1. CITY-STATES
 City-States are political units made up of a city and
all surrounding lands. City-States were
geographically formed by mountains and valleys
 The two most famous Greek city-states were
Athens and Sparta

2. ATHENS
 Athenians thought that having a strong mind was
equally as important as being physically strong
 Athens was an important trading center. (it is
located 4 miles from the coast)

3. ATHENS (CONTINUED)
 Athenian boys began school when
they were six years old
 boys were taught
reading, writing, music and history.
 a boy became a citizen in Athens
when he was eighteen. (he was
expected to know all the laws)
 After a boy became a citizen he
spent the next two years in the army

4. ATHENS (CONTINUED)
 Athens had the first democratic government.
(everyone had a voice in their government)
 Athens had many famous philosophers that
included Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

5. SPARTA
 Sparta was Athens’ rival city-state.
 Sparta valued strength, deceit of an enemy and
fearlessness about death
 Sparta’s power came from its tough and
professional army

6. SPARTA (CONTINUED)
 Sparta was ruled by an oligarchy (small ruling
group) of rich families.
 Spartans valued order and discipline.
 Dominated Greece from 600 B.C.to 371 B.C.

7. SPARTA (CONTINUED)
 Newborn babies were inspected to see if they were
strong enough to be a Spartan
 Boys at the age of seven left their family to begin
military training
 Spartan boys were whipped if they made a mistake.
They were supposed to show no sign of pain while
being whipped.

8. SPARTA (CONTINUED)
 Spartan boys had only a basic education. They
were instructed in reading and writing.
 Men became full citizens at the age of 30. Then
they could hold office or vote.
 All Spartan men ate their meals with the army; not
with their families .

9. SPARTA (CONTINUED)
 Spartan women’s job was to have strong healthy
babies.
 Spartan girls were just as athletic as the boys. They
learned how to wrestle, throw a javelin and they
exercised daily.
 Spartan women could own their own land, run their
households and conduct business.

10. SPARTA (CONTINUED)
 Spartan men were not allowed to do any manual
labor outside of their job as soldiers. Slaves were
used to do the manual labor.
 Spartans were expected to fight to the death.
 Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War
(431 to 404 B.C.)
 Sparta’s dominance only lasted until 371 B.C. when
it was defeated by the city-state of Thebes.