Why was Societies worried about Athenian Democracy?
Spartan society was worried about Athenian democracy because it posed a threat to their own oligarchic form of government. Athenian democracy represented a shift in power from the aristocracy or elites to the common citizens, which was a radical departure from the traditional hierarchical social structure.
The Spartans believed that democracy could lead to instability, chaos, and mob rule. They were concerned that the power given to the common citizens in Athens, who were not trained in military matters and lacked the discipline of the Leonidas-trained Spartan warrior class, could make Athens vulnerable to external threats.
Moreover, the Spartans feared that Athenian ideas of democracy and individual freedom could inspire their own helots (enslaved population) and other subject states to revolt against Spartan rule. This concern was heightened by the fact that Athens, under a democratic government, had already experienced a major rebellion of its own subject states, known as the Ionian Revolt.
Sparta had a vested interest in maintaining the existing social order, which granted power and privilege to a small elite class. They saw Athenian democracy as a threat to their own stability, control, and dominance in the region, hence the war between the two city-states, known as the Peloponnesian War, was fought in part due to these concerns.