Sparta

            
             The Most Successful City-State in Ancient Greece.
            
             Sparta and Athens were the two major city-states in ancient Greece. Sparta was a military state with the sole purpose of conserving its way of life. Athens was a more freethinking city-state that was very imperialistic. Both were very successful, but Sparta was more so. .
             The Heritage Dictionary states success is "the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted." Sparta was definitely successful in attaining its goals and maintaining those achievements, more than the Athenians were. Sparta's main objective was to preserve its way of life. The Athenian's goals were similar, but the Athenians also wanted to conquer, which lead to their demise.
             The Spartans kept their goals in mind and stayed focused. The society the Spartans created for themselves was very complex. In Sparta, only three percent of the people were actually citizens. The rest were helots, slaves captured from conquered lands. The helots were farmers who were used to support the Spartan's society. Because there were so many more helots compared to citizens, strict order was enforced to ensure stability within the city-state. This system of rigid regulation worked for the Spartans and created a more stable nation.
             The regimented lives that they lived were to preserve the state. Service to the state lasted their whole life, from birth to burial. Newborn children were examined by the state to check for deformities. If the child was unsatisfactory, it was left in the wild to die. At age six, boys were sent to state run military barracks to live. When they reached twenty years old, they joined the army and were allowed to marry. Only at age thirty could the men return to their homes and vote in the assembly. This way of life seems very harsh compared to an Athenian's life. It was, but the system was necessary to maintaining stability within the state. The most important part is that the method worked, better than the Athenian system, obtaining the objectives of the Spartans.