No it wasnt....

the spirit of Athens could have lasted

the spirit of Sparta, likely not

Sparta was more stable, though it had problems with frequent slave revolts

Athens had a failed Empire

Sparta was more stable, except it wasn't

Athens had other problems

Athens overshot their hand

but take the basic Athenian society

Sparta had a much more stable political system.

While Athens was a democracy of about 500 people

Until it wasn't.

it had lots of eras

Dugin thinks the battle of Sparta and Athens is a story as long as history, namely, the conflict between continental Empires (Sparta, Russia) and Seafaring (Athens, USA)

Tyrant athens still > Sparta

He thinks continentals are naturally, superior

and characterized by idealism, ideology of soil, and spirituality

Athens is not a real seafaring empire.

yeah

Well, it also was in a way compared to other rivals

It just conquered places to get more men.

It was unmatched at sea, even by Persia

There's no distinction l

In how they actually work.

Yes but their conquest was typical mercantilist

Other than the Metropole is farther away.

I agree the distinction doesn't really make itself evident

they didnt want more men, instead they wanted trading privilleges and exclusive zones

martial vs. mercantile?

No, they pretty much showed up with a few hundred guys and took over your small City....

nah

yeah

it was all the same game

for everyone

i dont think martial vs mercantile is good division

British were both martial, and undoubtedly seafaring and commecial

just best-fitting what you said

fair enough

The only difference is Athens appointmented a military governor above the city government

And Sparta just appointed a military governor

I just mentioned Dugins position, I do not necessarily agree with it, though it has alot of merit