Sattelberg, Kaitlyn
2/8/15
Period 3

Compare And Contrast Essay There were many empires throughout the history of Ancient Greece however, there are three specific empires that are well­known to this day. These three empires were Persia, Athens and Sparta all of which existed from 700BCE to 595BCE. Although these empires existed in the same time period, they have similar and different ways of dealing with their people including their government, their military and even the role of women.
Persia, Athens and Sparta all had different types of governments. Persia was a monarchy which means it was ruled by one individual who was typically a king or queen and they controlled the empire. Athens was a democracy. A democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is put in the hands of the people. Democracies, like Athens, often have free electoral systems. The Athenians had an institution called an ekklesia which was a sovereign governing body that wrote laws and dictated foreign policy. This group made decisions by a simple majority vote. Sparta however, had an unusual type of government so therefore it did not have a technical name. Sparta’s government consisted of having two kings,instead of one, who were brothers or cousins at the time. One of the two brothers or cousins stayed home while the other brother went to war to protect their empire.
The Persians had a very strong military force that was made up of 150,000 men that were divided into groups of one thousand men each. The Persians also had an elite group of men known as the “Immortals” and they were feared for their massive attacks. The Immortals were

also known for the way they attacked others because it was unusual, the warriors would be lined up and if one warrior died another would take his place which gave the effect that they were immortal. However Athens was a little different. Most of the Athenians agreed with what the
Greeks did which was that they didn’t care about anything other than conquering other peoples land. The Athenians did not have uniforms or very many weapons when they went to war with others and they made just enough money to help their family with their lives. The whole
Athenian army was divided into various parts which made up the entire army. Sparta had a very organized army. The Spartans lived my a code of honor or else they would be severely punished.
The Spartans also started training for the military when they were seven years old and when they were thirty they were able to leave training to start their own families.
Women were treated equally to almost equally in Persia and Sparta but in Athens they weren’t treated as well as they should of been. In Persia, woman were able to get jobs and they could be very independent. Some women in Persia even ruled empires. In Sparta, women were able to own and inherit property and they could participate in athletics next to men. Persia and
Sparta represent how the lives of women are now. Although in Athens, women did not have much of a social life. In fact, they could very rarely leave their houses unless they were leaving for religious purposes. Most women in Athens were also uneducated. Women did not have a choice of who they could marry either which means they basically had arranged marriage. If a woman preferred not to be married to a specific man and they wanted to divorce him, it was nearly impossible. However, if the man wanted to divorce the woman it would happen