A new and fascinating online event series will bring the famous ancient civilisation of Sparta back to virtual life for a 21 st century audience during the COVID-19 lockdown.. Sparta is a popular chapter in the history of Classical Greece that has ignited imaginations in the modern world and inspired books, graphic novels and Hollywood films such as the 2006 movie ‘300’ starring Gerard Butler. The League would allow Sparta to establish hegemony over and dominate the Peloponnese until the 4th century BCE. They also trained in athletics and exercised. But it also had its dark side. The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. Of course, as compared to the world we live in today, these freedoms hardly seem significant. The preparations Xerxes undertook have gone down as the thing of legends. However, Agesilaus II would never be able to complete his planned attack in Asia because the Persians, eager to distract the Spartans, began assisting many of Sparta’s enemies in Greece, which meant the Spartan king would need to return to Greece to keep Sparta’s hold on power. Sparta sent troops to support the overthrow of the government since they were allies with the Thebans. Books Instead, Spartan society was based around the military. Athenian leaders were furious at how few Spartan soldiers had been given to the cause, and at how willing Sparta seemed to be to let the other cities of Greece burn. In the former battle they arrived too late to participate and in the latter mobilised only a token force as they felt compelled to first celebrate the Karneia festival in honour of Apollo. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. And secondly, to revert to a point which cannot be overemphasized, if only because the worshippers of Sparta have so frequently forgotten it, there is the horrible obverse of Spartan communism presented by the hunted and harried Helot. This happened because the Argives, in an attempt to undermine Spartan power, campaigned throughout Messenia to encourage a rebellion against Spartan rule. Athens also lent support to Argos, but then the Corinthians withdrew. These members were elected by the people and their main responsibility was to conduct court for criminal justice. He informed Xerxes of a backdoor route through the mountains that would allow his army to outflank the Greek force defending the pass. Facts about Ancient Sparta 2: Battle of Thermopylae. In fact, by the time of the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan kings had little or no say over the affairs of the Spartan polis. Sparta, ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese, southwestern Greece. These individuals were bonded laborers who eventually made up the bulk of Sparta’s workforce and military, but, as one would expect in a situation of slavery, they were denied many basic rights. It is not merely that communism in Sparta was a communism in use, others having produced. The iconic city-state may have fallen nearly 2,400 years ago, but today, 2,000 people still speak the language of these ancient warriors. Just how these different political elements interacted is not known for certain but clearly a degree of consensus was necessary for the state apparatus to function. They began to form alliances with other cities in Greece in preparation for what they feared was an imminent attack by the Spartans. Spartan Silver Tetradrachmby Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). His laws configured the Spartan society to maximize military proficiency at all costs, focusing all social institutions on … Many within the Spartan leadership, including Lysander, argued for burning it to the ground to ensure there would be no more war. The Greek city-state of Sparta is famous for being a city of soldiers. Sparta was known as one of the strongest city-states in Greece. The Spartan army was sent to support Phocis, but the Thebans also sent a force to fight alongside Locris, and war was once again upon the Greek world. In comparison to other women of the times, like for example, the women of Athens, the women of Sparta were much better off; while … In Sparta they could own property which they often gained through dowries and inheritances. On the top of the pyramid of the Spartan hierarchy came the two kings who ruled the city together.Besides the 2 main kinds, there were 28 other members who were known as the council of elders. Shortly after the end of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta sought to expand its territory by conquering the city of Elis, which is located on the Peloponnese near Mt. Yet when he did, he set out to punish the Greek city states who had helped the rebels. And while the city never fell to a foreign invader, it was a shell of its former self by the time the Romans entered the scene in the 2nd century BCE. Furthermore, archaeological evidence suggests the Messenians at the time were far less advanced than Sparta, making them an easy target for Sparta, which at the time was one of the most developed cities in the ancient Greek world. The expected length of response will be around eight pages of an examination writing booklet (approximately 1000 words) in total. The fall of Lydia (the kingdom that controlled much of modern-day Turkey up until the Persians invaded) in c. 650 BCE, meant the Greeks living in Ionia were now under Persian rule. However, this decision to enslave the population meant that Spartan control in the region was loose at best. The Athenians, led by Alcibiades, followed this victory up with another impressive defeat of the Spartan fleet at Cyzicus in 410 BCE. It is still inhabited today, but the Greek city of Sparta has never regained its ancient glory. The leader of the city of Miletus, Aristagoras was originally a supporter of the Persians, and he tried to invade Naxos on their behalf. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (Spartan citizens who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan, free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi (freed men), and Helots (state-owned serfs, part of the enslaved, non-Spartan, local population). Athletics in ancient Sparta. "Sparta." At the age of 20, Spartan men would become warriors of the state. All of these freedoms would have been unacceptable in other Greek poleis. For example, as compared to Athens where women were restricted from going outside, had to live in their father’s house, and were required to wear dark, concealing clothing, Spartan women were not only allowed but encouraged to go outside, exercise, and wear clothing that allowed them more freedom. Education was very military focused for boys and girls, so most of the skills they learnt in school were combative and war centered. Reduced by constant wars in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the Spartan hoplites (homoioi) became dangerously small in number (8,000 in 490 BCE to 700 in 371 BCE), so much so, that non-Spartiate soldiers had to be enlisted and their loyalty and interest in Sparta’s ambitions was questionable. This council of elders helped the kings manage the governance and responsibilities. Instead of unifying into one large empire under the rule of a common monarch, independent Greek city-states flourished throughout the Greek mainland, the Aegean Sea, Macedon, Thrace, and Ionia, a region on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. Web. Spartan citizen was the top of social classes in the Spartan. In exchange, the helots were allowed to keep 50 percent of what they produced, were allowed to marry, practice their own religion, and, in some cases, own property. It may also explain Sparta’s reputation as being a conservative state slow to make decisions in foreign policy. Generally speaking, there are two reasons why the Spartans chose to conquer Messenia. There was also a council of five men called the ephors who watched over the kings. He had fought with the Spartans in the Battle of Coronea in 394 BC. Controlling it would have given Sparta a tremendous base of resources to use to not only grow itself but to also exert influence over the rest of the Greek world. Furthermore, he fought in a phalanx, which is an array of soldiers designed to create a strong line of defense by having each soldier protect not only himself but the soldier sitting next to him using a shield. This helped Sparta prosper into one of the most successful Greek city states. In Ancient Sparta, the subordination of private interests and personal happiness to the good of the public was strongly encouraged by the laws of the city. The Battle of Thermopylae took place in early August of 480 BCE, but because the city of Sparta was celebrating the Carneia, a religious festival held to celebrate Apollo Carneus, the chief deity of the Spartans, their oracles forbid them from going to war. As a result, Sparta was in turmoil, and the defeat at the Battle of Leuctra all but relegated Sparta to the annals of history. Of course, they were far from equals, but they were afforded freedoms unheard of in the ancient world. However, to the east of Greece, in modern-day Iran, a new world power was flexing its muscles. The story of Sparta is certainly an exciting one. Athens called all the remaining free Greeks together to devise a defense strategy, and they decided to fight the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium. He knew most of the Athenian grain passed through this stretch of water, and that taking it would devastate Athens. For example, the Odyssey and the Iliad, which were written in the 8th century BCE, were based on wars and conflicts fought during Mycenaean times, specifically the Trojan War, and they played an important role in creating a common culture amongst the divided Greeks, even though their historical accuracy has been called into question and they have been deemed pieces of literature, not historical accounts. In the two days leading up to the outbreak of fighting, Xerxes waited, assuming the Greeks would disperse at the sight of his massive army. Laws were made by a council of 30 elders which included the two kings. But considering the context, one in which women were typically seen as second-class citizens, this relatively equal treatment of Spartan women set this city apart from the rest of the Greek world. The Peloponnesian War officially came to an end in 404 BCE, and this marked the beginning of a period of Greek history defined by Spartan hegemony. However, Lysander managed to take control of the Athenian government n exchange for not getting his way. In ancient times the Spartans were a clever and fierce society who trained their men from a young age to become unbeatable soldiers. Ancient Sparta. The society of Ancient Sparta was divided into three main classes. Athens won a few surprising victories over the much more powerful Spartan army, the most significant of which was the Battle of Pylos in 425 BCE. Trade amongst the various Greek city states helped ensure mutual prosperity, and alliances helped to establish a balance of power that kept the Greeks from fighting too much amongst themselves, although there were conflicts. They also helped advice the kings in various m… Then, Athens to Chalcis, which gave them prime access to the Peloponnese. Agis II (c. 427-401 BCE) – oversaw the Spartan victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War and ruled over the early years of Spartan hegemony. However, in doing this, they escalated tensions even further. Around the same time, another Spartan commander, Sphodrias, decided to launch an attack on the Athenian port, Piraeus, but he retreated before reaching it and burned the land as he returned towards the Peloponnese. The women of ancient Sparta were an enlightened lot. This led to the first pan-Hellenic alliance in Greek history, but tensions within that alliance helped contribute to the growing conflict between Athens and Sparta, which ended in the Peloponnesian War, the largest civil war in Greek history. Sparta functioned under an oligarchy of two hereditary kings. There were foreigners (xenoi) in Spartan society but these were not as welcome as in other city-states, and those that did live in Sparta were sometimes forcibly expelled by their overly suspicious and at times positively paranoid hosts. The sparsity of ruins from antiquity around the modern city reflects the austerity of the military oligarchy that ruled the Spartan city-state from the 6th to the 2nd century BCE. This policy was meant to improve the chances of Spartan women having healthy children while also preventing women from experiencing the complications that come from early pregnancies. 1. Bradford, Alfred S. 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