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A city-state of ancient Greece in the southeast Peloponnesus. Settled by Dorian Greeks, it was noted for its militarism and reached the height of its power in the sixth century B.C. A protracted rivalry with Athens led to the Peloponnesian Wars (460–404) and Sparta's hegemony over all of Greece. Its ascendancy was broken by Thebans in 371.
Lying some 30 miles (48.3 km) from the sea, in the lovely valley of the Eurotas, Sparta was a state unique in the ancient world. For a start it had two kings, drawn from separate royal families, one of whom, in normal circumstances, commanded the army. But it also had some quasi-democratic institutions: an assembly which all citizens were entitled to attend, and an elected council and officials. The most important of the latter, the five annually elected ephors, had exceptionally wide and apparently unchallengeable powers during their year of office, though they could only hold the office once. However, the full rights of citizenship were confined to an increasingly narrow group of landowners, who had to pay dues in kind to their military mess, relying on helots to do the work.
But it was the state-run system of training boys and the semi-professional army which attracted most attention. The training was clearly designed to produce tough and disciplined soldiers, though details are mostly lacking, the sources mainly emphasizing such things as that the boys were expected to wear the same clothes, summer and winter, go barefoot, and steal to supplement their meagre rations, being flogged if caught, not for stealing, but for being caught. At the age of 20, they were elected to a mess, and were then expected to dine there, except when on campaign, every night, and to sleep there until they were 30, visiting their wives only by stealth.
This system will have produced a magnificent esprit de corps, and the army was also evidently unique in being articulated down to units of only 40 men, giving a Spartan phalanx more flexibility than usual and a proper chain of command. Thus the Spartans were able to carry out manoeuvres thought too difficult for other armies, and tended to remain under command, when others became an ill-disciplined rabble.
Spartan devotion to duty ‘unto death’ is, perhaps, best expressed by the epitaph of those who fell at Thermopylae: ‘Friend, go tell the Spartans that here we lie obeying their commands.’ But Spartans were neither automata nor berserkers. Though clearly highly disciplined, they regarded themselves as ‘equals’ (homoioi), and stories suggest they had a real, if grim, sense of humour, and a cheerful irreverence for those in authority. They were perhaps closer to Royal Marine Commandos or paratroopers than 18th-century Prussian guardsmen.
Bibliography
— John Lazenby
Ancient city-state in southern Greece. No state had a constitution quite like Sparta's. It has been said that it codified the customs of warrior tribes and its author is thought to have been one Lycurgus about whom little, if anything, is known for certain.
By the eighth century bc Lacedaemon, as it was then known, which had grown out of a collection of villages, had established itself as a strong state in the western Peloponnese. It was at the height of its power during the Persian War (500-449). It defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404) (see also Thucydides), and became the most powerful Greek state. However, it was defeated by Thebes at Leuctra (371), submitted to Philip II of Macedon, and went into decline in the third century.
The constitution of Sparta was socio-military. It was ruled by a dual hereditary monarchy, and an oligarchy consisting of magistrates (ephors), a council of twenty-eight elders (gerousia) (all over 60 and appointed for life), and a supreme consultative assembly of all those over 30, with power only to ratify war. The rest of the population were either perioikoi with some independence or helots (serfs).
Economically Sparta was remarkable for equality of possessions and the absence of moneyed wealth. These two principles were designed to achieve ‘good order’ (eunomia). All citizens were required to do military service, and children were trained (agoge) for war from the age of 7. In later times they were taught to be indifferent to pain and death. This (surreptitiously homoerotic) model influenced English public schools in the nineteenth century and was instrumental in the training of Empire builders.
— Cyril Barrett
For more information on Sparta, visit Britannica.com.
Sparta (Spartē, or Lacedaemon), the capital of Laconia, a state in the south-east of the Peloponnese founded by Dorians (see DORIAN INVASION and HERACLEIDAE). Lacedaemon was the usual name for both the city and the state; the name Sparta was applied only to the city, and then in poetic or patriotic contexts. The city was situated on high ground on the west bank of the river Eurotas, and consisted of little more than a group of villages, without fine buildings, and unfortified until the end of the fourth century BC.
By 700 BC all the territory of the eastern coastal strip of Laconia had been incorporated into the Spartan state, and the population there was either reduced to a condition of limited independence in which they were known as perioikoi, ‘dwellers round about’, or had become serfs, known as helots, bound to the land which they cultivated for their Spartan masters. The creation of this class was the first stage in a way of life that was to distinguish Sparta from every other Greek state. The helot system relieved the Spartans of tending the land themselves and allowed the men to spend an abnormally large amount of time training as soldiers.
After the age of 7 the Spartan boy was devoted to a military regime which produced the finest army in Greece and, gradually, a proverbially famous austerity of life. He was taken from home and enrolled in a group of his contemporaries under the leadership of an older boy, and with this group he lived for the next fourteen years, educated for toughness, endurance, and military discipline. Spartan girls also underwent physical training. Music and dancing were part of the curriculum because they had military uses, but only the essentials of reading and writing were taught. Other details are obscure. At the end of his education the Spartan joined the eirğnğs or young men who had completed their twentieth year, and remained with them living in barracks until he was 30, when he became a full citizen with the right to vote in the assembly. The Spartan political system, associated with the name of Lycurgus, was a rigid oligarchy in which considerable power was given to the kings, magistrates (ephors), and council of elders (gerousia). There were two royal houses (Agiads and Eurypontids), and two kings ruled concurrently. They were the religious representatives of the state and leaders of the army in war, but the ephors had greater power and could even sentence the kings to be fined or imprisoned.
In foreign relations, Sparta at first followed a policy of conquest and expansion, establishing her predominance in the Peloponnese, and defeating and weakening her principal rival Argos. Towards the middle of the sixth century she abandoned this policy and set about consolidating her position. She formed a league of the Peloponnesian states (including Corinth and Megara but neither Argos or Achaea) under her own leadership, with meetings held at Sparta and was now the strongest power in Greece. Her narrow and inward-looking policy was made evident when in 499 she refused assistance to the Ionian Greeks in their revolt against Persia (see PERSIAN WARS). But when Xerxes prepared for war against Greece itself, Sparta combined with Athens in measures of defiance and showed the bravery of her soldiers at the battles of Thermopylae and Plataea. This co-operation ceased after the final defeat of the Persians at Mycalē in 479, and Sparta no longer took the lead in Greek affairs. This was partly as a result of the rise in importance of Athens (see DELIAN LEAGUE) and Sparta also suffered a devastating earthquake in 464 and a war (464–460) caused by a revolt of the helots. Jealousy and fear of Athenian expansion twice brought about war between Athens and Sparta: in 460–446 (sometimes called the First Peloponnesian War); and in 431–404 (the Peloponnesian War).
The defeat of Athens in 404 left Sparta supreme in Greece, but her falling citizen population (the reasons for which have been much debated), rigid institutions, and the individualist ambitions of her leaders (see LYSANDER and AGESILAUS) did not fit her for an imperial role. She entered on a period of arrogant aggrandisement which aroused the hostility of her neighbours and led to a crushing victory for Thebes over Sparta at Leuctra in 371. Thereafter Thebes took the role of the aggressor. Sparta was repeatedly invaded by the Theban commander Epaminondas, who dealt her a fatal blow by freeing Messenia (370/69) and refounding it as an independent state after 300 years of servitude to Sparta. The formation of a league of Arcadian cities (see MEGALOPOLIS) after Leuctra also weakened Sparta's influence; this too was the work of Thebes. Sparta was not actually captured by Philip II of Macedon when he invaded the Peloponnese after the battle of Chaeronea in 338, but her territory and power were further diminished, and her important role in Greek history now came to an end. The city became prosperous under the Romans but was sacked by Goths in AD 395.
Sparta differed from other Greek states not only in her peculiar constitution and in the supreme importance she attached to military efficiency, but in certain other respects: she did not use coined money until the third century BC, the currency taking the form of iron ‘spits’, obeloi; and women enjoyed a position in some respects approaching equality with men, with greater independence and authority than at Athens, and were expected to interest themselves in the welfare of their country. The warlike attitude of the Spartan state meant that it offered virtually no encouragement to the arts, but in the seventh century BC, before militarism because a way of life, Sparta was famous for choral lyric poetry (see ALCMAN, TERPANDER, and THALETAS). At the same period Tyrtaeus wrote war-songs. Thereafter, however, the art of poetry seems to have died. The Spartan reputation for terseness has given ‘laconic’ (from Laconia) to the English language— when Philip of Macedon wrote to them, ‘If I invade Laconia I shall turn you out, ’ they wrote back, ‘If’.
Spartan Society
Sparta's government was headed by two hereditary kings furnished by two families; they were titular leaders in battle and in religion. Some of these kings were able (e.g., Cleomenes I, Leonidas, and Agis II), but all were held in check. There was a council of elders and a general assembly of citizens; but the real rulers were the board of five ephors, elected annually. The business of the state was conducted with secrecy (unlike the open forum methods of Athens), and every effort was made to keep the institutions unchanged.
The ruling class, the Spartiates, gave themselves wholly to war. At birth a boy was inspected by the elders, and if he appeared too weakly for future military service, he was taken into the mountains and abandoned. If he was fit, he was taken from his mother at the age of seven to begin rigorous military training. He became a soldier at 20, a citizen at 30, and continued as a soldier until 60. Thus his entire life was spent under rigorous discipline. Spartiate women, under less severe discipline, were part of the soldierly society and were not secluded. The Spartiates were the only citizens and the only sharers in the allotment of lands and of the helots (serfs who were bound to the land). The helots farmed the land and paid part of the produce to their masters, the Spartiates. They could not be sold, but they had no legal or civil rights and were constantly watched by a sort of Spartiate secret police for fear of insurrection. In somewhat less stringent subjection were the perioeci, freemen who were permitted to carry on commerce and handicrafts, by which some of them prospered. Nevertheless, the perioeci were entirely subordinate to the Spartiates.
History
Early History
Located in a fertile, mountain-walled valley, the city-state of Sparta was created by invading Dorian Greeks, who later conquered the countryside of Laconia and Messenia (c.735–715 B.C.). For a long time the Spartans had no city walls, trusting to the strength of their army for defense against invaders and against their own Laconian and Messenian subjects. In the 7th cent. B.C. Sparta enjoyed a period of wealth and culture, the time of the poets Tyrtaeus and Alcman. After 600 B.C., however, Sparta cultivated only the military arts, and the city became an armed camp, established (according to the official legend) by Lycurgus, in reaction to a Messenian revolt (see Messenia).
The Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
By the 6th cent. B.C., Sparta was the strongest Greek city. In the Persian Wars, Sparta fought beside Athens, first at Thermopylae (480), under Leonidas; later that year at Salamis; and in 479 at Plataea (won by Pausanias). Before 500 B.C., Sparta had formed a confederacy of allies (the Peloponnesian League), which it dominated. Through the league and by direct methods Sparta was master of most of the Peloponnesus.
After the Persian Wars rivalry with Athens sharpened, and Athens grew stronger. An earthquake at Sparta (464 B.C.), followed by a stubborn Messenian revolt, greatly weakened Sparta. In the end a contest with Athens came indirectly, provoked by Corinthian fears of Athenian imperialism. This was the great Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.), which wrecked the Athenian empire.
Soon after their victory over Athens the dominant Spartans, led by Agesilaus II, were involved in a war with Persia; then the Spartan envoy Antalcidas concluded (386 B.C.) a treaty with Artaxerxes II by which Sparta surrendered the Greek cities of Asia Minor in return for withdrawal of Persian support from the Athenians, who were again at war with Sparta, and from the Athenians' allies, the Thebans. Thebes fought on and by the victory at Leuctra (371 B.C.) gained ascendancy in Greece. Sparta fell an easy prey to Macedonia and declined. In the 3d cent. B.C. there were determined but futile attempts by kings Agis IV (see under Agis) and Cleomenes III and by Nabis (d. 192 B.C.) to restore glory to Sparta by vigorous reforms. Under the Romans, Sparta prospered. It was devastated by the Goths in A.D. 395. The ruins of old Sparta, including sanctuaries and a theater, remain near the modern city of Sparta.
Bibliography
See A. H. M. Jones, Sparta (1967); J. Lazenby, The Spartan Army (1985); P. Cartledge, Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta (1987).
The country code is: 30
The city code is: 731
An ancient Greek city-state and rival of Athens. Sparta was known for its militaristic government and for its educational system designed to train children to be devoted citizens and brave soldiers. Sparta defeated Athens in the
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Sparta (Doric: Σπάρτᾱ Spártā, Attic: Σπάρτη Spártē) was a Dorian Greek
military state, originally centered in Laconia. As a
city-state devoted to military training, Sparta possessed the most formidable army in the
Greek world, and after achieving notable victories over the Athenian and
The city of Sparta lay at the southern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the Eurotas River. The site was strategically located; guarded from three sides by mountains and controlling the routes by which invading armies could penetrate Laconia and the southern Peloponnesus via the Langhda Pass over Mt Taygetus. At the same time, its distance from the sea—Sparta was 27 miles from its seaport, Gythium—made it difficult to blockade.
The recorded history of Sparta began with the Dorian invasions, when the Peloponnesus was settled by Greek tribes coming from Epirus and Macedonia through the northeast region of Greece, submitting or displacing the older Achaean Greek inhabitants.[3] The Mycenaean Sparta of Menelaus described in Homer's Iliad was an older Greek civilization, whose link to Hellenic or Classical Sparta was only by name and location.[3] What is widely known today as ancient Sparta refers to state and culture that were formed in Sparta by the Dorian Greeks, some eighty years after the Trojan War.[citation needed]
It did not take long for Sparta to subdue all cities in the region of Laconia and turn it into its kingdom. In the 7th century it also incorporated Messenia. In the 5th century BC, Sparta and Athens were reluctant allies against the Persians, but after the foreign threat was over, they soon became rivals. The greatest series of conflicts between the two states, which resulted in the dismantling of the Athenian Empire, is called the Peloponnesian War. Athenian attempts to control Greece and take over the Spartan role of 'guardian of Hellenism' ended in failure. Following the defeat of Athens, Sparta briefly became a great naval power. The first ever defeat of a Spartan hoplite army at full strength occurred at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, after which Sparta's position as the dominant Greek city-state swiftly disappeared with the loss of large numbers of Spartiates and the resources of Messenia. By the time of the rise of Alexander the Great in 336 BC, Sparta was a shadow of its former self, clinging to an isolated independence. During the Punic Wars Sparta was an ally of the Roman Republic. Spartan political independence was put to an end when it was eventually forced into the Achaean League.
After the Roman conquest of Greece, Spartans continued their way of life and the city became a tourist attraction for the Roman elite who came to observe the "unusual" Spartan customs. Supposedly, following the disaster that befell the Roman Imperial Army at the Battle of Adrianople (AD 378), a Spartan phalanx met and defeated a force of raiding Visigoths in battle.[citation needed] There is, however, no genuine evidence of this occurring.
Modern Sparti owes its existence to an 1834 decree of King Otto of Greece.
Following the victory in the Second Messenian War of the seventh century, Sparta established itself as a local power in Peloponnesus and the rest of Greece. During the following centuries, Sparta's reputation as a land-fighting force was unequaled.[4] In 480 BC a small Spartan, Thespian, and Laconian unit under King Leonidas numbering at about 1,000-1,900,[5] made a legendary last stand against a massive, invading Persian army causing a very high casualty rate in comparison to the Persian forces at the Battle of Thermopylae before eventually being encircled. The superior weaponry, strategy, and bronze armor of the Greek hoplites and their phalanx again proved their worth one year later when Sparta assembled at full strength, and led a Greek alliance against the Persians at Plataea. The decisive Greek victory at Plataea put an end to the Greco-Persian War along with Persian ambition of expanding into Europe. Even though this war was won by a pan-Greek army, credit was given to Sparta, who besides being the protagonist at Thermopylae and Plataea, had been the de facto leader of the entire Greek expedition.[6]
In later Classical times, Sparta along with Athens, Thebes and
Even when Philip of Macedon created the league of the Greeks on the pretext of unifying Greece against Persia, Spartans were excluded on their own will. Philip, who was well aware of Spartan stubbornness, chose not to put his hegemony at risk by attempting to take Laconia by force. The Spartans on their part had no interest in joining a pan-Greek expedition if it didn't mean Spartan leadership. According to Herodotus the Macedonians were a people of Dorian stock, akin to the Spartans, but that didn't make any difference. Thus, upon the conquest of Persia, Alexander the Great sent to Athens 300 suits of Persian armour with the following inscription "Alexander son of Philip, and the Greeks - except the Spartans - from the barbarians living in Asia".[10]
Little is known of the internal development on Sparta. Many Greeks believed there had been none, and that "the stability of the Spartan constitution" had lasted unchanged from the days of Lycurgus. Because most Spartan laws were passed down orally and committed to memory, little is known about Spartan society. Spartan society was considered primitive by ancient Greek standards. Settlements were scattered and mirrored the dwellings used during Greece's 'Dark Age' (1150–700 BC) which means that they were mostly thatched houses. Stone construction was reserved for public works such as temples, government halls, and gymnasiums. What we do know of Spartan society comes from historians of that time. Sparta's was a mixed constitutional system: it was composed of elements of both monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic systems.
The Spartans had no historical records, literature, or written laws, which were, according to tradition, expressly prohibited by an ordinance of Lycurgus (excluding, of course, the 'Great Rhetra,' supposedly given by Lycurgus himself). The Doric state of Sparta, copying the Doric Cretans, developed a mixed governmental state. The state was ruled by two hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontids families, both descendants of Heracles and equal in authority, so that one could not act against the veto of his colleague, though the Agiad king received greater honour in virtue of the seniority of his family for being the oldest in existence (Herod. vi. 5). The origins of the powers exercised by the assembly of the citizens, or apella, are virtually unknown, due to the paucity of historical documentation and Spartan state secrecy.
There are several legendary explanations for this unusual dual kingship, which differ only slightly; for example, that King Aristodemus had twin sons, who agreed to share the kingship, and this became perpetual. Modern scholars have advanced various theories to account for the anomaly. Some theorize that this system was created in order to prevent absolutism, and is paralleled by the analogous instance of the dual consuls at Rome. Others believe that it points to a compromise arrived at to end the struggle between two families or communities. Other theories suggest that this was an arrangement that was met when a community of villages combined to form the city of Sparta. Subsequently the two chiefs from the largest villages became kings. Another theory suggests that the two royal houses represent respectively the Spartan conquerors and their Achaean predecessors: those who hold this last view appeal to the words attributed by Herodotus (v. 72) to Cleomenes I: "I am no Dorian, but an Achaean;" although this is usually explained by the (equally legendary) descent of Aristodemus from Heracles. Either way, kingship in Sparta was hereditary and thus every king Sparta had was a descendant of the Agiad or Eurypontids family. Accession was given to the male child who was first born after a king's accession.
The duties of the kings were primarily religious, judicial, and militaristic. They were the chief priests of the state, and performed certain sacrifices and also maintained communication with the Delphian sanctuary, which always exercised great authority in Spartan politics. In the time of Herodotus (about 450 BC), their judicial functions had been restricted to cases dealing with heiresses, adoptions and the public roads. Civil cases were decided by the ephors, and criminal jurisdiction had been passed to the ephors, as well as to a council of elders. By 500 BC the Spartans had become increasingly involved in the political affairs of the surrounding city-states, often putting their weight behind pro-Spartan candidates. Shortly before 500 BC, as described by Herodotus, such an action fueled a confrontation between Sparta and Athens, when the two kings, Demeratus and Cleomenes, took their troops to Athens. However, just before the heat of battle, King Demeratus changed his mind about attacking the Athenians and abandoned his co-king. For this reason, Demeratus was banished, and eventually found himself at the side of Persian King Xerxes for his invasion of Greece twenty years later (480 BC), after which the Spartans enacted a law demanding that one king remain behind in Sparta while the other commanded the troops in battle.
Aristotle describes the kingship at Sparta as "a kind of unlimited and perpetual
generalship" (Pol. iii. I285a), while Isocrates refers to the Spartans as "subject to an
oligarchy at home, to a kingship on campaign" (iii. 24). Here also, however, the royal
prerogatives were curtailed over time. Dating from the period of the Persian wars, the king lost the right to declare war, and was accompanied in the field by two ephors. He was supplanted also by the ephors in
the control of foreign policy. Over time, the kings became mere figure-heads except in their capacity as generals. Real power was transferred to the ephors and to the gerousia. Causes for this change lay partly in the fact that the ephors, chosen by popular election from the whole body of citizens, represented a democratic element
in the constitution without violating those oligarchical methods which seemed
necessary for the state's administration. They also lay partly in the weakness of the kingship, the dual character of which
inevitably gave rise to jealousy and discord between the two holders of the office, often resulting in a practical deadlock.
Another cause lay in the loss of prestige suffered by the kingship, especially during the 5th century, owing to these
aforementioned quarrels, to the frequency with which kings ascended the
After the ephors were introduced, they, together with the two kings, were the executive branch of the state. Ephors themselves had more power than anyone in Sparta, although the fact that they only stayed in power for a single year reduced their ability to conflict with already established powers in the state. Since reelection was not possible, an ephor who abused his power, or confronted an established power center, would have to suffer retaliation.
The difference with today's states is that Sparta had a special policy maker, the gerousia, a council consisting of 28 elders over the age of 60, elected for life and usually part of the royal households, and the two kings. High state policy decisions were discussed by this council who could then propose action alternatives to the Damos, the collective body of Spartan citizenry, who would select one of the alternatives by voting.
Not all inhabitants of the Spartan state were considered to be citizens (part of Demos). Only the ones that had followed the military training, called the agoge, were eligible. However, usually the only people eligible to receive the agoge were Spartiates, or people who could trace their ancestry to the original inhabitants of the city although there were two exceptions. Trophimoi or "foster sons" were foreign students invited to study. Xenophon sent his two sons to Sparta for their education as Trophimoi. The other exception was that sons of Helots could be enroled as Syntrophoi if a Spartiate formally adopted him and paid his way. If a Syntrophoi did exceptionally well in training he might be sponsored to become a Spartiate himself.
Others in the state were the Perioeci, who can be described as civilians, and Helots who were the state owned serfs that made up 90 percent of the population. Due to the fact that descendants of non-Spartan citizens were not able to follow the agoge, and Spartans could lose their citizenship if they couldn't afford to pay the expenses of the agoge, the actual number of the Spartan citizens was constantly reduced, known as oliganthropia.
Sparta, by the 4th century BC, was the most powerful nation in all of Greece. Unlike many of the Greek city-states it had only one colony, and most of its power came from alliances with other regions. Sparta was not an empire: no tribute was paid except in times of war. What Sparta essentially formed was a league, and they chose their allies strategically. For example, Sparta favoured Corinth because of its naval fleet. The allies would vow to have the same friends and enemies, follow Sparta wherever they led, and not go to war unless all the allies were in consensus. The league's governmental structure was an oligarchy run by aristocrats; it met in Corinth and was led by Sparta. The Congress, as it was called, consisted of representatives from each of the allied city states who each held one vote.
Around the middle of the 6th century BC, the southern Peloponnese was Spartan territory. The territory was divided into two parts, Laconia and Messenia, which were separated by the Taygetos mountain range. Unlike other Greek cities, Sparta controlled much arable land. Earliest archeological evidence testifying settlement in Sparta dates from around 950 BC.
Classical sources tell us that Sparta was founded in the 10th century BC. It consisted of the four villages of Pitane, Mesoa, Limnai and Konooura, which were later united under one government.
Around 750 BC, Sparta began expanding slowly but steadily. The subjugated population of Laconia either became Helots or Perioeci. The Helots kept their farmland but were required to deliver half of their output to the Spartan state, while the Perioeci were inhabitants of cities that remained autonomous, save in matters of foreign affairs and military actions. The Perioeci formed a vital part of Spartan society. As Spartans were forbidden non-military pursuits and occupations, the Perioeci worked as traders, craftsmen, and artists. From 650 to 620 BC, Sparta brought Messenia under its control. In the first third of the 6th century Sparta was defeated by the city of Argos, and later by Tegea. It was against the backdrop of the Messenian war and the following defeats that the unique Spartan way of life developed, which made Sparta famous in Ancient Greece.
From 550 BC onwards, the goals of the Spartan cosmos – toughness of body and mind as well as military efficiency – seem to have been achieved. Sparta did not suffer under the rule of any tyrant or dictator, and its phalanxes were considered undefeatable. The term "Spartan" still remains synonymous for anyone rigorously self-disciplined or courageous in the face of pain, danger, or adversity. According to Byzantine sources, some parts of the Laconian region remained pagan until well into the 10th century AD, and Doric-speaking populations survive until today.
Sparta was, above all, a militarist state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. Shortly after birth, the mother of the child bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived it was brought before the elders of the tribe by the child's father. The elders then decided whether it was to be reared or not. If found defective or weak, the baby was left on the wild slopes of Mt. Taygetos - also known as Apothetae, or as the Place of Rejection - to die; but it was also common for these rejected children to be adopted by the Helots. In this way the Spartans attempted the maintenance of high physical standards in their population. From the earliest days of the Spartan citizen, the claim on his life by the state was absolute and strictly enforced.
It was customary in Sparta that before the males would go off to war, their wives or another female of some significance would present them with their shield and say: "With this, or upon this" (Ancient Greek: Ή τάν ή Επί τᾶς)—meaning Spartans could only return to Sparta in one of two ways: victorious or dead. If a Spartan hoplite were to return to Sparta alive and without his shield, it was assumed that he threw his shield at the enemy in an effort to flee; an act punishable by death or banishment. It is interesting to note that a soldier losing his helm, breastplate or greaves (leg armour) was not similarly punished, as these items were personal pieces of armour designed to protect one soldier. However, the shield not only protected the individual soldier but in the tightly packed Spartan Phalanx was also instrumental in protecting the soldier to his left from harm. Thus the shield was symbolic of the individual soldier's subordination to his unit, his integral part in its success, and his solemn responsibility to his comrades in arms—messmates and friends, often close blood relations. It could not be lost.
Burials in Sparta were also considered an act of honour, and marked headstones would only be granted to Spartan soldiers who died in combat during a victorious campaign (or females who died in service of a divine office or in childbirth).
A strong emphasis was placed on honour and carrying out acts because it was the 'right thing to do.' Xenophon wrote about the Spartans as he observed them during an Olympic game:
An elderly man was trying to find a place to sit and observe the Olympic Games, as he went to each section. All the other Greeks laughed as he tried to make his way through. Some ignored him. Upon entering the Spartan section all the Spartans stood and offered the elderly man their seats. Suddenly the entire stadium applauded. All the Greeks knew what was the right thing to do, but the Spartans were the only ones who did it.
Spartan citizen boys left home for military boarding school at the age of seven and were required to serve in the army until age thirty.[11] Then they passed into the active reserve, where they remained until the age of sixty. Spartan education from the ages of seven to thirty emphasized physical toughness, steadfastness in military ranks, and absolute obedience to orders. The ordinary Spartan was a citizen-warrior, or hoplite, trained to obey and endure; he became a politician only if chosen as ephor for a single year. He could be elected a life member of the council after his sixtieth year, in which he would be free from military service. Men were encouraged to marry at the age of twenty but could not live with their families until they left their active military service at age thirty.[11] The Spartans perfected the craft of hoplite warfare. They called themselves "homoioi" (equals), pointing to their common lifestyle and the discipline of the phalanx, which demanded that no soldier be superior to his comrades.[12]
When the Spartans began military training - aged 7 - they would enter the agoge system for the education and training—everything from physical training such as hunting and dancing, to emotional, and spiritual training. At that age they would have to go through what was known as the gauntlet. They would have to run around a group of older children, who would flog them continually with whips, sometimes to death. As they were lightly clothed, and had no bedding to speak of, children would often put thistles in their pallet because the prickling sensation made them feel warmer. On leaving the agoge they would be sorted into groups, whereupon some were sent into the countryside with nothing and forced to survive on their skills and cunning; this was called the krypteia, believed to be an initiation rite to seek out and kill Helots who were considered to be troublesome to the state, or were found to be wandering the countryside with no good reason.
At the age of twenty, the Spartan citizen began his membership in one of the syssitia (dining messes or clubs), composed of about fifteen members each, of which every citizen was required to be a member. Here each group learned how to bond and rely on one another. The Spartan exercised the full rights and duties of a citizen at the age of thirty. Only native Spartans were considered full citizens, and needed to undergo the training as prescribed by law, and participation in and contribution to one of the dining-clubs. Those who fulfilled these conditions were considered "peers" (homoioi), citizens in the fullest sense of the word, while those who failed were called "lesser citizens," and retained only the civil rights of citizenship.
Spartan citizens were debarred by law from trade or manufacture, which consequently rested in the hands of the perioeci, and were forbidden (in theory) to possess either gold or silver. Spartan currency consisted of bars of iron, thus making thievery and foreign commerce very difficult and discouraging the accumulation of riches. Wealth was, in theory at least, derived entirely from landed property, and consisted in the annual return made by the Helots, who cultivated the plots of ground allotted to the Spartan citizens. But this attempt to equalize property proved a failure: from the earliest times, there were marked differences of wealth within the state, and these became even more serious after the law of Epitadeus, passed at some time after the Peloponnesian War, removed the legal prohibition of the gift or bequest of land. Helots were ruthlessly controlled, partly through the custom of krypteia.
Full citizens, released from any economic activity, were given a piece of land (kleros), which was cultivated and run by the Helots. As time went on, greater portions of land were concentrated in the hands of large landholders, but the number of full citizens declined. Citizens had numbered 10,000 at the beginning of the 5th century BC, but had decreased by Aristotle's day (384–322 BC) to less than 1,000, and had further decreased to 700 at the accession of Agis IV in 244 BC. Attempts were made to remedy this situation by creating new laws. Certain penalties were imposed upon those who remained unmarried or who married too late in life. These laws, however, came too late and were ineffective in reversing the trend.
Perhaps the most widely known event on the efficiency of the Spartan war-machine is related to the Persian Wars. The Spartan stand at the Battle of Thermopylae has been repeatedly cited in a military grand strategy context as a role model concerning the advantages of training, strategy and bravery against extremely overwhelming odds and is often referred to as the greatest last stand of a military force in documented history.
Spartan women enjoyed a status, power, some loving and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army. It is estimated that women were the sole owners of at least 40% of all land and property in Sparta.[13] The laws regarding a divorce were the same for both men and women. Unlike women in Athens, if a Spartan woman became the heiress of her father because she had no living brothers to inherit (an epikleros), the woman was not required to divorce her current spouse in order to marry her nearest paternal relative.[14] Spartan women received as much education as men, as well as a substantial amount of physical education and gymnastic training. They rarely got married before the age of 20, and unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased. It was possible for them to appear entirely nude even publicly, which they did customarily only at festivals, as did the men.[11][15]
Women, being more independent than in other Greek societies, were able to negotiate with their husbands to bring their lovers into their homes. According to Plutarch in his Life of Lycurgus, men both allowed and encouraged their wives to bear the children of other men, due to the general communal ethos which made it more important to bear many progeny for the good of the city, than to be jealously concerned with one's own family unit. However, some historians argue that this 'wife sharing' was only reserved for elder males who had not yet produced an heir [citation needed]. For this reason, Plutarch claims that the concept of "adultery" was alien to the Spartans, and relates that one ancient Spartan had said that it was as possible "to find a bull with a neck long enough to stand on a mountain top and drink from a river below", as to find an adulterer in Sparta.
Until the age of seven, boys were educated at home and were taught to fight their fears as well as general superstition by their nurses, who were prized in Greece. Their official training was then undertaken by the state in the agoge system and supervised by the paidonomos, an official appointed for that purpose. This training consisted for the most part in physical exercises, such as dancing, gymnastics, and ball-games. The Dorians were the first to practice nudity in athletics, as well as oiling the body during exercise to enhance its beauty, a costly practice which broke with the customary frugality of the Spartans.[16] According to Plato this practice was introduced from Crete to Sparta, and then to the rest of Greece. The Dorian Cretans had most likely inherited it from Minoans.
Between leaving the agoge and joining the syssitia a select few young men were arranged into groups, and were sent off into the countryside with nothing, and were expected to survive on wits and cunning. It was assumed that they would steal their food, yet anyone caught stealing was severely punished. Many speculate that this was to teach the young Spartans stealth and quickness. If you were caught it was concluded that you were not quick enough or silent enough. This was called the Crypteia, secret (ritual). This was very probably, in origin, an old initiation rite, a preparation for their later career as elite soldiers. Other sources claim that the Crypteia (or Krypteia) was an "adolescent death squad" made up of the most promising young Spartans. Their job was to roam the countryside killing Helots at night in order to instill fear in the slave population and prevent rebellion.
Spartan men were required to marry at age 20 after completing the Crypteia. A Spartan wedding was not highly ritualized and consisted of the intended bride being abducted with simulated violence. After the wedding night the husband remained living in his barracks and would have no further contact with his wife except for the purpose of procreation. This was ritualized with the wife having to shave her head and dress in male clothing while the husband would wait until his friends had gone to sleep before leaving the barracks to do his duty and then returning before they were aware of his absence.[17]
Training in music and literature occupied a subordinate position. The tireless emphasis on physical training gave Spartans the reputation for being “laconic”, economical with words, a word derived from the name of their homeland of Laconia. Education was also extended to girls, in the belief that strong and intelligent mothers would produce strong and intelligent children. Thus modern day historians, with the corroboration of ancient writers, tend to conclude that Spartan women were among the most educated in the ancient Greek world. Both sexes exercised nude and because of this a strong emphasis was placed on the physical fitness of men as well as women. Despite their physical fitness, women could not compete in the Olympic Games, according to the Olympic rules (they competed in the Heraea Games instead). There were also contests to see who could take the most severe flogging, an ordeal known as diamastigosis.
Poor knowledge on Spartan traditions is the result of Sparta's secrecy. Most modern theories are based on assumptions derived from ancient sources and parallels drawn between Sparta and contemporary Dorian Greek societies such as Crete. Some scholars assume that the custom of pederasty paralleled the mentoring relations between Spartan males and adolescent boys, common in Dorian societies. Some of the ancient scholars seem to have supported an opposing view: Xenophon writes that Lycurgus efficiently managed to cultivate chaste pederasty in the Spartan society.[18] This however tends to be viewed as an attempt of praise towards Sparta, and not necessarily as a sincere remark. Aristotle also wrote that Sparta belonged to the type of military society that was based on heterosexual relationship, unlike other Greek states of his time. However, an examination of the historical details reveals that "references to particular homosexual attachments of Spartans are conspicuous even by Greek standards".[18] Cicero furthermore asserts that, "The Lacedaemonians, while they permit all things except outrage (stuprum, i.e. "illicit sexual intercourse", OLD) in the love of youths, certainly distinguish the forbidden by a thin wall of partition from the sanctioned, for they allow embraces and a common couch to lovers.'[19] In antiquity it was thought that a youth was expected to find himself an older lover, and that pederasty, a social practice common throughout most of Greece, was especially so in Sparta, they were the best army in the world where the ephors fined any eligible man who did not have chaste relationships with youths.[20]
There is a well-known passage in Thucydides which runs thus:
The first feeling of most travellers who visit modern Sparta is one of disappointment with the ancient remains. [citation needed] A better "show" is put on by Byzantine Mistra, with its grass-grown streets, its decaying houses, its ruined fortress and its beautiful churches. Until the early twentieth century, the chief ancient buildings at Sparta were the theatre, of which, however, little showed above ground except portions of the retaining walls; the so-called Tomb of Leonidas, a quadrangular building, perhaps a temple, constructed of immense blocks of stone and containing two chambers; the foundation of an ancient bridge over the Eurotas; the ruins of a circular structure; some remains of late Roman fortifications; several brick buildings and mosaic pavements.
The remaining archaeological wealth consisted of inscriptions, sculptures, and other objects collected in the local museum, founded by Stamatakis in 1872 (and enlarged in 1907). Excavations were carried on near Sparta, on the site of the Amyclaeum in 1890 by (?)Tsounas, and in 1904 by Furtwängler, and at the shrine of Menelaus in Therapne by Ross in 1833 and 1841, and by Kastriotis in 1889 and 1900. Organized digs were attempted in the area of Sparta proper; partial excavation of the round building was undertaken in 1892 and 1893 by the American School at Athens. The structure has been since found to be a semicircular retaining wall of Hellenic origin that was partly restored during the Roman period.
In 1904, the British School at Athens began a thorough exploration of Laconia, and in the following year excavations were made at Thalamae, Geronthrae, and Angelona near Monemvasia as several medieval fortresses were being surveyed. In 1906, excavations began in Sparta itself, yielding many finds, which have been published in the British School Annual, vol. xii. sqq.
A small circus described by Leake proved to be a theatre-like building constructed soon after AD 200 around the altar and in front of the temple of Artemis Orthia. Here musical and gymnastic contests took place as well as the famous flogging ordeal (diamastigosis). The temple, which can be dated to the 2nd century BC, rests on the foundation of an older temple of the 6th century, and close beside it were found the remains of a yet earlier temple, dating from the 9th or even the 10th century. The votive offerings in clay, amber, bronze, ivory and lead found in great profusion within the precinct range, dating from the 9th to the 4th centuries BC., supply invaluable evidence for early Spartan art; they prove that Sparta reached her artistic zenith in the 7th century and that her decline had already begun in the 6th.
In 1907, the sanctuary of Athena "of the Brazen House" (Chalkioikos) was located on the acropolis immediately above the theatre, and though the actual temple is almost completely destroyed, the site has produced the longest extant archaic inscription of Laconia, numerous bronze nails and plates, and a considerable number of votive offerings. The Greek city-wall, built in successive stages from the 4th to the 2nd century, was traced for a great part of its circuit, which measured 48 stades or nearly 10 km. (Polyb. 1X. 21). The late Roman wall enclosing the acropolis, part of which probably dates from the years following the Gothic raid of AD 262, was also investigated. Besides the actual buildings discovered, a number of points were situated and mapped in a general study of Spartan topography, based upon the description of Pausanias. Excavations showed that the town of the Mycenean Period was situated on the left bank of the Eurotas, a little to the south-east of Sparta. The settlement was roughly triangular in shape, with its apex pointed towards the north. Its area was approximately equal to that of the "newer" Sparta, but denudation has wreaked havoc with its buildings and nothing is left save ruined foundations and broken potsherds.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
