Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome
twenty they entered the army They could marry but they couldn't go live with their wives and families until age thirty At thirty they earned the right to vote in the assembly They served in the Spartan army until about age sixty Spartans ate simple foods black broth and mush They wore simple plain clothing unless going into battle when they wore a scarlet tunic and a polished bronze helmet Spartans were forbidden to work in stores or trade and couldn't make crafts or art because they needed to spend their efforts keeping fit and strong No other army ever entered Spartan territory They were the best soldiers anywhere ATHENS The citizens of Athens enjoyed freedom and liked change and creative living They didn't work much either having slaves do everything Athens received profits from silver mines outside the city so few citi zens had to worry about money Citizens were paid to serve on court juries or hold elected office Atheni ans loved going to the theater to see plays and pageants The government paid admission for the poor so everyone could attend Athens had an army but it was nothing like the Spartan army Athens also had a big navy with more than two hundred ships Citizens were paid to be in the navy
Citizens of Athens voted for their government offi cials Aristotle was an Athenian who thought that the system of voting in a democracy could become just like having a king He said that politicians would flat ter and make promises to the voters just like the members of a royal court did to a king Then once in office they would serve their own interests instead of the country's He thought laws provided a more fair system of government than election by a majority vote Athens had a system of laws but the citizens voted too They cast their votes on pieces of broken pottery Sometimes they voted to send a politician away for several years however he could come back later and run for office again Athens was a democracy but only for free male cit izens Women couldn't vote own property or become citizens They had to spend nearly all of their time inside their homes men even did the shopping Only people born to parents who were citizens could become citizens At age eighteen boys applied to become citizens of Athens If there was doubt whether a boy was freeborn a panel of five judges determined whether he could become a citizen or not If it appeared he had no right to become a citi zen the city sold him into slavery When a boy was approved as a citizen he went into the army and learned to fight march and drill At the end of the second year the soldiers were sent out to patrol the country and live at guard posts During the two years
in the military they received a cloak but no pay For tunately they didn't have to pay taxes during the two years Citizens of Athens were elected to many jobs There was a treasurer of military funds treasurers of the theater fund all poor citizens could apply to the fund to receive money to pay for theater perfor mances and a superintendent of the water supply They were elected to their positions for a term that lasted from one Panathenaea Festival to the next The elections were held in July of each year In Athens there was a law that citizens who owned little property and who were physically disabled and couldn't work would receive money for their support from the public funds Of course there were other important city states besides Sparta and Athens Each was a bit different from the others People in Sybaris in southern Italy put a lot of emphasis on city planning and the citi zens tried to create a pleasant place to live Noisy businesses were prohibited inside the city and city planning created a serene comfortable town It was the only city state where men ate dinner with their wives and good cooks were highly paid People in Crotone another city state valued intelligence too so they built a major medical
oD o ST Greek colonies around Boo soore O EPIC POETRY Not much is known about Greece before the seventh century B C Only legends survive from that time One was a long poem called an epic titled The Iliad written by a poet named Homer He designed it to be recited in public Its about the hero Achilles who fights bravely on the side of the Greeks in the Trojan War When his friend Patroelus is killed by the enemy Prince Hector of Troy Achilles gets revenge by killing Prince Hector The poem was about the loy alty of friends to each other Another famous epic was The Odyssey It was a story about the hero Odysseus who was returning from war bed been gone twenty years but had to overcome witches and giants before he made it back to the island of Ithaca Odysseus used his clever skills to finally get home to the island of Ithaca where his wife Penelope was waiting for him While he was away suitors had come to Ithaca pestering Penelope to marry one of
