Did Athens require military training for all boys?

Did Athens require military training for all boys?

Like Spartan boys, Athenian boys had to learn to run, jump, and fight. But this training was not as harsh or as long as the training in Sparta. Unlike Spartan men, Athenian men didn’t have to devote their whole lives to the army. All men in Athens joined the army, but for only two years.

How many soldiers did the Athens army have?

Athens’ army went from a late sixth-century bc count of 3,600 armored spearmen to 13,000 citizen regulars on the rolls by 431 bc.

Who had better soldiers Athens or Sparta?

Sparta was leader of an alliance of independent states that included most of the major land powers of the Peloponnese and central Greece, as well as the sea power Corinth. Thus, the Athenians had the stronger navy and the Spartans the stronger army.

Did Athens require military service?

The Athenian Army was a city-state militia in which every able-bodied, adult, male citizen was obliged to serve. Men were ranked by wealth, and their service obligation reflected their resources.

At what age did Athenians go to military school?

Athens military training: in Athens boys were sent to school to learn reading, writing, math, and other things from the age of 6 to 17. When boys turned 18 in Athens they were required to go to military school and learn how to fight in battle.

How did Athens fight?

War reignited decisively around 415 B.C. when Athens received a call to help allies in Sicily against invaders from Syracuse, where an Athenian official defected to Sparta, convincing them that Athens was planning to conquer Italy. Sparta sided with Syracuse and defeated the Athenians in a major sea battle.

What did a girls education look like in Athens?

Girls were educated at home with the goal being they would become homemakers themselves, they were only taught to read and write if their mother, or private help would do so. However, they often participated in sports such as wrestling, in order to keep them strong and healthy.

What kind of soldier was Socrates in the Athenian army?

Socrates, like all able-bodied Athenian men of above-average means, fought as a hoplite (a heavy infantryman as shown here) in the phalanx (a dense block of such heavy infantrymen). Hoplite service was central to the definition of citizenship and manhood in the ancient Greek city-states.

Why did the Athenians win the Battle of Marathon?

Their dramatic victories over the Boiotians and Chalkidians in 506 B.C. led many to attribute Athenian military success to their political system. This notion was greatly enhanced by the extraordinary victory of the Athenian army over the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C.

Where did the Athenians send the invasion force?

In June the Athenian forces, fully supplied thanks to private donations and money from the Athenian treasury, headed for Corcyra, an island off Greece’s western shores, to rendezvous with their allies. According to the historian Thucydides, it was the most expensive invasion force yet dispatched from a single Greek city.

Who was the leader of the Athenian army?

The Athenian Army. The army was managed by the polemarch, together with ten generals, one elected from each of the tribes. In their attempt to ensure equality, the Athenians by the 5th century allotted most offices, even the highest archonships. Some positions, however, such as treasurers and the water commissioner,…