SPARTA BY:DANIELLE CAMPS

1. SPARTA BY:DANIELLE CAMPS

2. Religion • They were Greek polytheistic (Hellenism) -Their was a hierarchy deities, with Zeus being the King of all the Gods - Certain Gods controlled the forces of nature on their own command sometimes even disobeying Zeus -Not all gods were powerful, but they all shared immortality and had common human like characteristics. All Gods/ Goddesses had to obey fate which overrode all.  This meant that although the gods and goddesses were powerful and they could fight off strong forces if something bad was meant to happen, they could only stall it and not prevent it from happening.

3. Religion Continuation • The Greeks believed in an underworld. If a person never reached the underworld they would haunt the upper world as a ghost forever. • One of the most common areas of the underworld was known as Hades. This was ruled over by a god, a brother of Zeus, who was called Hades. This realm was originally called 'the place of Hades'. • Another realm, called Tartarus , was the place where the damned were thought to go, a place of torment. • A third realm, Elysium, was a pleasant place where the virtuous dead and initiates in the mystery cults were said to dwell.

4. Morality\Culture • Spartan society focused on military and defensive strategies. They were considered the best in battle because of their military discipline among soldiers, battle strategies, and their weapons (shield). • Men and women both shared the same rights, which were extremely limited, but they were equal. Everyone had to participate in the military whether it was cooking for the solders, being trained to become one or being a soldier themselves. • Sparta was very war oriented. Their morality and virtues focused on being a good\strong warrior. This included being good at things like track and field, being strong, being able to kill in war and being very brave. If a person had something wrong with themselves physically or were "weak" psychologically, they had no use for that person.

5. Economy • In Ancient Sparta there was no need to have an "economy". • They had slaves to work in their land and produce the required food for the city and a very limited kind of trade.  • Their legislation system was prohibiting any aim to become rich. There was no reason to become rich because their system provided all they needed to survive and their education system taught them to be glad with a minimum of luxury. There was no discrimination between rich and poor. Everyone was equal.

6. The Rise to Power • Sparta's rise to power was a direct result of the militaristic nature of their society. They were the only Greek city-state to maintain a large standing army at all times. Their training and education was such that they were truly elite fighters. As a result, Sparta was often looked to by smaller city-states for protection. • The Spartans were highly disliked for their arrogance, but they were highly respected and admired for their army's fighting skill. As a result, when the Persians first invaded, the Spartans were the first people who were looked to provide a defense. • The end of the Peloponnesian Wars was also where Sparta began to be recognized as a powerful ruling city state because of Athens surrender to the Spartan army.

7. The Golden Age of Sparta • Spartan Hegemony 404-371 B.C. • The next 33 years following Athens' surrender to Sparta were known as the "Spartan Hegemony." During this period Sparta was the most influential power in all of Greece.  • The governments of the polis (city-state) is of Sparta and Athens were at opposite extremes politically: one was an oligarchy and the other a direct democracy. Other poleis were probably run by governments somewhere between the two, and (although we think of ancient Greece as being democratic) Sparta's oligarchic government had been closer to the Greek ideal than Athens'.

8. The Decline\End of Sparta • The decline\end of  Sparta began when Sparta overran Athens, destroying the city walls and leaving the city with only 10 ships in the Peloponnesian War. • Sparta only just survived the war. The numbers of full Spartiates were very low because of the war, and no thought was put into increasing the Spartiate population. This is probably due to them relaxing in their recent wealth in other states that their army had overrun.  • Also the Spartan empire began to grow, and the Spartans were forced with a completely new way of life - completely different to the simple life they were used to living. They had been brought up knowing only one way of life and had been taught vigorously not to challenge the ideas of the state, but now the state was changing. Spartan military commanders began spending their time trying to conquer more land and they became more and more rich and arrogant. • Sparta lasted a very long time but was finally conquered King Phillip the 2nd of Macedon and that was the end of Sparta

9. Famous Events • The Persian War • This war was fought between the Persian Empire v.s Athens allied with other Greek city-states. • The Battle of Thermopolis- 700 Persian soldiers and 300 Spartan soldiers. The Spartans held off the Persians for 3 days. • The Peloponnesian Wars • This war was fought between Athens and Sparta because Sparta was fearful about Athens getting too powerful and taking over\becoming the most powerful city-state in Greece. • The war was divided into 3 phases: The Archidamian War, The Sicilian war and The Ionian or Decelean War: phase. The war commenced on 4 April 431 B.C. when the Thebans launched a surprise attack on Plataea, who as a partner of Athens. The war ended on 25 April 404 B.C. when Athens surrenderedto Sparta.