Boys learned reading, writing, arithmetic,
and literature
Spartan boys were taught to suffer any
amount of pain
Girls stayed in the house
After 30, Spartan men could become
citizens

5. Women and slaves- What types of rights and
responsibilities do women and slaves have?
Athens Sparta
Women have few rights but was in charge Women were expected to be strong and
of the home healthy
Many people owned slaves Women had many rights (own land, marry
a new man, speak freely)
Some slaves were born into slavery,
others were prisoners of war Helots were treated very harshly
because of the fear of a revolt
Slaves performed a wide variety of jobs
Helots had some rights

6. Warm Up: November 29, 2011
Write A for Athens and S for Sparta
1. Based their economy on trade.
2. Turned neighbors into helots.
3. Council of 500 ran day to day business.
4. Spent lots of money on building beautiful temples.
5. The Assembly could only vote yes or no on issues.
6. Based education on making good citizens.
7. The Assembly had to have at least 6000 people present.

7. The Persian Wars
Persia vs. Greece
Strengths and Weaknesses?

8. The Persian Empire
Started as tribes in present-day Iran
Built a large empire by conquering its neighbors (Mesopotamia, Asia Minor,
Egypt)
Was the largest empire the world had ever known

9. The Persian Empire
How did the empire get so powerful?
1. Persia ruled the conquered people with
mercy- allowed them to keep their own
customs and beliefs
2. Persia developed many miles of roads to
connect the empire
3. Persia had good leaders- ex: Cyrus the
Great ruled with mercy; Darius
reorganized the government to control
such a huge area
4. Persia had full-time professional soldiers,
unlike the citizen-armies of Greece

10. When did trouble begin between
Greece and Persia?
Persia conquered the Greek state of Ionia
Ionians ask mainland Greece to help them
overthrow Persia
Athens helps, but leaves too early and Persia
defeats Ionia and destroys the city as
punishment
Darius (leader of Persia) decides to try and
conquer mainland Greece next

11. Main Battles of the Persian War
MARATHON
THERMOPYLAE
SALAMIS
PLATAEA

12. Major Players in the War
Darius
Xerxes
Leonidas

13. Marathon
Greeks refused to submit to Persia; killed many
Persian messengers
Athens sent a runner to go for Sparta for help;
Sparta refused; Athens had to fight at Marathon
alone
Athens used a three-prong attack

15. Thermopylae
Xerxes crossed at Hellespont using a bridge made of
boats
Sparta waited for Persia to reach them at a narrow
passage between the mountains and the sea
Leonidas (Spartan King) ordered most troops to
flee; leaving only 300 Spartans to fight 180,000
Persians
Spartans fought to the death; all died.
Persia moves onto Athens

17. Hellespont Google Earth Image
How to build a
bridge at
Hellespont

18. Salamis
Athenians flee Athens
Athens navy lures Persian ships into a narrow
channel near Salamis
Greeks surround and sink 300 Persian ships
Xerxes flees back to Hellespont

19. Plataea
Athens and Sparta join forces to defeat Persia after
many days

20. Importance of the Persian War
Greek keeps its independence and kept Persia from conquering all of Europe
City of Athens was in ruin
Athens now has to rebuild itself

21. End of the War
Why did Persia lose? Why did Greece win?
After Xerxes, other rulers raised taxes and Advantage of being on the defense
treated people harshly
Believed in what they were fighting in,
Persian royal family fought over who whereas it was a “job” to Persians
would be king
Used the element of surprise often and
Persian Empire remained intact for about effectively
150 more years

22. Review- Persian War
1. Explain why the Persian War started?
2. Why did Greece end up winning?
3. What can the Persian Wars reveal to us about what happens when cultures
interact with each other?
4. What can we learn from understanding why past empires (like Persia)
collapsed and how can we use that information to analyze similar conditions
today?
5. What, do you think, was the number one reason why the Greeks win the
Persian War?
 They were joined together as allies.
 They had better fighting equipment.
 They knew the geography of the area.
 They used clever military strategy.

23. The Delian League- Human Heritage, page 173-174
1. What is a defensive league?
2. Why did the Greeks want a defensive league?
3. Who did not join the league?
4. From the 2 nd paragraph, what were three rules of the Delian League?
5. Many call the Delian League the Athenian Empire. What were three
things that Athens did that were considered unfair by the other city-
states?
6. Who was the leader of Athens for 30 years and had the city rebuilt?