SPARTA

Sparta was unique. Located in a fertile plain in the south-east Peloponnesus, by the early seventh century BC Sparta had conquered not only Laconia, its home region, but also the southwest province of Messenia, thereby amassing an unusually large territory for a Greek city-state. Full citizenship was restricted to Spartans proper, although they formed only a small percentage of the total population. The subject peoples included the perioikoi, in effect citizens with lesser rights, autonomous in their villages but with little say in the state government, yet eligible to serve in the army, and the helots, tenant farmers or serfs without any rights. While these last worked the farms owned by the citizens, the male citizens devoted their energies to training for warfare. In maintaining their military readiness, the Spartans’ first goal may have been to keep their own subjects in line, the second to ward off enemies. In both they were successful: for several centuries until their stunning defeat at Leuctra in 371 BC the Spartans fielded the finest infantry in the Greek world.

During the Archaic and Classical periods, writers had no place in this society, so all reports about Sparta were written by outsiders, men from other city-states. As a result, sorting through the biases and finding the reality of Spartan society has been a challenge for generations of historians. It seems clear, however, that during the sixth century BC, Spartan daily life became distinctly austere. Men lived in barracks until age 30, even when married, and thereafter ate together in mess halls. Women also trained physically, to ensure the birth of strong children. Group solidarity was all important. Individuality was discouraged, products of creativity such as fine arts restricted. Even money was regarded as corrupting. Coinage was not issued; iron bars served as the medium of exchange, when required. The world outside Sparta was regarded with deep suspicion.

The system of government remained essentially an oligarchy, continuing with little change from the later Iron Age through the Classical period. Although there was an assembly of citizens,

Important decisions were taken by smaller bodies, five ephors and a council of elders, including two hereditary kings, relics from the past, who had authority in times of war.

The city itself has left few ruins. In one of the famous object lessons an ancient writer has left modern archaeologists, Thucydides, the historian of the Peloponnesian War, remarked that buildings alone do not indicate a city’s greatness. No one would ever guess that dull Sparta was the equal of Athens with its magnificent architecture. One must wonder what mistakes we have made in the interpretation of prehistoric cultures, simply by ranking settlements according to size.