The Best Hoplites in the World: Sparta

Sparta was the main power in ancient Greece before the rise of Athens after the Persian Wars.Initially, Sparta and Athens were reluctant allies, but soon became rivals. The second and third conflicts between the two states, which resulted in the dismantling of the Athenian Empire, is generally known as the Peloponnesian War. Spartan attempts to take over the Athenian role of ‘guardian of Hellenism’ ended in failure, and the first ever defeat of a Spartan hoplite army at full strength at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. By the time of the rise of Alexander the Great, Sparta was a shadow of its former self, and was eventually forced into the Achaean League.

There is a well-known passage in Thucydides which runs this:
“Suppose the city of Sparta to be deserted, and nothing left but the temples and the ground-plan, distant ages would be very unwilling to believe that the power of the Lacedaemonians was at all equal to their fame. Their city is not built continuously, and has no splendid temples or other edifices; it rather resembles a group of villages, like the ancient towns of Hellas, and would therefore make a poor show”.

Spartans were not sailors but during the Peloponnesian War to finish with the Athenian power in the seas they build a powerful fleet with the help of persian gold. The Spartan commander Lysander defeted the Athenian Navy in the battle of Aegospotami destroying 168 ships; only 12 Athenian ships escaped, and several of these sailed to Cyprus, including the strategos Conon, who was not anxious to face the judgment of the Assembly.

Little is recorded of the internal development of Sparta. This want of information was attributed by most of the Greeks to “the stability of the Spartan constitution”, which had lasted unchanged from the days of Lycurgus. It is, in fact, due also to the absence of historical literature in Sparta, and to the small part played by written laws which were, according to tradition, expressly prohibited by an ordinance of Lycurgus, and to the secrecy which always characterizes oligarchical rule. The state was ruled by two hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontid families, equal in authority, so that one could not act against the veto of his colleague, though the Agiad king received greater honour in virtue of the seniority of his family (Herod. vi. 5).This dual kingship, a phenomenon unique in history, was explained as being derived from the date of Aristodemus’s death, in which he had been succeeded by his twin sons, a system of governance that was perpetuated. The duties of the kings were mainly religious, judicial and military. They were the chief priests of the state, and performed certain sacrifices and also maintained communication with the Delphian sanctuary, which always exercised great authority in Spartan politics.

Dating from the period of the Persian wars, the king lost the right to declare war, and was accompanied on the field by two ephors. He was supplanted also by the ephors in the control of foreign policy. Over time, the kings became mere figure-heads except in their capacity as generals. Real power was transferred to the ephors and to the gerousia.

Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. Shortly after birth, children were brought before the elders of the tribe, who decided whether it was to be reared or not. If found defective or weakly, the baby was dropped off a cliff called the Apothetae, or Place of Rejection. In this way attempts were made to secure the maintenance of high physical standards in Sparta. From the earliest days of the Spartan, the claim on his life by the state was absolute and strictly enforced.Until the age of seven, boys were educated at home and were taught to fight their fears as well as general superstition by their nurses, who were prized in Greece. Their training was then undertaken by the state.

Women were freer than in other Greek societies, and were able to negotiate with their husbands to bring their lovers into their homes. According to Plutarch in his life of Lycurgus, men both allowed and encouraged their wives to bear the children of other men, due to the general communal ethos which made it more important to bear many progeny for the good of the city.

Sparta was the main power in ancient Greece before the rise of Athens after the Persian Wars. Initially, Sparta and Athens were reluctant allies, but soon became rivals. The second and third conflicts between the two states, which resulted in the dismantling of the Athenian Empire, is generally known as the Peloponnesian War. Spartan attempts to take over the Athenian role of ‘guardian of Hellenism’ ended in failure, and the first ever defeat of a Spartan hoplite army at full strength at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. By the time of the rise of Alexander the Great, Sparta was a shadow of its former self, and was eventually forced into the Achaean League.