ONE POLIS VERSUS ANOTHER

At the end of the Dark Age nobles who acquired land had seized power from the kings.

Many farmers borrowed money from nobles that they couldn’t repay and lost their lands.

By 650 B.C. farmers demanded a change in the power structure.

Growing unhappiness led to the rise of tyrants.

Tyrants overthrew the nobles with the backing of the common people.

Tyrants made themselves popular by building marketplaces, temples, and walls to protect the city.

Although tyrants helped change the power structure of Greece, rule by one person is not what Greek people wanted.

Once tyrants had fallen out of favor, most city-states in Greece became democracies or an oligarchy.

Sparta became an oligarchy and Athens became a democracy. These were the two most powerful governments in Greece.

Founded by the Dorians during the Dark Age.

Sparta expanded their territory through vicious conquest.

Spartans enslaved their conquered and called them helots.

The military was of the utmost importance to Sparta.

At age seven, boys left their families to live in barracks and were harshly treated in order to make them tough.

Sparta males lived in barracks as soldiers until age thirty. Then they were allowed to live at home, but had to remain in the military until age sixty.

Spartan soldiers only ate twice a day and ate a vile dish called black broth which consisted of pork boiled in animal blood and vinegar.

The government of Sparta was an oligarchy with two kings and a council of elders.

All men over 30 could vote on who would be ephors (enforce laws).

Spartans did not allow outsiders to enter Sparta, banned foreign travel abroad, and discouraged its citizens from study literature and the arts.

Women in Sparta were trained in sports, running, wrestling and throwing.

Wives lived at home while husbands lived away at Army barracks.

Because their husbands were away, Spartan women were freer than other Greek women and were able to own property.

Athens was vastly different than Sparta.

Athenian boys went to school to learn how to read, write and arithmetic.

Boys were also able to participate in sports and learn how to play instrument in school.

At age 18, boys graduated from school and became citizens.

Athenian girls stayed at home and learned how to sew and perform other household duties.

The role of a women in Athens was to learn how to take care of a family and children. Women in Athens could not become citizens.

Early Athens was ruled by landowning nobles.

Many farmer had sold themselves into debt in order to pay for lands they bought from the nobles.

A noble named Solon negotiated an agreement that freed the farmers from noblemen’s control and this made him very popular among the common people.

The common people pressed Solon to give away the wealthy noble’s land, but he refused.

A tyrant named Peisistratus seized power from Solon and divided up large estates among the poor, loaned them money and gave them jobs.

Once Peisistratus died, he was replaced by Cleisthenes who reorganized government in Athens.