Athens and Sparta, despite their common Hellenic backgrounds, where very different. Sparta, was a war based society that placed the greatest emphasis on the ideas of strength and discipline. In stark difference, Athens focused on examining and developing the full potential of the mind.

Athens and Sparta both were poli, or city states, at one time. This means they began as agricultural villages or towns. The were both states, in the sense of being independent political units. A polis was thought of as a community of relatives; all its citizens, who were theoretically descended from a common ancestor, belonged to subgroups such as fighting brotherhoods, clans, and tribes. They worshiped the gods in common ceremonies. Originally the word polis referred only to a citadel, an elevated, defensible rock to which the farmers of the neighboring area could retreat in case of attack. For a time such high places...