Sparta vs. Athens or Greece vs. the U.S.

1) If I was a young teenage girl of the citizen class I would have preferred to live in Sparta. Not only would I have been educated from the age of seven in reading, writing, gymnastics, athletics and survival skills, I would have been treated more like an equal than in Athens. I would be able to participate in sports. I could own and control my own property as well as being expected to oversee and protect it while my husband was at war.

2) If I was a slave I would rather have lived in Athens. Although I was a slave and had no rights I would have been treated less harshly than in many other places in Greece. I would have had opportunities to be something of importance such as a policeman.

3) If I was a boy of the citizen class I would rather have lived in Athens. In Athens I would have received a good education from the age of five until I was fourteen or eighteen (depending on my family's wealth). In Sparta however I would have been taken from my parents at the age of seven and trained in the art of warfare. I would be expected to stay in good physical shape until I was sixty. Although I would be educated in reading and writing as well, my life would mainly revolve around the military.

4) If I were a soldier I would rather have lived in Sparta. Spartan warriors were trained from the age of seven and were expected to serve in the army until the age of sixty and I would have received extensive militaristic training. The Spartan military was the best and most feared on land.

5) I f I was an aristocrat I would rather have lived in Athens. Although Athens was one of the first city-states to establish a democracy, the aristocrats were the ones who ruled from behind the scenes and controlled what went on in the democracy. Elected officials were usually aristocrats.

6) Athens was the better place to live. Although controlled by somewhat of a corrupt democracy Athens encouraged exotic culture such as athletics, art and music as opposed to Sparta, where everyone's lives revolved around the military. From the age of seven boys were taken from their parents and trained to become warriors. When the men went off to fight, women would take care of the land and protect it from invaders. Women's roles were to produce strong warriors. In Athens boys were given a good education in reading, writing, math, music, poetry, sports and gymnastics from the age of five to fourteen or eighteen depending on family wealth. Sometimes boys even went to academies in their twenties where they studied philosophy, ethics and rhetoric. Only after their education were boys expected to serve in the military. In conclusion Athens encourage culture where Sparta encouraged a militaristic lifestyle.