Introduction
If you were to go out onto the street and ask the common man to name two cities in ancient Greece in all likelihood he would elect Athens and Sparta. However, if you were to ask that same individual which one they would choose to live in, would they be able to make an informed decision? In my learning journal entry for this unit I will present the evidence for what life may have been like in each city and will conclude the journal with my personal opinion of which city I would choose to reside in.
The Evidence
Life for an Athenian male of the middle class during the tenure of Pericles (461-429 B.C.) would not have been much different than it was for males throughout the centuries (Brand, n.d., p.33)(Orcus, n.d.). They would …show more content…
after the end of the Second Messenian War, the entire Spartan culture was militarized (Brand, n.d, p.4). Subsequently, the daily life of a Spartan male was comparable to the life of a soldier living on base. Aside from daily training and military drilling, twice a day a Spartan male would dine on a meal of salted pork in blood with fourteen of his fellow soldiers in groups called Syssitias (Brand, n.d., p.11). Similar to Athens, Sparta had a slave culture that performed many of the manual labors duties, which also like Athens, freed up the Spartan male so he could purse leisurely activities outside of his military duties (Glasson, 2013). For example, Spartans enjoyed dancing, banquets, hunting, exercise and conversing with their fellow Spartans (Glasson, …show more content…
Women in Sparta had freedom in their movement and were allowed to own and oversee their property (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.). Furthermore, a large class of slave laborers known as Helots freed the Spartan woman from having to perform manual labor duties such as weaving and spinning (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.). Spartan women also were afforded by Spartan society the right to speak their mind and were known for being outspoken in their opinions (Brand, n.d. p.7). However, Spartan woman were not citizens as citizenship was restricted to Spartan males, so they did not participate or engage in politics (Brand, n.d.
If you were to go out onto the street and ask the common man to name two cities in ancient Greece in all likelihood he would elect Athens and Sparta. However, if you were to ask that same individual which one they would choose to live in, would they be able to make an informed decision? In my learning journal entry for this unit I will present the evidence for what life may have been like in each city and will conclude the journal with my personal opinion of which city I would choose to reside in.
The Evidence
Life for an Athenian male of the middle class during the tenure of Pericles (461-429 B.C.) would not have been much different than it was for males throughout the centuries (Brand, n.d., p.33)(Orcus, n.d.). They would …show more content…
after the end of the Second Messenian War, the entire Spartan culture was militarized (Brand, n.d, p.4). Subsequently, the daily life of a Spartan male was comparable to the life of a soldier living on base. Aside from daily training and military drilling, twice a day a Spartan male would dine on a meal of salted pork in blood with fourteen of his fellow soldiers in groups called Syssitias (Brand, n.d., p.11). Similar to Athens, Sparta had a slave culture that performed many of the manual labors duties, which also like Athens, freed up the Spartan male so he could purse leisurely activities outside of his military duties (Glasson, 2013). For example, Spartans enjoyed dancing, banquets, hunting, exercise and conversing with their fellow Spartans (Glasson, …show more content…
Women in Sparta had freedom in their movement and were allowed to own and oversee their property (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.). Furthermore, a large class of slave laborers known as Helots freed the Spartan woman from having to perform manual labor duties such as weaving and spinning (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d.). Spartan women also were afforded by Spartan society the right to speak their mind and were known for being outspoken in their opinions (Brand, n.d. p.7). However, Spartan woman were not citizens as citizenship was restricted to Spartan males, so they did not participate or engage in politics (Brand, n.d.