What was the difference between ancient Athens and Sparta?
Sparta was a society built entirely around military life. Spartan citizen males were taken at the age of seven to be trained as warriors. They were expected to spend their time in miltary training, and live in communal barracks. meanwhile their farms were run by the woman and the slaves. In Athens, all citizen males were expected to do two years military training from the age of eighteen, and they were expected to be ready to go to war at any time, but they were not entirely devoted to miltiary purposes. Athens, like Sparta, was a slave-based economy, 50% of the population were slaves. Athens was a democracy, male citizens would gather in an assembley where they would elect officials, and vote on various issues. Sparta had two kings, both hereditary, but there were five ephors, elected by the citizen assembley, who oversaw and had veto power over the kings, so it was an interesting mixture of oligarchy and democracy. In Athens, women would generally marry at quite an early age, around
