Sparta

I

Introduction

Sparta, also Lacedaemon, city in ancient Greece, and capital of Laconia, and the most famous ancient Greek city of the Pelopónnisos. It was on the right bank of the Evrótas River, about 32.5 km (about 20 mi) from the sea, in the foothills of Mount Taygetus.

II

Ancient Sparta

The ancient city, even in its most prosperous days, was merely a group of five villages with simple houses and a few public buildings. The passes leading into the valley of the Evrótas were easily defended, and Sparta had no walls until the end of the 4th century bc. The inhabitants of Laconia were divided into Helots (slaves), who performed all agricultural work; Perioeci, a subject class of free men without political rights, who were mainly tradesmen and merchants; and the Spartiatai, or governing class, rulers and soldiers, descended from the Dorians, who had migrated to the area about 1100 bc.

The foundation of Spartan greatness was attributed to the legislation of Lycurgus, but was more probably the result of ascetic reforms introduced about 600 bc. In the 7th century bc, life in Sparta was similar to that in other Greek cities, and art and poetry, particularly choral lyrics (see Alcman), flourished. From the 6th century bc on, however, the Spartans looked upon themselves as merely a military garrison, and all their discipline pointed to war. No deformed child was allowed to live; boys began military drill at the age of 7 and entered the ranks at 20. Although permitted to marry, they were compelled to live in barracks until the age of 30; from the ages of 20 to 60 all Spartans were obliged to serve as hoplites (foot soldiers) and to eat at the phiditia (“public mess”).

The earliest struggles of Sparta were with Messinía, the southwestern district of Pelopónnisos, and Árgos, a city located in northeastern Pelopónnisos. The Messenian War terminated about 668 bc in the complete overthrow of the Dorians of Messinía, most of whom were reduced to the status of helots. In the wars with the descendants of the original Achaeans and with the Dorians of Árgos, the Spartans were generally successful. Under their stern discipline, the Spartans became a race of resolute, ascetic warriors, capable of self-sacrificing patriotism, as shown by the devoted 300 heroes at Thermopylae; (See also Leonidas I), but utterly unable to adopt a wise political and economic program. The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 431 bc finally brought the rivalry between Sparta and Athens to a head. Upon the overthrow of Athens in 404 bc, Sparta became the dominant Greek state, but the Thebans under Epaminondas in 371 bc deprived Sparta of its power and territorial acquisitions, reducing the state to its original boundaries. Sparta later became a portion of the Roman province of Achaea and seems to have prospered in the early centuries of the Roman Empire. The city itself was destroyed by the Goths under their king, Alaric I, in 396 ad.

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III

Modern Sparta

The modern Sparta, founded by the government in 1834, occupies part of the site of ancient Sparta and is the capital of the department of Lakonía. Excavations of the ancient city have uncovered ruins of temples and public buildings and also a theater of the Roman period, but the remains are scanty and insignificant for a city of such renown in antiquity. Population (1981 preliminary) 12,915.

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