War in Ancient Greece was a major factor of the daily life of kings, royalty and even citizens, especially in Sparta. Sparta, being a city-state of warfare even down to the way children were raised, were a major factor in deciding the everyday life in many people beyond their own citizens. All other city states in Greece at the time were prepared for war if they weren’t in one already. Due to this, war proved to be nearly a constant in the life of Ancient Greek citizens. Sparta was a city-state that didn’t only just have their lives affected by war; their life was near controlled by war. The deciding factor for whether or not a baby would go on to live was their level of physical strength. If the baby appeared ill, unhealthy or generally weak, meaning …show more content…
pale, small or without a sufficient amount of visible muscle, then the baby would go to their deaths near immediately, and their parents shamed for birthing a weak child. If the baby was healthy, strong and showed no signs of illness, then they would go on to training for the remainder of their childhoods. This alone shows that Sparta had a stronger grip and focus on war than other city-states. Spartan children, who went to training, being all that lived, were subjected to a ruthless training regime. Sparta had a strong belief in land warfare and believed themselves to be the superiors in all aspects, not only warfare and tactics. Children, as soon as they were deemed ready for their training, were subjected to strong and common Spartan training camps, where they were taught to be strong enough to be worthy to call themselves Spartans. The training regime is what truly set Sparta aside as being one of the greatest influenced city-states by warfare. The Athenians, who prided themselves on intelligence and sophistication over other city-states, preferring to focus on the arts and science, even there they were influenced by the long reach of Greek politics and warfare. Focusing rather on a strong naval front, using triremes and ramming tactics to achieve victory where they could. This affected the lives of anyone from craftsmen to those contracted to work on these boats. They also had a fair military on land, though not quite enough to stack up to Sparta’s ground force. In this way, Athenians had their own military which affected citizens in similar, though not in overly intrusive ways to those of Spartans. War encompassed more than just these two cities, though. Everywhere else in Ancient Greece had at least a mild fixation around warfare. In most city-states it was compulsory for men to participate in the wars, leaving home and using their own provided weapons and armour for the battle. Only the rich generally had armour and were equipped for the frontline, other, less suitable and lesser-equipped men kept behind them. This shows that the more minor city-states also had a large focus around warfare, citizens being the main portion of a land army. Nigh on everywhere, citizens were expected to participate in war.
If they didn’t, they’d be said to have brought shame to themselves, and called cowards. Most citizens kept at least a gladius (Small, cheap sword) or spear in their home, while the rich were better equipped with well-made, bronze-tipped spears and leather jerkins which covered the torso. Legwear was also used, bronze greaves to protect against swipes to the legs while they defended their upper body with the large bronze shield that was typical of a higher-class soldier, often called hoplites. This impacted in their daily lives simply due to them needing to keep a blade ready, lest they be called cowards and be ridiculed by others. Of course, the war-caused patriotism was ever present, and these cases were assumedly few. All these factors go hand in hand to solidify warfare in Ancient Greece as not only a constant in their society, but nearly a staple. Without the influence of war, ancient Greece would not be near as significant in history. Spartans and Athenians alike relied on war not only for defence, but identity. Warfare in ancient Greece wasn’t only a common occurrence, but a heavy influence for their identity and ways of life, even
day-to-day.
Civic implications were also apparent in ancient Greek athletics. The ancient world was one of constant conflict and political turmoil, and it was necessary for each city-state to possess a strong military in order to preserve their autonomy.
One of the main reasons for the population problem in Sparta were the strict requirements related to military training for Spartan males. In order to qualify as a full Spartan citizen, a male had to obtain membership of the phiditia, also known as the military mess. To obtain the membership, men were selected through elections after they completed the
One of those traits is that although Athenian citizens and soldiers live a more leisurely life and are not trained as rigorously as the Spartans in land warfare, Athenians’ natural courage makes up for that (Thucydides pg. 42). Athens was definitely the dominant naval power in Greece at the time, but the Athenians’ devaluing of land warfare led to a stalemate in the first phase of the Peloponnesian War before the Peace of Nicias in which Sparta ravaged Athens’ countryside and forced its citizens to be holed up in the city walls and to live in close quarters, making them susceptible to the plague. Another trait of Athens that can be argued as not a positive factor is its institution of democracy. Athenian democracy was quite limited in the modern sense since its citizenry only included ethnic Athenian males over the age of 20, but it was remarkable in the ancient world for the amount of civic participation it allowed of those that it considered citizens. The Athenians prided themselves on including people of lower economic status into the citizenry, but this trait may be not as positive as Pericles proclaimed (Thucydides pg. 40). In an oligarchic system such as Sparta’s, if the city-state was to win a war, it
Ancient Greece, Sparta especially, and Ancient Rome were best known for their military tactics and strategies. In the Greek city-state Sparta, military went as far as making every male citizen a hoplite, warriors of Ancient Greece, and go through a mandatory training program, agoge, or put through public humiliation (Park and Love). It is impossible to say that both Rome and Sparta neglected the idea of implementing warfare into their daily lives.
War has been around for the past couple of centuries now. A question that comes out of many people’s mouths’ is, “Is war the answer?” Centuries ago people may have agreed, however for nowadays maybe not so much. In the BC time era, men were trained to fight with their bodies as their weapons and to take no mercy when it comes to the enemy. If one were to dishonor their kind or betray them, the consequences would be a painful death. The following information portrayed in this essay is to discuss the causes of the Peloponnesian War, who won the war and why they conquered a nice victory.
The Peloponnesian War could easily be considered one of the most life changing and significant wars that occurred in classical Greece. It was fought between two empires which originally stood together against a common enemy, the Persians. However, once this common enemy was defeated, Sparta and Athens began to become great rivals vying for control of Greece. This resulted in the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars, which saw the rise and fall of the Athenian Empire. Sparta eventually rose to be the victor with the assistance of their former enemy Persia, but the era city-states would not live on for very much longer. The Peloponnesian Wars should be studied, because it details the rise and fall of one of the greatest city-states in Greek history.
Throughout the Ancient Greek world, there have been many wars and standoffs. However, there has been only one which changed the course of Greek history forever; the Peloponnesian War. Caused by the growing tension between Athens and Sparta, it came and left, leaving only destruction in its wake. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War caused the downfall of Greece, and the end of the Classical Age.
When examining the causes for the Peloponnesian War, which was between 431-404 B.C., there are a number of causes that factored into the cause of this war. However, one of the most important causes to this war was largely due to the fact that the Spartans feared the growing power and success of Athens. The Spartans were “particularly alarmed at the growing power of Athens” (Cartwright, “Peloponnesian War”). During the Persian war in 479 BC, Athens grew fiercely strong with power with help of its many allies and continued with their no mercy attacks on Persian territories. When the Persians left Greece, Athens further enraged Sparta when they built large and tall walls around its empire in the event of an attack, which was mostly thought to be from Sparta if it happened.
For over 30 years, two of the world's greatest military forces of their time battled over supremacy of Greece. The elite navy of Athens and the powerful armies of Sparta and her allies dueled in an epic battle to determine the direction in which Greece was heading. Through the stories of Thuycides, we have the world's first eye witness account of a war from a great historian who lived through it. From this account we can analyze the war which can be interpreted as the first battle against imperialism. Through my analysis of this war, I plan to determine how Greece benefited as a whole.
Throughout the Ancient Greek world, there have been many wars and standoffs. However, the Peloponnesian War was the only one which changed the course of Greek history forever. Caused by the growing tension between Athens and Sparta, it came and left, leaving only destruction in its path. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War caused the downfall of Greece, and the end of the Classical Age.
Sparta and Athens were two of the greatest societies in ancient Greece, having a commanding amount of influence on Greece as a whole as well as history. Both civilizations held up well in war and had successful societies. I will discuss these two great nations and how they differed on training techniques, social structure, their military preference and how each civilization met its end.
War is an aspect of life where all human entities and instincts come to play only the strongest, smartest, and fittest win the fight. In the ancient world, many conflicts arose leading to wars and chaos, especially in the era of The Peloponnesian War . The Peloponnesian War was one of the most important conflicts in the ancient world, which Sparta won.The Peloponnesian war was started when Athens was found to be tunneling Delian league funds to their own military and city defense ultimately turning most allies against them. Many of which attempted to revolt, when Athens went to control it and did so violently, Sparta was inclined to step in. Sparta, in the end, takes the victory aside all the tribulations they suffered, and they won because of Athenian mistakes, their resilience, great leadership, and strong ground warfare.
If the young men passed, they continued to live in the barracks and train as soldiers but were required to wed to produce new young Spartans. The state gave them land, which was tended by slaves. At age 30 the Spartans could finally live with there families, but they still had to train. Finally at age 60 a Spartan ...
The Daily Life of Ancient Greeks Life in Greece in ancient times will remind you of your own life in many ways. There were school, family, athletic competitions, and social gatherings. Knowing that participants in their sporting events competed nude or that you rarely knew your husband/wife until the wedding day does however, make you grateful for the society that you live in today. Babies Life for the Greeks in Athens began in their home. Babies were delivered by the women of the family, and only in cases of serious complications was a mid-wife called.
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.