9.6.12

[4thCameron]

Education in Athens vs. Sparta

• Athens
  • The purpose of education was to produce citizens trained in the arts, and to prepare citizens for both peace and war.
  • Until age 6, boys were home schooled by their mother or a male slave. Then, they went to primary school or private school. After that, boys attended a higher school for four years. When they turned 18, they went military school for two additional years. At age 20, they graduated.
  • Girls were not educated in school but often learned to read and write at home.
• Sparta
  • The purpose of education was to produce a well drilled, well disciplined army. Spartans believed in a life of discipline, self denial, and simplicity. They were very loyal to Sparta. Every Spartan, male or female, was required to have a perfect body.
  • When babies were born, they had to pass an examination that determined whether they would be trained as a slave if they were not healthy, or assigned to a brotherhood or sisterhood if they were healthy
  • Spartan boys were sent to military school at age 6 or 7. They lived, trained and slept in the barracks of their brotherhood. They were taught survival skills and other skills necessary to be a great soldier. School courses were very hard and often painful. Somewhere between the age of 18-20, Spartan males had to pass a difficult test of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills.  Any Spartan male who did not pass these examinations became middle class.
  • Girls also went to school at age 6 or 7. They lived, slept and trained in their sisterhood's barracks. No one knows if their school was as cruel or as rugged as the boys school, but the girls were taught wrestling, gymnastics, and combat skills. At age 18, if a Sparta girl passed her skills and fitness test, she would be assigned a husband and allowed to return home. If she failed, she would lose her rights as a citizen, and become middle class.

Persian War

• New Technology
  • During the Dorian age, only the rich could really afford to buy the bronze weaponry and armor
  • Iron later replaced bronze and allowed the common man to be able to arm himself and fight battles
  • Also a new formation was formed in battle called the phalanx
• Start of the War
  • war between greece and sparta and persian empire
  • it first began in ionia on the coast of anatonia
  • greeks were sttled there but persians conqwered it around 546 bc
  • The ionian greeks revolted
    • athens sent soldiers to help in the revolt
    • darius the great defeated the revolt and then vowed to destroy athens
• War continues
  • in 490 bc, the perian fleet of 25000 men landed in an area called marathon
  • 10000 athenians met them there
  • after several hours of fighting
    • perians fled the battlefield
    • 6000 persian lives were lost
    • 200 or less athenian lives were lost
• Why such a great victory?
  • The athenians were using this new fighting formation called the palanx
  • the persians were not well trained in this type of land fighting
  • the persians also wore very light armor compared to that of the athenians
  • athenians were fighting for their homeland
• Marathon
  • even though athenians had won, they left their city without much of an army
  • according to tradition, army leaders would send a runner to alert athens of the battle
  • pheidippides was that runner
  • he ran 26 miles from marathon to athens
  • persians tried to quickly attack athens after their defeat at marathon, but the athenians had already returned, so they fled once again
• Ten years later
  • Xerxes, Darius the Great's son, had become the successor of the persian army
  • he brought an enormous army with him to complete the job that his father once vowed--to destroy athens
• Greek issues
  • the greeks were very divided on how to handle the persian situation
    • some city-states thought they should fight them and defend their city of athens
    • some city-states thought it wasn't worth it, and they should just allow them to burn it
    • some even fought with the persians
• Famous battle of Thermopylae
  • a narrow mountain pass was the setting of this battle
  • 7,000 greeks and 300 spartans stood in the way of xerxes and his huge army on this push to get to athens
  • xerxes underestimated the greeks and spartans, however, they stood up for three days to them
• 300
  • A traitor went to xerxes and informed him of a secret path around the pass
  • fearing defeat. the spartans fought the perians so that the greeks could felee to fight another day
  • all 300 were killed including leonidas
• lating effects of spartan scrifice
  • made a great impression on the greeks 
  • allowed the remaining greeks to retreat and fight the persians again
  • showed xerxes what he was up against
• battle of salamis
  • greeks abandoned athens, because they thought that fighting at sea was their best chance
  • they were right, xerxes watched as one third of his fleet was sunk, truly diminishing his army
• lasting effects of the persian war
  • the delian league was created (an alliance of greek city-states to continue to push the persians out of all greece)
  • athenians were the head of the league and moved the headquarters to athens
  • this gave the athenians a lot of power and helped push them into their golden age