毎日英語学習

毎日日の英語学習として利用しております

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今回のテーマはスパルタ対アテナの戦いです

Sparta vs. Athens: The Battle for the Ancient World

Sparta, a small city in the rugged mountains of southern Greece, fielded the most Feared military force in the ancient world.

Spartan soldiers, hardened by grueling training that began at birth, never lost a battle in the bloody conflicts that raged almost constantly between the small city-states of Ancient Greece.

To build this remarkable army, elders in Sparta tested every newborn for weakness and deformities.

Babies deemed unlikely to become strong soldiers were tossed into a gorge.

For those that passed the test, training was cruel and relentless.

The Greek historian and essayist Plutarch wrote that for many of the Spartan soldiers, marching to battle was a relief: “For the Spartans., actual war a holiday compared to their tough training.”

The rivalry between militaristic Sparta and its neighbor Athens dominated the history of Ancient Greece.

Athens, the birthplace of democracy, was a far less rigid society.

Unlike Sparta, where there was Little time for culture, Athens was home to some of the most extraordinary Aristophanes, Euripides, and  Sophocles, as well as philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates were born in Athens during the city’s golden age in fifth century BC.

While Athens and Sparta temporarily joined forces to defeat two attempted Persian invasions, they spent much of the classical period competing for the leadership of the Ancient Greek world.

When the cities fought, as they did repeatedly between about 550 and 350 BC, it was a clash of civilizations in the fullest sense.

While Sparta’s famed soldiers held the advantage on land, Athens made up the difference with its sea power.

The rivalry came to an abrupt end when Philip of Macedonia invaded from the north. 

The Greek city-states were swallowed up into the empire that Philip and his son, AlExpander the Great, extended over much of Greece and Asia.