Athens and Sparta were both City-states in Greece in ancient times, yet they had no social similarities. They were constantly at war, and at one time at a stalemate. They existed in the same time and place, but had totally different views on life and lifestyles. There were differences in the family life of people and paradigm of Athenians and Spartans.
Sparta was Drastically unlike Athens and all other city-states in this aspect. In Sparta the men were full time soldiers. Even though there were few Spartans, there well trained warriors were feared by other city-states. The way Spartans should act was based on keeping the slaves (also known as serfs or heliots) from revolting because heliots vastly outnumbered Spartans. Citizens were taught to think alike to keep from fighting because this might encourage heliots to attack. Boys lived in barracks and had the same education. As well, drunken soldiers would make it easier for heliots to revolt so prohibition was practiced in Sparta. Family Life was almost nonexistent. Sparta resembled more an army camp. Males of all ages were kept together and spent a lot of time with each other. This was meant to make them grow similar in character as well as devoted to each other so they would be an efficient fighting force. Family life would breed diversity and the Spartans believed in unity to be more important than families. At a very young age boys were taken from the home to train together. Girls might sleep at home, but during the day they worked and exercised together, spending less time with their families than most Greek girls. Men could marry young but were not allowed to spend time with their wives until the age of thirty. Most married couples met in secret. The Spartans knew of these secret meetings, but did not care. They wanted them to take place so the couples could breed more Spartans. These meetings, however, were not allowed to be too frequent because then soldier might become more interested in his wife than his army.
