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Athens v Sparta

Y5

History – The Ancient Greeks

11Today, we will be looking at the feud between the two most important cities in Ancient Greek time – Athens and Sparta.

Athens

We know a lot about Athens because there were

many writers and artists there whose work has

survived to this day. Athens was originally ruled

by a king but later came to be ruled by the people

as a democracy. Athens was the largest Greek

state with lots of beautiful buildings, shops and

public baths. The people in Athens lived below the

Acropolis (rocky hill). A marble temple was built on

top of the highest Acropolis. Slaves were common

in Athens and made up about ¼ of the working

population.

Sparta

There is much less evidence about Sparta than

there is about Athens. Sparta was originally ruled

by a king but later was ruled by a small group of

powerful people called oligarchies. Sparta was

surrounded by mountains which protected it from

invaders. Sparta was also the only city to have a

full time army. The Spartan men spent from age 7

training to fight so that they could be a part of the

army. People who lived in Sparta were given land

which was farmed for them by slaves.

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Which city would you like to live in?

These two cities were the largest and most important in Ancient Greece, but which would you have

liked to live in?

Think about reasons why you would like to live there (for) and reasons why you wouldn’t (against).

Challenge

Think about the way both cities were ruled. Athens was ruled by the people whilst Sparta was ruled

by a group of powerful people. Which do you think would be the best way to run the city? Why?

Activity1

Athens

AgainstFor

Sparta

AgainstFor

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Activity1

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These two cities were the largest and most

important in Ancient Greece, but which would

you have liked to live in? Think about reasons

why you would like to live there (for) and

reasons why you wouldn’t (against).

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Now let’s look at what happenedbetween the two cities.

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In the year 430bc the soil around the two cities was

not good enough to grow crops. They were both

struggling to find enough food to feed their

people. But instead of joining together, they took

sides. Athens asked other states to join their side.

All they had to do was provide food and Athens

would provide protection against Sparta. Sparta

did the same and soon Ancient Greece was divided.

Athens

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Sparta

ThinkingTime

Do you think it was a good idea to take sides?

Do you think it would havebeen better if they tried

to solve the problem together?

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Next, Sparta invaded Attica which was the

area surrounding Athens. The people of

Athens knew that the Spartan army were too

strong for them. They had trained for this their

whole lives! So they locked themselves inside

their city instead of trying to defeat them.

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The Spartan Army tried to get in but couldn’t.

Meanwhile, the people of Athens were getting

food through the port of Piraeus. The Spartan

army could not stop this because they did not

have warships.

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This was not a short war. The people of Athens stayed

locked in and the Spartan army sat outside for years.

It looked like the war would never end! So they decided

to call a truce. The truce meant that the fighting was

over and everyone was able to go home. It also meant

that Athens got to keep their land and Sparta got to

keep all the lands they had invaded in the war.

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It wasn’t many years until the fighting started again.

Athens wanted to cut off Sparta's supply of food.

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Athens orSparta?

Athens

Athens had a very powerful navy.

They could get supplies via the port.

They had warships.

The patron goddess of Athens was

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war.

The people of Athens lived at the

bottom of the Acropolis (rocky hill).

Sparta

Sparta was the only city to have a

full-time army.

The people of Sparta were well known

for being brave and fierce.

The Spartan army were trained from the

age of 7 so were highly skilled.

Their city was surrounded by mountains.

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Which city do you think will win the war?

Use the facts you’ve been given to make a decision about which city you think will win the war.

Give reasons for your answers.

I think will win because

Challenge

What do you think will happen if Athens wins?

Activity2

Athens Sparta

Athens had a very powerful navy.

They could get supplies via the port.

They had warships.

The patron goddess of Athens was

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war.

The people of Athens lived at the

bottom of the Acropolis (rocky hill).

Sparta was the only city to have a

full-time army.

The people of Sparta were well known

for being brave and fierce.

The Spartan army were trained from the

age of 7 so were highly skilled.

Their city was surrounded by mountains.

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Activity2

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Think about these two cities and the resources

they have for the war.

Use the facts you’ve been given to make a deci-

sion about which city you think will win the war.

Give reasons for your answers.

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The war continued until the Spartans defeatedthe

people of Athens at the Aegospotami River. They

then invaded Attica itself and after a short struggle

forced Athens to surrender.

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