Spartan Society Vs. Athenian Society

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commoners in the government and public affairs. Where Sparta looked to military prowess to impose order, the Athenians chose to establish a democratic government to illustrate their structure. Between these two powerful poleis, besides the locations south of Macedon, the similarities are very scarce.

In the 5th century BCE, a direct conflict with Darius I and the Persian empire had emerged for the Greeks due to the Persians closing in on the Greek cities on the Ionian coast. The Greek cities revolted against the Persians, and were assisted by the Athenian fleet of ships sent to aid the Ionian effort. The efforts of the Ionians were repressed by Darius in 493 BCE. Unimpressed with the Athenian decision to aid, Darius launched an attack on Athens. But the Athenians held their ground against both the army and fleet that Darius had sent. A decade later, Xerxes, the Persian successor of Darius, was out to avenge the loses. In 480 BCE, he sent an enormous army on the ground, and an equally vast fleet to defeat the Greeks. The Persian faced early difficulties at the hands of Spartan troops, who had stepped in to assist their fellow Greeks. The Persians eventually succeeded in capturing Athens, but a strategic Greek fleet led by the Athenians took out the Persian ships. After the Persian Wars had subsided, the Greeks had created the Dilian League in order to keep alliance against any more attacks. This ultimately gave the heaviest power to Athens, which eventually led to a destructive civil war. Sparta and Athens had formed the two armed camps and the war went back and forth for control for about 25 years. By 404 BCE, the Spartans had forced Athens in an unconditional surrender, and prevailed as the ultimate Greek society.