Essay Database

Sparta and Athens, the two most powerful cities of Hellas, did not have much in common. The Athenians attempted to develop their artistic and intellectual capabilities, while Sparta remained isolated from the rest of Hellas, without art or literature, without beautiful buildings, without any development of their social and political traditions. Sparta lived on as a fossilized military city, though its military capabilities and more or less stable form of government still were admired by …

…classes. The local oligarchs were nevertheless always a source of unrest, but as long as the Athenian navy ruled they waves they could only count on empty promises from Sparta and Persia. We see that the goodwill of the rest of Hellas inclined to the Spartan side, when it agreed to liberate Hellas of the Athenian domination. The tight methods for control enumerated above show that there were indeed grounds for resentment of Athenian power.