Two Cities. Athens and Sparta came up with different solutions to the challenges facing the early Greek poleis. In the eighth century B.C.E. the two were in many ways similar, both dominated by aristocratic families who led the cities both militarily and. culturally; however, the two cities had differences, too. The Attic countryside surrounding Athens was accessible from the outside, and the political identification of its citizens was fairly weak. Despite the sunoikismos, the political unification of Attica under the legendary Theseus, only the ancient religious ties to Athena and her sanctuary on the Acropolis drew the Athenians together. Economic inequalities among those living along the coast, on the larger inland plains, or in the hills seemed more important than Athenian identity and unity. Sparta, on the other hand, was in Laconia, an out-of-the-way corner of the Peloponnese...