Write this in your own words: Dear home,
Athens and Sparta were both important city-states in Ancient Greece. They share a lot of the same things in common like language and religion. But life was very different in Athens than it was in Sparta. (Democracy got its start in Athens. Sparta was ruled by two kings. Famous philosophers lived in Athens.) Athens was in a region called Attica. Attica borders the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. Sparta, on the other hand, was in a region of Greece called Laconia. Laconia was a part of a larger region called Peloponnesus. (Peloponnesus: peninsula in southwestern Greece where Sparta was located) (Peloponnesus and Attica: There is a physical map of Peloponnesus and Attica. A peninsula with many small islands extends into the Mediterranean Sea. There are hotspots on the following locations: Sparta, ring of land around Sparta, Athens, coastline, Olympia, Corinth, Argos. Sparta: Sparta became the strongest and most important city in Peloponnesus by about the fifth century BCE. Ring of land around Sparta: The plains around Sparta had a lot of fertile farmland. Athens: Prior to the rise of Sparta, Athens was the leading city in the region. It experienced a golden age before being conquered by the Spartans. Coastline: The Peloponnesus was a peninsula. Most of the city-states there were located near the sea. Olympia: Olympia was the site of the ancient Olympic Games. Corinth: Corinth was one of Ancient Greece’s richest trading cities. It usually allied with Sparta, but sometimes the two city-states fought. Argos: Argos had been the powerful city-state in the Peloponnesus before Sparta became important. Argos often fought against Sparta and sided against it in two important wars)
Both Attica and Peloponnesus had mountains, rivers, and some fertile land. The climate in Greece could make farming difficult. The summers were very hot and dry. The rivers often dried up during the summer. The winters were cold and wet. In Athens, the people raised crops, such as wheat, barley, and olives. They also raised animals, like sheep. But due to the land and the climate, they could not raise enough crops to support the economy. This caused an increase in the merchant class. The mountains made it hard to travel and trade by foot. So, Athenians also came to rely on sea trade. Athens was located on the coast with natural harbors, or places to dock ships. This made it convenient to trade by sea. Both Athens and Sparta were built around an acropolis an acropolis was a large hill where residents could seek shelter in times of war. Near the acropolis was an agora. This was a clearing that citizens used as a market and a meeting place. In Sparta, farmers gathered in the agora to do business. In Athens, craftsman and merchants also gathered there to sell their goods. In both places, leaders met here to make important decisions for the city-state.