Athens vs. Sparta

If you were a young teenage girl of the citizen class, in which city-state would you rather live? Why?

If I were a young teenage girl of the citizen class, I would rather live in Sparta. In my opinion, Sparta is a better society for women to live in because, firstly, they were treated more as equals to men, unlike other cultures. Secondly, girls were educated in Sparta much more than they were in Athens. In Sparta, a girl's education would begin at the age of seven. They would be taught reading, writing, gymnastics, athletics, and survival skills. They were also permitted to participate in sports, instead of spinning, weaving, and other domestic art (which were left to the other classes). Furthermore, citizen women were free to move around and had a lot of freedom. They could also own and control property.

If you were a slave, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I were a slave, I would rather have lived in Sparta. In Sparta, Helots were the lowest class. They were treated like slaves, but didn't have the title. I would want to live in Sparta because in Athens slaves had no rights and could be killed by their owner, even though they sometimes held important roles, such as policemen. Spartan Helots did agricultural work, but they had to give one half of their produce to the land owner.

If you were a boy of the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I was a boy of the citizen class, I would have wanted to live in Athens. Athenian boys were taught reading, writing, mathematics, music, poetry, sports, and gymnastics from the ages of five to fourteen or five to eighteen, depending on how wealthy their family was. Sometimes boys' education would continue into their mid-twenties in an academy where they would study philosophy, ethics, and rhetoric. Lastly, citizen boys also attended military camp for two years. Contrary to Athens, boys in Sparta were mainly focused on the art of warfare.

If you were a young soldier, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I were a young soldier, I would have rathered living in Sparta. Though Athens had a strong navy, Sparta had a strong army and were the best and most feared fighters on land. Spartan boys were trained from the young age of seven to become powerful soldiers, and continued in the military until age thirty, but were still dedicated to the military until the age of sixty. If I was a soldier, I would want to be trained well, have strong battle plans/skills, and be powerful.

If you were a very wealthy person of the citizen class, in which would you rather live? Why?

If I was a very wealthy person of the citizen class, I would rather have lived in Athens, considering that only men were considered citizens. Citizens were freemen. A wealthy person would be in the "top class," which were aristocrats. They owned large estates and made up the cavalry or captained triremes. Citizens could also take part in government. In addition, wealthy citizens got a longer education. Lastly, since Athenians were allowed gold, silver, luxuries, etc., they had a lot of money to buy those products.

Decide whether to represent Athens or Sparta and debate which is the better place to live:

If I had lived during the 400s B.C.E., I would rather have lived in Sparta, instead of Athens. Because females were not considered "equals" until more modern times, Sparta was unique for its equality view on women. They were treated more as equals to men, unlike like the Athenian society who kept its women at home. Spartan women were free to move around and had a lot of freedom, and were not considered "property of their husbands," like in Athens. They could also own their own property. They participated in sports and were able to exercise in order to stay in shape and give birth to healthy babies. Also, women were educated in many subjects, while in Athens, women were mainly taught weaving, spinning, and other domestic arts. Finally, Spartan women were respected.