UNIT 1 ATHENS AND SPARTA WARS, ARMOUR, FORTS CONTENT 1.

INTRODUCTION
2. ATHENS AND SPARTA I. SPARTA A Military State Society II. ATHENS Peoples Power 3. WARS Peloponnesian War War With Persia 4. ANCIENT GREEK ARMOURY AND TECHNIQUES OF WARFARE Fighting Formations Armory 5. FORTIFICATIONS 6. CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION ATHENS AND SPARTA SOME INTERESTING FACTS Athena, the patron Goddess of Athens and Goddess of wisdom whose huge statue was placed inside the Parthenon temple. The statue was made of gold and ivory and was 40 feet tall. Greece-How did it get its name? Known to its inhabitants as Hellas. Greece came from the name Romans applied to Hellas-Graecia. The ancient people of Hellas thought themselves as Hellenes (from Hellas) but the ancient Romans called them by the Latin word Graeci from which we get the word Greek. The Parthenon is a temple located on the Acropolis, a hill overlooking the city of Athens, Greece and it is the finest example of Doric style construction. Marathon is remembered for heroism of a Greek named Pheidippides. Before the battle of Marathon he ran for two days and nights over 150 miles (242Kms) from Athens to Sparta to get help. Then he fought the battle. After the battle he ran 26 miles (42Kms) nonstop to Athens, but died as he gasped out the news of victory. He became an inspiration for the modern Marathon race. This race is run over the same distance as run by Pheidippides from Marathon to Athens and was first introduced in the 1896 Athens Olympics. Life in Athens was filled with creativity. As an Athenian you could get a good education of arts and sciences. People began to study human life and behavior.

In the 5th century B.C. Greek language was at its best and this could be seen through the numerous plays, both tragic and comic that was put up in the Athenian theatres. Politics comes from the Greek word Polis, the word for the Greek city state. Ancient Greeks were known to have invented coins, locks, maps and the central heating system. Herodotus is known as the father of history. 776 B.C The first Olympic Games in history, held at Olympia, mark the beginning of the Classical Greek period Greece is a country in the South East of Europe, about the size of England. Most of the islands in the Aegean Sea as well as the big island of Crete and the Ionian Island are a part of it. STORY BOARD PRESENTATION Initially the students would be asked to locate Athens and Sparta (ancient city states) on the Map of the Modern World. The teacher would then explain to the students that both these cities are part of modern Greece. At least two or three students will be asked to come to the Map and locate Athens and Sparta on the Map shown on the wall of the class room. She/he would present the following site to the students - who would then embark on a fun and adventurous journey, discovering exciting information about the city states of Athena and Sparta. Finally the students would be asked to make a choice to pledge their allegiance to either Athena or Sparta! Through this activity, students will unravel and learn about the city-states themselves Greece is one of the most ancient countries with a rich history. With its numerous myths and legends, Gods and Kings, wars and conquests it also became a home to artists, architects and famous philosophers and writers. Ancient Greece refers to a civilization belonging to the period of Greek history from the 8th to the 6th century B.C. Classical Greek history flourished during the 5th and the 4th century B.C. After the dark Ages, herding and farming started again. Soon borders of areas became fixed, each area becoming independent by 800 B.C. There were forts on hill tops for protection and a Polis-(center of Greek community life), grew around each one. Polis was a city state which was bigger than a city but smaller than a state. These were scattered all around the Mediterranean area. The people in all these states were Greek coming from a common heritage but each had different beliefs and practices.

City State - was a geographical area comprising of a city and its

adjacent territory, which together make up a single, self-governing political unit.

I. ATHENS AND SPARTA

During the 5th century B.C. Greece was dominated by two main powers that gave it the most traditions. These were democratic Athens and military oligarchy Sparta. They were close together on the map yet far apart in what they valued and how they lived. Sparta was traditionally the great land power of the Greek world. It controlled many neighboring territories whose populations served as slaves. Athens power was based on its command of the Sea and though officially only head of a Naval alliance (The Delian League),in practice this amounted to an Empire in all but name.

SPARTA
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Sparta was a town in Southern Greece and city-state in Peloponnesus. It appeared in Homers Odyssey as the Kingdom of Menelaus and Helen. In 900 B.C. when most Greek towns got rid of their kings, Sparta had two kings at the same time. One would stay at home and the other would go out to fight wars. The biggest change in its history came in 700 B.C. when Sparta seemed to have conquered a group of people living near them in Messenia whom they called Helots. They enslaved them and made them farm all their land. The Helots revolted several times and this made the Spartans re-shape their culture by building a strong Army. The men now didnt have to work anymore and spent all their lives in training for war. Ruins from the site a. A Military State
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Spartas only aim was to turn her men into hardy, fearless warriors and this led to planning at every stage. All efforts were focused on a strong Army and fighting battles. According to tradition Sparta first owed its strength to the legendary leader Lycurgus who lived in the 9th century B.C. He made many laws to ensure that Spartans were good soldiers. Lycurgus

Sparta was like a military camp in which every man lived under strict military discipline. Every Spartan had a farm but spent a lot of time preparing for war. He became a soldier when he became twenty. However, his training began, at seven years when he left his family to live in an Army State School. Newborns that were not physically fit were left to die. All boys of seven years and above were taken away for training. They were taught discipline, bravery and how to strengthen the body and endure pain. Death in battle was the highest honor. They were taught to never give up. Spartan girls were also trained very severely so that instead of being gentle with their sons they would teach them to be brave from the earliest days. A mother would send her son off to war with the words come back with your shield or upon it meaning that he should come back victorious or else be carried home dead.

b. Society
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Growing up in Spartan society was tough. Boys practiced fighting and trained in athletics. They had to manage with one tunic at school and had to walk barefoot even when the weather was cold. Men lived in Army Camps even when they got married. Girls also did physical exercise. Spartan women had more freedom than other Greek women. Old people too were shown respect. The society became a society of great warriors, so involved were they in developing their military might and fighting skills that they did not develop art, literature, trading etc. Society remained agricultural and had no commercial class. Sparta had only one aim and that was to turn her men into hardy warriors. They scorned the arts and the Athenians for their love of Art; they never used money only an iron currency for the international market. Unlike the Athenians the history of Greece from this time onwards becomes more and more the story of struggle between two leading states: Sparta and Athens.

ATHENS
Athens was the largest city in Greece, and controlled a region called Attica. Between the many mountains were fertile valleys, with many farms.

Athens became rich because Attica also had valuable sources of silver, lead and marble. Athens also had the biggest navy in Greece. Athens was a beautiful and busy city. People came to the city from all over Greece, and from other countries, to study and to trade. The city's most famous building was the temple called the Parthenon. It stood on a rocky hill called the Acropolis. Inside the Parthenon, stood a statue of the city's protector-goddess Athena from whom it got its name. Athens a town in Central Greece was settled very early because it had a good sea-port and a steep hill which made it easy to defend. It was already an important city in the late Bronze Age and appears in Homers Iliad as the kingdom of Theseus. The Mycenaean palace at Acropolis and remains of pottery found proved its importance as a city state. It was a beautiful and busy city state. By 500 B.C. it had become a very densely populated city. Around this time money had begun to be used. This led to wealth being concentrated in the hands of the wealthy merchants and a class of poverty stricken slaves emerged.

a. Peoples Power
In 500 B.C. a new way of Government emerged in Athens. Solon who was elected as the chief magistrate changed laws so that the poor could not be sold into slavery, because they owed people money. He cancelled all debts and re-distributed land. He started an Assembly so that any citizen could come out and vote on important questions. Only a male citizen had a say on how the city would run. Neither women nor slaves were allowed to be a part of this. About thirty thousand citizens chose 500 members to the counsel for one year at a time. They met every ten days or so on a hill called Pnyx, the remains of which can still be seen. Judges could be chosen through a lottery system so that even a poor person could be a judge. The laws made it ill-legal for the parents to abuse children. Slavery was abolished and a system of direct democracy developed. Athens with its free speaking society became the birth place of democracy. Thus a powerful Assembly that passed laws and made policy decisions began the democratic procedure for modern city states. At about 417 B.C. Athens began its golden age under the leadership of Pericles. This lasted

for several decades and is often called the age of Pericles. He promoted arts and encouraged the growth of democratic institutions. He made laws to improve the position of the poorer people.
CASE STUDY: WOMEN IN ATHENS & SPARTA It is curious for students to observe that in the cradle of democracy, where each individual male citizen had rights to full civic participation, womens movements were restricted, and women were excluded from most civic obligations and privileges. At the same time, the militaristic structure of Spartan society ended up allowing women far greater freedom of movement and financial independence than any other contemporary Greek city-state. The women of Sparta and the women of Athens lived their lives in two separate ways!

He also made everybody serve in the army or navy and pay a proper share of tribute to the state. Athens soon began expanding. Its people were brave and good fighters but also fond of arts, poetry, literature, sculpture and architecture. Philosophers such as Socrates, Aristotle and Plato studied and taught in and around it.
Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael. Aristotle gestures to the earth, representing his belief in knowledge through empirical observation and experience, while holding a copy of his Nicomachean Ethics in his hand. Plato holds his Timaeus and gestures to the heavens, representing his belief in The Forms

New buildings such as the gigantic temple- Parthenon honoring the Goddess Athena was built. It became a centre of great culture and entertainment.
The Parthenon was built at the foot of the Acropolis, under the marble temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, which was completed in 432 BC the Parthenon as the crowning glory of Athens' Golden Age.

Power in Athens was based on its command of the Sea. It was the home of the Great Greek Fleet which defeated the invading Persians many times. Every man between the age of 20 to 50 or more could be called up for military service. A rich man might have to serve as Captain of a war ship for a year. He had to pay the crew and for the repair of the ship. Athens formed an alliance of many Greek states known as the Delian League. Thus, in practice it amounted to an Empire though not in name. Controlling the largest Navy in the League it received tributes from the smaller city states.

WARS
Wars were very common in ancient Greece. The city states of Corinth, Athens and Sparta were always fighting with each other over border disputes. Sometimes they also fought othercountries. They would then get together to fight as allies.