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Sparta, also known as Lacedaemon, was an ancient Greek city-state located primarily in a region of southern Greece called Laconia, in the southeastern Peloponnese.
Sparta was likely founded around 900 BCE and grew to rival the size of the city-states of Athens and Thebes.
In 480 BCE, Sparta allied with its antagonist Athens to prevent the Persian king Xerxes from invading Greece. An alliance of Greek city-states led by the Spartan king Leonidas I met their enemy at Thermopylae in what became one of the most legendary military engagements of antiquity.
Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution. The man credited with establishing the military-orientated society was Lycurgus, the city's legendary lawgiver. His reforms promoted the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness, and austerity. Lycurgus is seen here depicted on the frieze on the south wall of the US Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
The population of Sparta consisted of three main groups: the Spartans, or Spartiates, who were full citizens; the helots, or serfs/slaves; and the perioeci, who while not enslaved were regarded as second-tier citizens. Conquered people were not given political rights or citizenship.
The first king of Sparta was Agis I. He was the eponymous founder of the Agiad dynasty, one of the two royal families in Sparta (the other being the Eurypontids). Agis might have been the father of Lycurgus.
A significant military engagement during the Peloponnesian War was the Sicilian Expedition of 415–414 BCE. Athenian forces deployed to capture Syracuse were met by a well-armed Spartan army that soundly defeated its Greek foe.
Lysander's good fortune deserted him at the Battle of Haliartus, fought in 395 BCE between Sparta and Thebes. The battle-hardened general was killed while attempting to seize the town of Haliartus. The defeat marked the beginning of the Corinthian War.
Ten years later in 405 at the Battle of Aegospotami, the Spartan Navy, commanded by the military and political leader Lysander, destroyed the Athenian fleet to end the Peloponnesian War.
Athletics training was equally demanding. Fit and healthy Spartiates were expected to reach peak physical condition as early as possible. Spartan athletes competed in the ancient Olympic Games, including women. The illustration depicts the outdoors gymnasium at Sparta.
The helots were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia—the territories ruled by Sparta. Helots were responsible for agricultural duties and other day-to-day tasks that supported the Spartans. Despite this, they were cruelly treated by their overlords, receiving a stipulated number of beatings every year regardless of any wrongdoing as a harsh reminder of their perpetual enslavement.
Indeed, women were also expected to remain well exercised, although they were raised at home with their mothers while undergoing their education. Pictured is a bronze statuette of a Spartan female athlete on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Spartan citizens focused solely on athletic and military training, and politics. Male Spartan citizens trained daily in preparation for war, inducted, at age seven, into the agoge, a rigorous education and training program. In fact, an extreme form of masculinity pervaded all walks of life in Sparta.
Only weather-worn foundations testify to the buildings that once stood at the height of Sparta's greatness, around 404 BCE. The ruins are seen here against the modern-day city of Sparta.
Tourists can revisit the past by browsing the fascinating Archaeological Museum of Sparta. The facility houses thousands of rare and valuable artifacts from the ancient Acropolis of Sparta and the rest of the municipality of Laconia.
Spartan women enjoyed considerably more rights than elsewhere in classical antiquity. Unlike their Athenian counterparts, Spartan women could legally own and inherit property, and they were usually better educated.
From the 6th century BCE to the 2nd century BCE, Sparta was ruled by a military oligarchy. At any one time, two kings from different families presided over the city-state. This ensured that when one king embarked on a military campaign, the other could continue to rule the city.
With the Corinthian War, Sparta found itself up against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos, ironically backed by the Achaemenid Empire (the Persians, who'd fought the city-states at Thermopylae, had united with their former enemies in dissatisfaction at Spartan imperialism).
Despite early successes on the ground at Nemea and Coroneia, the Spartans suffered an ignominious defeat at the naval Battle of Cnidus in 394 BCE against the Persian fleet, which effectively ended Sparta's attempts to become a naval power.
On July 6, 371 BCE, the Thebans, led by Pelopidas (pictured) defeated the Spartans at the decisive Battle of Leuctra. The Thebans went on to liberate Messinia, much of which Sparta had absorbed into its territory. The rout effectively marked a century-long decline in Sparta's influence and authority.
With its sphere of influence in the Peloponnese waning, Sparta found itself pitted against Phillip II, father of Alexander the Great, who invaded Laconia and kicked them out. In 331 BCE, nearly 6,000 Spartans were slaughtered at Megalopolis by a large Macedonian army. Among the dead was the Spartan king Agis III.
According to Greek mythology, before she was Helen of Troy, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus was Helen of Sparta. Her abduction by the Trojan prince Paris is said to have precipitated the legendary Trojan War.
Sparta's demise came with the sacking of the city in 396 CE by the Visigoths. Its remaining inhabitants were sold into slavery, and the destroyed buildings left to gather moss.
Modern Sparta was refounded in 1834, by a decree of King Otto of Greece. The city lies on the eastern foothills of Mount Taygetos in the Evrotas River valley.
In fact, you're never too far from the Sparta of yesteryear, with a huge statue of Leonidas I reminding everyone of the fabled ancient city-state.
Sources: (Live Science) (Britannica) (Military History Matters) (World History Encyclopedia) (HistoryForce)
See also: What exactly was the Trojan War?
As the sun began to set over the once seemingly impregnable city-state, attempts were made to restore Sparta to its former military glory. King Cleomenes III signed off on reforms that canceled debt, redistributed seized land, and allowed foreigners and non-citizens to become Spartans. But it was to no avail. Sparta eventually came under Achaean control. The Achaean League in turn, along with all of Greece, soon fell to Rome.
In the wake of the Persian defeat, the alliance of Greek city-states quickly crumbled. Sparta was once again at war with Athens. The Battle of Potidaea in 432 BCE was one of the catalysts for the Peloponnesian War.
During the Punic Wars, fought between 264 and 146 BCE, Sparta was briefly an ally of the Roman Republic. One myth about Rome's association with Sparta surrounds the gladiator known as Spartacus. However, Spartacus was of Thracian, not Spartan origin, and lived much later, taken as a Roman slave around 80 BCE. After some years fighting in the arena, he led a revolt against Rome from 73–71. He died during the Battle of Lucania.
The Battle of Thermopylae lasted three days, during which the vastly outnumbered Greek forces, including 300 Spartans, held off the Persian forces of King Xerxes' Achaemenid Empire to the last man. Leonidas I was among the fallen. The battle soon acquired mythical status amongst the Greeks, more so after Xerxes and his army were later defeated near Corinth.
After the battle of Aegospotami, Lysander played a key role in Sparta's domination of Greece for the next decade. His success against the Athenians amassed a small fortune for Sparta even though the possession of money was illegal in Lacedaemonia (Sparta's creed was austerity, and the very term "spartan" can refer to being frugal or meager).
Sparta was one of the most powerful city-states in antiquity. The ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese in Greece, Sparta was a warrior society where males aged seven years upwards were trained for war. The city reached the height of its power in 404 BCE. Within a few decades, however, it was suffering an irreversible state of decline. So, what happened to this once mighty civilization, and who were the key figures in its long history?
Click through and discover the city-state called Sparta.
Discovering the ancient city-state called Sparta
The most dominant of all the Greek city-states
LIFESTYLE History
Sparta was one of the most powerful city-states in antiquity. The ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese in Greece, Sparta was a warrior society where males aged seven years upwards were trained for war. The city reached the height of its power in 404 BCE. Within a few decades, however, it was suffering an irreversible state of decline. So, what happened to this once mighty civilization, and who were the key figures in its long history?
Click through and discover the city-state called Sparta.