Spartan History
• Foundation
– 1000 BC
• Government
– Ancient
• Culture
– Society
– Military
• War
• Fall
– 317 BC
• Questionable
– Ideal Aristocratic
– Historians
exaggeration
Social Structure
Three Distinct Classes
1.Helots: slave class; not considered citizens
2.Perioikoi: free people, but lacked rights
3.Spartiates (homoioi): citizens with full rights
and standing
Values of Sparta
• Military Virtues: bravery, obedience,
strength, duty, honor, sacrifice, dying in
battle
• Simplistic lifestyle
• Laconic Speech
• Respect for elders
• Deception of helots,
of soldiers, encouraging theft
Women and Marriage
• Also underwent rigorous physical training,
but not military
• Compared to other city-states, Spartan
women had substantial rights- owning
property, less restrictive clothing
• Not exactly monogamous
Government in Sparta
• The Lycurgan Constitution
– C. 640 BC, militarization of state
• Kings
• The Ephors
– Oversee the laws and society
• The Gerousia
– 28 > 60; plus Kings
• The Apella
– Male Citizens>30; 9000 eligible
• The Perioikoi
– Villagers; local citizenship (not citizens)
Training
• At the age of 7, Spartan boys entered the agoge ("the
upbringing")
• Three age classes, 7-18 year olds, 18-20, 20-30
-Military training began at age 16
• Debate of male companions
• Competitions of endurance and discipline
-Annual whipping
-Self-Control
• Ultimate Spartan Honor: to serve as one of the hippeis
• Spartans in battle
-acts of discipline
-competing for glory
-silence
This is Sparta! …myths!
•Leonidas didn’t kick that Persian Ambassador down a
well…
•
• While the size of the Persian armies in the movie is
consistent with Herodotus, in the millions, modern scholars
maintain that the Persians had no more than 200,000.
• The Athenian General Themistocles suggested using
Thermopylae.
•
• 7,000 Greeks at Thermopylae in addition to the 300.
• ~ 2,000 Greeks stayed behind.
The Greco-Persian War
• Battle of Marathon
• Battle of Thermopylae and Artemesium- 480
• Battle of Salamis
• Battle of Platea and Mycale
The Peloponnesian War
• Archimadian War
• Peace of Nicias
– Battle of Mantinea
• Sicilian Expedition
• Battle of Aegospomati
MOLON LABECome and receive!
The Corinthian War
• Persians beat Sparta at
sea
• Athens regains power
• Persians turn on the
Coalition
• Sparta defeats Athens at
sea, escape blockade
• The Peace of Antalcidas
is reached.
ID Terms
• Hoplite- literally “armored man”; Greek soldier
• Phalanx- battle formation commonly used in
Greece.
• Gerousia- Spartan Council of 30; 60 years old or
older (includes 2 kings)
• Periokoi- common folk in Laconia (non-citizens)
• Agoge- “the upbringing”; military lifestyle
beginning at age 7.
Bibliography
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Burckhardt, Jacob. History of Greek Culture. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1963.
Bury, J.B.. A History of Greece. Canada Limited: Random House, 1913.
Cartledge, Paul, and Antony Spawforth. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A tale of two cities. London
& New York: Routledge, 1989.
Croix, S.. The Origins of the Peloponnesian War. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1972.
Green, Peter. A Concise History of Ancient Greece. London: Thames and
Hudson Ltd, 1973.
Green, Peter. The Greco-Persian Wars. London: University of California Press, 1996.
Hamilton, Charles. Sparta's Bitter Victories. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1979.
Hodkinson, Stephen. Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta. New York: Gerald Duckworth & Co.
Ltd, 2000.
Jarde, A. The Formation of the Greek People. Plymoth: Mayflower Express, 1926.
Krentz, Peter. “The Nature of Hoplite Battle.” Classical Antiquity 4.1(1985) : 50-61.
Polis and Polemos: Essays on Politics, War, and History in Ancient Greece in Honor of Donald
Kagan. Ed. Charles D. Hamilton & Peter Krentz. Claremont, California: Regina Books, 1997.
Powell, Anton. Athens and Sparta. 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2001.
300. Dir. Zack Snyder. Blu-Ray. Warner Bros., 2006.