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Athens or Sparta? A Colony Council Decides

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Athens or Sparta? A Colony Council Decides

Weigh two speeches at a council meeting and connect Greek achievements to new cases.

The council meeting

The colony of Akte Nea and its council are made up for this worksheet, but the facts about Athens, Sparta and Greek achievements are real. Read the record of the meeting. Then answer the questions.

Record of the Council of Akte Nea, About 420 BCE

1Akte Nea is a small Greek colony on the coast of the Black Sea. Like other Greeks, its settlers speak Greek, worship the same gods and send athletes to the Olympic Games, yet every Greek city-state runs its own affairs. Today the council must decide which city-state's government to copy. Each speaker may speak once.

2Ariston, a potter who once lived in Athens, spoke first. "In Athens, every citizen man may come to the Assembly, speak his mind and vote on laws and on war. Citizens are picked by lot to serve on the Council of 500 and on juries, so even a potter can hold office. Free debate sharpens minds. In the marketplace, a stonemason's son named Socrates asks people what justice and courage really mean, and he answers their replies with more questions. Athenians also pay for festivals where plays by writers such as Sophocles are performed, and they built the Parthenon, a marble temple to the goddess Athena."

3Damon, a soldier who once fought beside Spartans, answered. "Sparta has two kings and a council of elders. The assembly of citizen men shouts yes or no to what the leaders propose, but it does not debate. Long speeches waste time when enemies are near. From about age 7, Spartan boys live and train in groups to become soldiers, and no army in Greece is feared more. Spartan girls exercise too, and Spartan women may own land. Athens calls itself ruled by the people, but women, enslaved people and foreign-born residents there cannot vote."

4Damon also admitted a danger. "Spartan citizens do not farm. Helots, enslaved people who greatly outnumber the citizens, do that work, and Spartans live in fear that the helots will revolt."

5Next the council turned to a second question: how to spend silver from a good harvest. One member proposed hiring a doctor trained on the island of Kos, where followers of Hippocrates teach that diseases have natural causes, not punishments from the gods, and that a doctor should watch a patient closely and write down every sign. Another proposed building a theater for plays. The vote on both questions will be held tomorrow.

1.
Sort each piece of evidence by the speaker who uses it.
2.
In another Greek city, a citizen stands up in the assembly, proposes a new harbor tax, argues against another citizen's plan, and then all the citizen men vote. Which government described at the meeting is this most like?
Question 2 options
3.
Ariston says "every citizen man" may vote in Athens. Using Damon's reply, which statement about Athenian democracy is most accurate?
Question 3 options
4.
Based on paragraphs 3 and 4, what is the most likely reason Sparta trained every citizen boy to be a soldier?
Question 4 options
5.
Which statement about Greek city-states does paragraph 1 best support?
Question 5 options

Greek achievements

Use the table and the meeting record.

Greek Achievements Mentioned at the Meeting
FieldExamplePerson or place
GovernmentCitizens debate and voteAthens
PhilosophyAsking questions about justiceSocrates
Science (medicine)Natural causes of diseaseHippocrates, Kos
Arts (drama)Plays at festivalsSophocles
Arts (architecture)A marble templeThe Parthenon
6.
Match each new case to the Greek achievement it is most like.
7.
If Akte Nea hires the doctor from Kos, which advice would the doctor most likely give a family whose child has a fever?
Question 7 options
8.

In Athens, members of the Council of 500 were picked by , so an ordinary worker could hold office.

9.
Which proposal for the harvest silver would put Akte Nea most in line with Spartan values as Damon describes them?
Question 9 options
10.
Should Akte Nea copy the government of Athens or of Sparta? State your claim, give one piece of evidence from each speech and explain your reasoning, including one weakness of the city-state you chose.