Navy. During the Greco-Persian Wars, Athens developed a large, powerful navy in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that defeated the even larger Persian Navy at the Battle of Salamis. The Athenian Navy consisted of 80,000 crewing 400 ships.
Did the Athenians have a strong army?
Like Sparta, Athens had been a leader in the Persian Wars and had a powerful army.
What kind of military force did Athens have?
The Athenian Army was a city-state militia in which every able-bodied, adult, male citizen was obliged to serve. Men were ranked by wealth, and their service obligation reflected their resources.
Who has a stronger military Athens or Sparta?
Sparta is far superior to Athens because their army was fierce and protective, girls received some education and women had more freedom than in other poleis. First, the army of Sparta was the strongest fighting force in Greece.
What was Athens military known for?
Their dramatic victories over the Boiotians and Chalkidians in 506 B.C. led many to attribute Athenian military success to their political system. This notion was greatly enhanced by the extraordinary victory of the Athenian army over the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C.
Why is Athens better than Sparta?
Athens was better than Sparta because, it had a better government, education system, and had more cultural achievements. One element of Athens that made it the better city-state was the government.
Why was Athens navy so strong?
The Athenian Navy consisted of 80,000 crewing 400 ships. The backbone of the navy’s manpower was a core of professional rowers drawn from the lower classes of Athenian society. This gave the Athenian fleets an advantage in training over the less professional fleets of its rivals.
Did Athens have a stronger navy than Sparta?
Sparta was leader of an alliance of independent states that included most of the major land powers of the Peloponnese and central Greece, as well as the sea power Corinth. Thus, the Athenians had the stronger navy and the Spartans the stronger army.
Did Athens beat Sparta?
When Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War, it secured an unrivaled hegemony over southern Greece. Sparta’s supremacy was broken following the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC.
Why was the Greek army so powerful?
Every man had to serve at least two years in the army. Fighting in the tight phalanx formation maximised the effectiveness of his armor, large shield and long spear, presenting a wall of armor and spear points to the enemy. They were a force to be reckoned with.
What is Athens known for?
Athens is known to be the birthplace of democracy and the idea that all citizens should have a voice in governing their society. Athens also houses many historic landmarks, such as temples and theatres, which were made by ancient architects during the Classical period.
Was Sparta the strongest army?
The Spartans were widely considered to have the strongest army and the best soldiers of any city-state in Ancient Greece. All Spartan men trained to become warriors from the day they were born. The Spartan Army fought in a Phalanx formation.
What is the biggest difference between Athens and Sparta?
The main difference between Athens and Sparta is that Athens was a form of democracy, whereas Sparta was a form of oligarchy. Athens and Sparta are two prominent Greek rival city-states.
What weapons did Athenians use?
Popular ranged weapons were the bow (toxa), javelin (akontia) and sling (sfendonai). While the bow was a relatively uncommon weapon (the wooden stave bow used had a limited range), some troops treated their arrows by thrusting them into rotting corpses, thus creating a crude form of biological weapon.
Who is Sparta’s God?
For example, Athena, the patron goddess for Athens was worshiped for her reason, intelligence, arts and literature while Ares, the patron god for Sparta was worshiped for his violent ways being the god of war. Ares represented Sparta’s militaristic ways and strong warriors.
What did Spartans do with weak babies?
If a baby was weak, the Spartans exposed it on the hillside or took it away to become a slave (helot). Infanticide was common in ancient cultures, but the Spartans were particularly picky about their children. It was not just a matter of the family, the city-state decided the fate of the child.
Why did Athens and Sparta hate each other?
Cultural Differences. Part of the reason for the rift between Athens and Sparta was that they were technically two different cultures. The Athenians were part of a group known as the Ionian Greeks whereas the Spartans were Dorians. The names come from the dialect of Greek they spoke.
Did Athens have the strongest navy?
Athens had the most powerful navy in the eastern Mediterranean during the 400s B.C. After the defeat of the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C., Greek maritime* states formed an alliance called the Delian League, which was dominated by Athens.
What were Athenian soldiers called?
hoplites
Athenian Hoplite
Ancient Greek soldiers were called hoplites. Hoplites had to provide their own armor, so only wealthier Greeks could be one. They had an attendant, either a slave or a poorer citizen, to help carry their equipment.
How many ships did Athens have?
400 ships
The fleet was made up of triremes, wooden warships that carried 170 rowers manning three banks of oars. The ships were 100-120 feet long and about 20 feet wide. At her peak, Athens had a fleet of 400 ships, a force requiring close to 80,000 men.
Who killed the Spartans?
According to Herodotus, the Thespians decided to stay with the 300 Spartans by their own free will. Leonidas then made his fateful stand and “fell fighting bravely, together with many other famous Spartans,” Herodotus writes. Ultimately, the Persians killed almost all of the Spartan troops.