Sparta

Spartans built few stone buildings and wrote little (they distrusted literature and only wrote for practical reasons), so there is not much evidence to go on. Our main sources for Sparta comes from Athenians so objectivity has to be questioned.

Tyrtaeus is one of the few surviving Spartan poets.

Xenophon - An Athenian who was pro-sparta:

Plutarch - A greek writing under the roman empire:

Aristophanes - Athenian comic playwright during the Peloppenesian War:

Aristotle - Philospher who wrote about political systems:

Aspects of non-spartan life that would be looked down on:

They were suspicious - wouldnt be tempted b the luxuries and ideas of the outside world

• Agoge regarded as cruel - sending sons away at 7, depriving them of food and clothing, lack of writing/reading education
• Helots - athough the greeks approved of enslavement of foreginers whom they regarded as barbarians, but the enslavement of greek people wasnt okay
• Women - were regarded as promiscuous and holding too much power

Positives;

Disadvantages:

Sparta had developed 5 villages along the river Eurotas, located in Laconia, in the south-east of the Pelopponese.

Sparta had:

• River Eutotas - served as a water souce, travel system, gave the firtile farmland, and a food resource
• Firtle farmland - easy to grow food on - self sufficiency
• Surrounded by mountain ranges, only crossed by a series of narrow mountain passes - natural defences, helps with isolation and who comes in and out of sparta
• South coast line was rugged and marshy - natural defence
• Mountain forest - gave a food resouce of animals and raw materials (wood etc.)