Michael+and+Thomas's+Sparta+and+Thebes+page

About the Authors: Michael Buttarazzi, I live in Nashville Tennessee. I was born in Washington D.C at Georgetown hospital on July 27, 1995. A weird fact about me is that i have not missed a home Vandy Football game in 3 seasons. Thomas Green, I have always lived in Nashville, Tennessee. I was born on November 14, 1994. I like to play lacrosse and listen to rock music.

Sparta and Thebes

Government: **Sparta:** · Spartan government was a very strange and weird government, but it was best known for its stability. · Sparta had one of the most stable governments in ancient Greece’s history.

· Monarchy was at the top of the government, although it was a dual monarchy, then below the monarchy was a council of two kings and twenty- eight nobles all over sixty, who were retired from the military. · A small group of five men known as the ephorate led the council, ran the military and educational system, and the infant selection program, and had the power to veto all decisions coming out of the council or assembly. Thebes was also a monarchy but it was not a monarchy as we know it. They did not call a king a king. They had a king like figure and it descends down in rank of power. They had 2 different branches one which was like a congress and another which was the monarchs were in. Thebes never had a problem with loyalty. The people always trusted the govt.

Religion: Sparta was a polytheistic based state, which means they believed in more than one god. Thebes-was also a polytheistic religion they believed in multiple gods which represented multiple things in there every day life. Economy: · Sparta had very little to no economy, they were always out at war so they had very few men to run the economy. Sparta depended on helots to do the work so when the helots were freed it affected the economy. Thebes-They used multiple types of different coins(mainly made of silver) to represent their currency.They called this the Boeotian currency. They had figures on their coins. They did not have many men to be in the economic business but they often traded with the neighboring city/states. They were often at wars which cut the economy down exponentianly. Rather than developing their own economy Sparta conquered other city- states and used their economies to benefit their own.

Sparta decided not to use coins and that was a major disadvantage in trade.

Art and Architecture: · The late 600’s B.C.E were the height of Spartan culture. During this time they produced metal work for export and there were several famous choral poets.

Thebes- Thebes had all sorts of different types of art. They used coins to represent different pieces of arts. They also painted other people and used portraits of people. Thebes was architecturally sound. They were not to modern in their buildings.

Science and Technology: The scytale was a Spartan military invention used to transmit messages in code. A message was written on a strap wound around a rod. When the strap was unwound, it looked like random letters. But when it was wound around another rod of the same size, the message could be read. Thebes-they created one of the more advanced spears and catapults during their war against the Spartan nation. They were very advanced with military technology

Education: · Spartan boys learned competitive choral singing and dancing, but they didn’t learn much from books. Most of their education was combat games and sports to prepare them to be soldiers. They exercised naked outdoors in all weather to prepare them to endure hardship without complaining. They were taught to obey orders and to fear disgrace above everything else. Girls also learned choral singing and dancing, as well as gymnastics. They also exercised naked outdoors. Girls also learned to manage estates while men were at war. Thebes was schooled like most other Greek nations. The boys were trained in math and science as well as military and combat situations. They used one on one combat training as well as many weapons trainings. The women were taught to learn how to take care of the mens land and tend to the farms in the rich Boeotian plains.

Social/Cultural Values: · Sparta had a very militaristic society that did not have in the way of civic or cultural activities. It was also very unwelcoming of foreigners so it did not have many outside influences. Both men and Women were encouraged to engage in homosexual behavior. Thebes was always at war so most men were off either attacking or defending, and there are notable occurrences of women and men homosexuality. The kids often trained and helped with the older women with the land. The people of Thebes valued representing and honoring your family.

Lingering Questions:

Bibliography: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/ThebesGr

Sacks, David. "religion in ancient Greece." //Encyclopedia of the code Ancient Greek World//, Revised Edition. Revised by Lisa R. Brody. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. //Ancient and Medieval History Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE49&iPin=EAGW0447&SingleRecord=True

Sacks, David. "Sparta." //Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World//, Revised Edition. Revised by Lisa R. Brody. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. //Ancient and Medieval History Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE49&iPin=EAGW0487&SingleRecord=True

Freeman, Charles. //Egypt, Greece And Rome Civilizations Of The Ancient Mediterranean//. Oxford: Oxford University, 2004. Print.

Hooker, Richard. "Ancient Greece: Sparta." //GREECE//. wsu.edu, 6 June 1999. Web. 1 Oct. 2010. .

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