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HSC Ancient - Sparta

History: Ancient History (Higher School Certificate (New South Wales))

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The Geographical Setting

Context
- Sparta was founded around 900 BC by the Doric tribes
- They had iron weapons which were far superior to their opponents’ bronze.
- By 750 BC five tribes of Doric people joined together to form Sparta. They were
pastoralists.
- Sparta was located in an area in the Peloponnese known as Laconia.
- Sparta is situated at the end of a very small, but fertile river plain about 14 km long.
- Bringing waters from the high Arkadian mountains, the river Eurotas was swelled by
melting snows and would have run heavily in spring/summer. The Eurotas river is the
main river that runs through the valley.
- Laconia had impressive mountains that hemmed in the river valley
- These mountains called the Taygetos mountains provided Sparta with a natural
defensive barrier against invaders.

Resources
- Sparta had temples, shrines, an acropolis, agora (marketplace) and a theatre which was
built much later.
- Fertile soil and a climate suitable for agriculture.
- According to Strabo, the land around Messenia had fertility “greater than words can
express”
- Fresh water from the Eurotas river.
- Wheat, barley, olives, grapes and figs were among crops produced.
- Grazing available for sheep, goats, cattle and pigs. This produced meat, dairy, wool and
leather.
- Marble and limestone were quarried in the mountains, clay was available for pottery, iron
was mined, wood was felled from the mountains, bees were kept.
- Wild boars were hunted from the forests and the Spartans bred horses.

Significant sites
There are some problems with the evidence we have.
- Building materials were timber which do not preserve.
- Spartan society placed little emphasis on ornate public buildings
- No need to build city walls because of surrounding mountains
- Political discussions took place in open air

The sanctuary of Apollo at Amyklai

- “By far the most important of these military sanctuaries was that of Apollo and
Hyakinthos, located at Amyclae”

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- Excavated in 1890
- The important festival of Hyakinthos took place at Amyclae: “Significantly here at the
Amyklaion and not in sparta town that the spartan’s principal national religious festival
was celebrated”
- The throne of Apollo including an altar was found
- A colossal statue of Apollo on three sides and was decorated with reliefs

The Menelaion
- Shrine of menelaos and helen
- “The story is that Menelaos and Helen are located here” (Pausanias)
- 5km southeast of Sparta on top of Mt Parnon
- Excavations were carried out by the British Archaeological school at Athens in 1909
- Remains of the first monumental building from 500 BC
- A classical cistern built to provide water supply to the shrine
- The significance of this site is that it shows continuous occupation from the 8th century
BC through to 2nd century AD

The Acropolis of Sparta

- “There is a sanctuary built here of Athena of the city… The Laconians erected the temple
and the bronze statue” - Pausanias
- Excavations began at the end of the last century
- Various monuments have not yet been restored but there is a pan for the conservation of
the ancient theatre
- Found an ancient Marble Laconian warrior
- Bronze statue of a trumpeter 500 BC
- Statue of Leonidas 480 BC

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

- Located on the west bank of the Eurotas river (Strabo)
- The sanctuary was excavated by the British Archaeological school at Athens in 1906
- Many inscriptions were found bearing dedications by boys who won contests in honour
of Artemis
- Figurines and clay mates
- Carved bone and ivory objects interpreted as offerings
- This shows sparta did not conform to the perception of a society void of aesthetic
culture.

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Social Structure and Political Organisation

The issues of Lycurgus (The Great Rhetra)

According to the Spartans and some ancient sources a lawgiver named Lycurgus was
supposedly responsible for setting up most of Sparta’s social and political institutions.
- Sparta went through significant political and social upheaval in 7th century involving the
kings losing absolute power (no longer a monarchy) but retained their position in society.
- The Great Rhetra: Tyrtaeus wrote that Lycurgus brought the laws to govern Spartan
society.
- It was not written down, rather it was in a prose poem from a series of oracles from
Apollo at Delphi.
- Ordered establishment of sanctuary to Zeus and Athena, organisation of community into
social units, creation of the Gerousia of 30 members, two kings, and an assembly.
- Xenophon, Aristotle and Herodotus all admired Sparta’s blend of monarchic (two kings),
oligarchic (30 members) and democratic (assembly) elements.

Who was Lycurgus?

- A law giver - Xenophon
- According to Plutarch he put elders in power
- He was chosen by the gods - Plutarch
- “Social engineer” according to Xenophon
- A historically uncertain figure - Plutarch
- Herodotus tells us he became a god
- Plutarch (AD 50-120) provides us with a detailed account for the reforms attributed to
Lycurgus.
- Aristotle wrote in the 4th century BC positively about Lycurgus as “...people of his time
viewed the constitution very favourably.”

Spartan citizens: Homoioi.

Non citizens:
- Women
- Perioikoi (outsiders)
- Tresentes (cowards)
- Helots (slaves)
- Neodamodeis (freed helots)

Roles and privileges of two kings

Origin Belonged to the two leading families (eurypontids and agiads) among
original Dorian tribesmen (it was hereditary).

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Succession - Succeeded by his eldest son, but a son born prior to his father’s
accession to the throne had to give way to the firstborn after his
father became king.

Political role Sat as members of the Gerousia and could take part in debates. Had no
more power than the other 28.

Religious role - Acted as high priests of Zeus

- This entitled them to spiritual and material prerogatives in the form
of sacrifices on behalf of their patron gods, the state gods and prior
to leaving for war and before a battle, both in Sparta and abroad.
- Unique access to the delphic oracle.
- “He laid it down as law that the king shall offer in behalf of the state
all public sacrifices as being himself of divine descent...”
(Xenophon)

Judicial role - Decided issues relating to marriage of unbetrothed heiresses,

public roads/highways and adoption of sons
- Contributed two votes in the Gerousia.

Restrictions on - Took an oath every three months before the ephors to rule in
power accordance with the laws
- Two kings kept a check on each other. Dual nature.
- Accompanied by two ephors on campaign.
- Could appear before the gerousia and ephors for misconduct and
could be deposed by the people.
- “...Even the most powerful king… could be challenged and
occasionally cut down to size if his behaviour served to unite the
elements against him.” - Andrews

Special - Supported at the expense of the state and received income from
honours lands of the perioikoi.
- A hundred picked men shall accompany the king upon expeditions.
- Presented with skins and carcasses of animals sacrificed to the
gods.
- Served first at public meals and given double portions.
- Given seats of honour at all festivals and when they entered the
assembly, all - apart from the ephors - stood.
- Mourned publicly for 10 days after death. Involving elaborate
funeral rites.

Military role - Only one king went on campaign; the other remained in Sparta.
- On campaign the king held absolute authority.
- The Dioscuri, twin sons of zeus, castor and pollux served as
mythical representatives of the two spartan kings. This symbolic
image accompanied the kings into battle.
- “At home, a Spartan king’s powers of initiative and executive
decision making were comparatively limited, in comparison to their
greater powers… at the head of an army.” Paul Cartledge.

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Cleomenes
- 520-490 BC
- Witnessed not only constitutional crisis at home with the deposition of his fellow king, but
also the two major transnational conflicts with Persia and Athens.
- Cleomenes’ policy swayed from anti athenian to pro athenian and cooperation against
the might of Persia.
- Herodotus suggests that it was the personal leadership of cleomenes that directe
spartan policy.
- Cleomenes would have overseen the appointments of a large number of the gerousia
because of the length of his reign.

Agesilaus
- By the length of his reign, some 40 years he had major influence over policy making.
- Ideological representation of the virtuous spartan.
- His personal charisma is highlighted in his ability in 378 to influence the vote of acquittal
in a major political trial (according to Cartledge).

Government
Ephors
- 5 elected by citizens in the ekklesia
- 2 supervised the kings on campaign during war
- Chief magistrates
- Decided on foreign policy and met foreign envoys
- Policing powers over daily lives of citizens and helots
- Presided over meetings of the ekklesia
- Worked closely with the gerousia and attended court cases
- Swore an oath each month to uphold powers of the kings provided they act lawfully

Gerousia
- ‘Council of elders’ 28 men over 60 (gerontes) + two kings
- Elected for life by citizens in ekklesia as they are past age of service in military
- Men elected were expected to be men of renown with nobility of character
- Selection was through acclamation
- Wide judicial power in serious criminal cases
- Could put the kings on trial
- Proposed laws and wrote legislation to be approved or rejected by the ekklesia
(probouleutic body)

Ekklesia
- Citizen males over 30
- Met once a month outdoors
- Voted by acclamation or dividing into yes/no groups

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- Citizens in the ekklesia could not debate issues, change the wording of motions, start
consideration of new issues or propose new laws or policies.
- Elected 5 ephors every year and elected new geronte to fill the gerousia
- Appointed generals and admirals
- Freed worthy helots

Social structure

Spartiates
Citizenship was based on:
- Birth: proof of descent from original Dorian conquerors
- Training: submission to and completion of the agoge
- Ownership of a plot of public land
- Membership of and continued payment to a syssition
- They were full time soldiers owing total obedience to the state
- Forbidden to engage in farming, trade and industry
- Loss of citizenship resulted in social exclusion.
- Xenophon writes that lycurgus isolated anyone who shrank from the customs of spartan
life.

Tresentes - tremblers
- Loss of citizenship could result from crime or more commonly cowardice in battle
- If they had daughters no one would marry them and if they themselves wished to marry
no one would give their daughter to them
- “He must endure having a household with no wife and at the same time he has to pay a
fine for this” - plutarch

Helots
- Pre-dorian inhabitants conquered by sparta in laconia and messenia
- No rights and freedoms
- State owned and lived on the lands of spartiates
- Main duty was to supply a fixed amount of produce annually to spartan masters. Once
this was done they were free to make a profit as they wish.
- Pollux refers to them as “half slave, half free”.
- Tyrtaeus says they are “asses under great loads…”

Neodamodeis - freed helots

- These were helots who were given their freedom by the state for some meritorious
action
- Were not equal but were free and therefore liable for military service

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Mothaces
- Young helots selected to be training partners for spartiate boys.
- This meant they went through the agoge but never became citizens.

Perioikoi
- Autonomous and self-governing in their own communities
- Of mixed origin
- Distance from sparta was a factor in the degree of active intervention and control sparta
could exert on communities
- Were not allowed to marry spartiates
- Were expected to contribute militarily in times of war
- Possessed their own communities, government, local rights of citizenship but were
always under the dominion of a greater state to which they were obliged to render
various services
- According to ephorus these were the conquered tribes of laconia
- Engaged in commerce and manufacturing; making shoes, garments, objects of wood
and iron.
- Chrimes says that they possessed raw materials without which the spartans could not
make war.
- Perioikoi cannot be seen as a large oppressed minority but as collaborators with the
military ruling class who shared the enjoyment of the spartan system.

Educational system: the agoge

“... their whole education was aimed at developing smart obedience, perseverance under stress
and victory in battle.” - Plutarch
- The aim of spartan education was to inculcate obedience to the values and ethos of the
Spartan state, acceptance of the status quo and to produce soldiers.
Birth - Examined by city elders at special spot called lesche. Lycurgus 16
- If healthy, it lived. If weak, thrown off a cliff.

Up to 7 - Young children were brought up by nurses who were Lycurgus 16

very harsh.
- If crying or sulking, the baby was left in a dark room
etc.

Age 7 - Boys were removed from their families. Lycurgus 16

- City appointed a paidonomos who had complete
authority over the boys and punished them if he felt
necessary.
- Paidonomos accompanied by men over 18 called
eirenes who carried whips

7-12 - Emphasis on athletic training and physical fitness. Lycurgus 17

- Only light tunics were worn and head was shaved.

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- Boys were to walk in silence with head down.

13-18 - Discipline and training became more severe. Lycurgus 17

- Boys passed into ‘herds’ based on year groups. and 18
- Looked after by eirenes.
- Taught traditional songs and they read Homer and
Spartan poets.
- Ate basic rations.
- Encouraged to steal food, but punished if caught.
- Baths were forbidden but permitted to bathe in cold
river Eurotas.

19-24 - A boy name became an eirene. Lycurgus 17

- Could be called upon to fight.
- Physical training and fitness remained paramount.
- State-promoted, controlled violence was not
uncommon.
- Magistrates selected 100 best young men. Such
selections led to violence and resentment.

24-30 - Young men were now eligible to be front line troops.

- The king’s select 300 knights would come from this
group.

30-60 - Each man was now a full citizen. Lycurgus 22

- Liable for military service if called upon by the state.
- Allowed to grow hair long.
- Man lived at home with wife and family.
- Expected to dine in Syssition

Control of the helots

Military
- Keep the helots in check and put down any rebellions
- Spartiates were accompanied by helots into war who probably acted as servants
- A duty of a spartiate was to protect the spartan state against helot invasion

Krypteia
- The secret police
- Used to terrorise the helots, a reminder of spartan dominance
- Would send out a group of discreet young eirenes and send them into the country with
daggers and supplies to kill any helots found.
- Principle aim was to “murder selected troublemaking helots and spread terror among the
rest” - Paul Cartledge

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Syssitia
- Public dining groups or messes where spartans ate their evening meal with their army
comrades
- Membership of the syssitia was associated with being a spartan citizen and aimed at
expressing the idea of equality, fellowship and unity.
- Members were obliged to make monthly contributions of wine, fruit, cheese and grain.
- Compulsory to dine until age of 60
- “They used to make the helots drunk and exhibit them to the young as a deterrent from
excessive drinking” (Plutarch)

The role of the army

“It is a fine thing for a brave man to die… while fighting for his homeland” - Tyrtaeus

Hoplites
- Hoplites carried a large round bronze shield, a wooden spear and a short iron stabbing
sword.
- Wore complex armour
- Well trained and disciplined

Phalanx
- Phalanx usually consisted of eight to twelve rows of soldiers standing close together,
shields interlocking and spears pointed to the enemy.
- This tactic was created to create a rolling effect that would push the enemy off balance.
- Strong and reliable
- Had an excellent reputation which gave them allies and ensured their leadership in the
peloponnesian league
- Inflexible in training and tactics
- Vulnerable to javelin and arrows

Organisation of the army

- Spartiates aged 18-60
- Perioikoi
- Inferiors such as neodamodeis
- Helots
- There were variations in the structure of the army, depending on the battle

The role of the army

- Keep the helots in check and put down any rebellions
- Defend the boundaries of lakonia and messenia
- Be on call for war
- Defended sparta and her allies from external threats such as Persia

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- All warriors were members of the gerousia consumers of goods produced by perioikoi
and helots
- Transmitters of military values

Role and status of women; inheritance, land ownership, education

Difficult to assess the character and role of women because of the differing opinions in writings
due to bias and attitudes towards women.
- Main role of a spartan woman was to produce healthy sons who would grow up to be
fine and brave soldiers.

Inheritance
- Gained their status from association with their father, sons and husbands
- Women had no say in the matter of infanticide
- Kleros was passed down through families

Land ownership
- Although had little political power, they still had social significance.
- Women had autonomy in running the household (oikos), and also ran the family’s Kleros
and supervised the helots while their husbands were away at war.
- Wealth of spartan women was great.
- Aristotle estimates that two fifths of land was owned by women.
- Did not lose control over inherited property after marriage

Education
- Were educated separately in the home
- Young girls to old women all exercises daily, participating in running, javelin throwing etc.
- It was for the intent that healthy bodies would make stronger babies, and enable them to
handle their pregnancies with vigour and strength.
- Criticised elsewhere for exercising either nude or in a slit skirt but were also commended
for their strength and beauty.
- Aristotle was a stark anti-feminist and critic of the rights and freedoms of women in
Sparta - reflective of his Athenian background
- Forbidden to weave or spin
- Performed the bibos - jumping and touching but with heels
- Brought up to be fit companions to their soldier husbands.
- Example of spartan women referred to by Herodotus, Gorgo, Queen of Sparta

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3. The economy

Land ownership: agriculture, kleros, helots

- Since a spartan male was a full time soldier, the state was obliged to support him by
granting a basic allotment of land called a kleros and state owned helots to farm it.
- This was supposedly an attempt by lycurgus to avoid social unrest to to ensure a
uniform level of wealth among citizens
The kleros, farmed by a family of helots, had to:
1. Support the spartan and his family
2. Provide for a spartan’s continuing contribution to his syssition
3. Support the helots and their family
4. Provide a surplus so that the state had the income to pay for armour and equipment
made by the perioikoi

Inequality in land ownership

- Although all spartan citizens had land, the size and quality of that land varied
considerably
- Kleros could be passed on as an inheritance or through marriage leading to a
concentration of land into fewer and fewer hands
- There are mentions of rich spartans making great contributions to their syssition, and
others barely being able to meet their quota and so lost their citizenship.

Technology: weapons, armour, pottery

Metal & armour
- Spartan metalworkers employed the ancient technology of smelting and casting metals
- The spartans had come to dominate the original inhabitants of lakonia and messenia
through their possession of iron weapons, which were stronger than those of bronze.
- Metal routes were established in the bronze age before the spartans had come into the
peloponnese and the technology for combining these was well known.
- Every part of a spartan’s armour was to some degree bronze
- Bronze was an alloy made from 90 percent copper and 10 percent tin
- Phoinikes: red wool cloak

Pottery
- The clay they used came from within the area at the eurotas river
- We have evidence of potteries
- Pottery painted with a reddish clay, that would turn black in firing

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Economic roles of the perioikoi and helots

Sparta had miners, clay diggers, potters, vase painters etc. but the problem for historians is
whether these occupations were filled by spartiates, by perioikoi, by helots or by skilled foreign
slave

The perioikoi
- Provided spartans with furniture, leather, fine wools, and textiles
- Traded for resources that sparta lacked
- Manufactured metal products
- Provided seafood
- Their occupations were vital for the functioning of the spartan state
- We cannot assume that all non-military occupations were filed by the perioikoi.
- However perioikoi carried out most manufacturing and craftworks

The Helots
- Enabled the spartans to contribute their mess quota, keeping their citizenship
- Allowed the spartans to provide themselves with what they needed from the perioikoi
- Helot women, by taking care of the household jobs, allowed spartan women their
relatively privileged lifestyle.

Economic exchange: use of iron bars, trade

- Archaeology is of great value in helping us map the nature and extent of spartan trade
- In early sparta exchange was by means of barta, and then in the 6th century BC the
spartans adopted currency
- Plutarch tells us the lycurgan reforms prevented spartans from using silver or gold
coinage to discourage: trading among themselves, hoarding money, ostentatious
displays of wealth, importing goods outside of sparta
- Although perioikoi were allowed coinage, spartans were restricted to iron bars (pelanors)
- These were of no real market value to spartans, except as a symbolic form of exchange

4. Religion, death and burial

Characteristics of Spartan religion:
- Belief in anthropomorphic gods
- Merging of religious and secular: kings as chief priests
- Belief and importance of oracles
- Importance of ritual blood sacrifice
- Importance of competitive games and festivals

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Gods and goddesses

Artemis Orthia
- Goddess of the wilderness, the hunt, and wild animals, and fertility
- Artemis was god of fertility and childbirth, protector of children and women’s health
- Orthia was an earlier spartan goddess about whom little is known
- The combining of the two religious deities became a particular spartan religious
observance
- Sanctuary of artemis orthia stood near eurotas river
- Archaeologists have found many small votive lead figurines and masks used in the cult.
- Spartan interest in this cult reflected their nurturing of and investment in the young
(Pomeroy)

Poseidon
- God of the sea

Apollo
- God of music, prophecies, poetry and archery
- Was worshipped at a sanctuary at Amyclae which contained a statue of Apollo
- This was the most sacred object in Laconia (Welch)
- Is associated with the sun
- Artemis’ twin brother

Myths and legends

Lycurgus:
- His life written about by Plutarch
- Gave sparta its constitution
- Scholars argue whether he existed at all, was 3 men, or to what extent he changed
spartan society

Dioscuri
- The dioscuri were castor and polydeuces, the twin sons of leda and zeus and brothers of
helen
- Castor and pollux abducted and married phoebe and hilaeira
- Castor killed in a battle
- Pollux granted immortality by zeus, but persuaded him to share the gift with castor. As a
result, the two spend alternate days on olympus (as gods) and in hades (as deceased
mortals).
- Had a special following in sparta because of the two kings

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Helen
- Helen of troy was originally helen of sparta- the wife of menelaus and most beautiful
woman in greece
- Helen was the sister of twin brothers castor and pollux
- All three were children of Zeus
- Helen of troy was taken by Paris to Troy and was avenged by Agamemnon with his
Greek forces
- This is commemorated at the menelaion

Religious roles of kings

- Chief priests
- Made all public sacrifices
- One king would run the festivals

Funerary customs and rituals

- Graves only for men who died in battle, or women who died in childbirth (Plutarch)
- Large pottery amphora from 7th century BC now in museum of Sparta marked the grave
of a Spartan warrior
- The rest buried with unmarked graves or may have been cremated
- Only funerary customs we know of were for kings
- Cemeteries were inside the city
- Libations were made at tombs and funerals intended for those who now lived in the
underworld
- “His fame and good name will never perish utterly for he is immortal in his grave”
(Tyrtaeus)

Funerary customs of kings:

- Herodotus gives us detail on this
- Horsemen travelled all over lakonia, informing the inhabitants
- Women went around sparta, beating a cauldron
- Two people from each house were expected to join in mourning
- Meetings of any sort were not permitted for a period of 10 days
- Fragments of Tyrtaeus’ poetry was sung as a hymn

Festivals
The power of prophecies, the sanctity of sanctuaries and festivals are all distinctive features of
spartan religion.

Gymnopaedia
“Festival of the unarmed boys”

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- Held in the agora during the height of summer

- Commemorated sparta's defeat at the battle of thyrea 550 BC
- Some argue it was a festival to stop evil for his defeat, others suggest it was to appease
the gods for the defeat
- Featured choral performances, images of Apollo and Artemis, boxing among young boys
and men
- Involved gymnastic displays, athletic competitions and musical events
- Although much has been written about the violent aspects of the festival, it has been
interpreted as a “rite of passage” on the way to manhood
- men over 30 without kids or unmarried were not permitted to participate

Karneia
- Harvest festival celebrated for nine days during august
- Celebration of migration and colonisation and foundation of the doric people in sparta
- Activities to represent the early history of sparta
- Five unmarried people, called the karneatai, were chosen from each tribe to cover the
costs of the festival
- Karneia had communal aspect, emphasising heroic exploits
- Spartans were not allowed to venture to war or battle during the festival
- “the spartans… willing to send help to Athens, were unable to send it promptly because
they did not wish to break their law…” Herodotus.

Hyakinthia
- festival named after hyakinthos, a youth who was lover of the god Apollo, and died when
Apollo accidentally hit him with a discus
- In his grief, apollo created an annual festival
- Discus with inscribed dedication to Apollo has been discovered at Athens museum
- Held at shrine of amyclae: where there is a huge statue of Apollo, Hyakinthos’ tomb
- Took place over three days in july
- Athenaeus gives us account of two stages:
1. First stage included rites of sorrow and mourning. Offerings were placed at Hyakinthos’
tomb.
2. Second stage involved rejoicing in honour of apollo. Wearing wreaths, singing and
dancing, sacrificing, feasting.

5. Cultural life

Art
“Early sparta had a vibrant culture and appeared powerful, wealthy and otherwise a normal
aristocratic society” (Burn)

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Sparta produced sculpture in stone and marble, large and small bronze artefacts, carved ivories
and an original and confident style of ceramics exported around the mediterranean

Sculpture
- Sculpture in stone and marble was mostly associated with religion.
- Unfortunately little remains of sculpture in stone remain.

Bronzework
- Second half of the 6th century was a golden age for bronzework
- small figures of goddesses, male craftsmen, spartan soldiers in armour, athletes etc.
- These were called votive offerings.
- Vix Krater, a vessel made for mixing water and wine, found in Celtic burial is a massive
bronze vessel that shows 23 groups of figures in relief: warriors and chariots.

Ivory carving
- Ivory carving reflected an eastern influence as Syrian and eastern traders sourced the
ivory from Africa and both lands had a rich tradition in ivory work.
- Over 200 ivory carvings have been found in the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

Vase painting
- In the last part of the 7th century vase painting underwent a change from geometric
decoration (Lakonian 1), to a more ornate style of friezes, featuring fishes, animals, and
birds (Lakonian 2). In the middle of the 6th century Laconian 3 pottery appeared,
featuring human subjects that told mythological stories.
- Eg. a lakonian vase called the Arkesilas Cup depicts a king supervising the loading of a
cargo on a ship.

Architecture
- No remains of spartan houses have been excavated
- Chief source for Spartan public buildings include Pausanius’ A Guide To Greece
- 6th century assembly hall called the Skias
- Temple of Artemis Orthia - built about 700 BC was rebuilt in 580 BC after destructive
flood
- Menelaion (shrine of Menelaus and Helen), located 5 kilometres north east of sparta.
Rather small, monumental building. Built late 7th century.
- The Amyklaion, 5 kilometres south of Sparta, was a building that served as a throne for
the ancient cult of Apollo. However there is not enough evidence to gauge what it
actually looked like.
- Thucydides remarked that if the city of Sparta were to be destroyed, and only the
buildings and temples were left, people in the future would never believe that Sparta had
been a powerful state (History, 1.10)

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Writing and literature

- Sparta was renowned for its poetry
- Poetry and music were linked. Poetry was generally recited by groups or sung by
dancing choruses. These were songs of praise, battle songs, drinking songs of politics
and songs of consolidation.
- Songs were accompanied by stringed and wind instruments
- Music was a socialising influence because through blending their voices and playing set
parts the singers learned to co operate and fit in with others.
- Music and dancing were important occupations for spartan soldiers for they were related
to the hoplite drill and to psychologically prepare for battle

Tyrtaeus
- Tyrtaeus has been described as ‘the soldier’s poet’.
- Most probably a native spartan
- He wrote at least five books of propaganda addresses, and military songs urging
courage, manliness, and discipline
- His poem, Eumonia, was written to inspire the flagging spirits of the Spartan soldiers
during their war against the Messenians
- The purpose of his poetry was didactic, that is, it was designed to teach the young men
and boys of Sparta the correct attitudes that were endorsed by the state.

Alcman
- Middle of 7th century BC
- Best known for lyric poetry which evokes the seasons, the melodies of the birds and the
towering mountains of Lakonia.

Greek writers’ view of sparta

With the exception of Tyrteus and Alcman, Sparta did not write it’s own history. This creates
issues as the writers from this period and about this period came from outside Sparta. These
writers’ view of sparta was subjective and at times bias, leading us to the spartan mirage.

Herodotus
- Wrote in the 5th century BC
- In his Histories, we are incidentally given much information about the spartan army.
- Herodotus is valuable for preserving the attitude of other greeks at the time towards
spartans
- We learn of the military powers of sparta and the high regard in which it’s military was
held
- Details the dual monarchy, and women appear frequently throughout his accounts

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Thucydides
- 5th century BC
- Wrote a history of the peloponnesian war.
- Although the spartans defeated the athenians in this war, Thucydides would have us
believe that this outcome was mainly due to the mistakes that the Athenians made rather
than the result of Spartan strategic skills or political abilities
- Provides information about the constitution, the helots and other matters
- Presents sparta as slow, backward-looking and inflexible
- Thucydides is not an objective and detached observer of spartan society

Xenophon
- 4th century BC
- Written when sparta was at height of power
- Xenophon was athenian, but an admirer of sparta
- Fought for the spartans
- It may be argued that his own political and military involvement with sparta makes him a
most unreliable witness
- Excessive admiration for all things spartan
- Despite all his praise for spartan society, there are indications in some of his works, that
he down plays the less attractive aspects of sparta such as the treatments of the helots
by the krypteia

Aristotle
- Did not have high views about spartan system
- Explains the breakdown of spartan way of life, pointing to the decline in population and
the gross inequality of property ownership
- Condemns the fact that Spartan women came to own 2/5 of Spartan land
- Believed women were the downfall of sparta

Plutarch
- 2nd century AD
- From central greece
- Wrote life of lycurgus as well as lives of spartan kings
- He collected spartan sayings and wrote many other philosophical and literary works
- Priest of god Apollo at Delphi and had access to the archives of the shrine as well as a
wide range of written sources
- Plutarch was writing ethical biography, not history, so we must be careful. His aim was
not to record historical events, but to provide his readers with the lives of great
individuals whose moral qualities were worthy of emulation
- Life of lycurgus recorded as most valuable record of what people thought about lycurgus
and sparta traditions by the second century AD

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- The spartan educational system, the organisation of the messes, dietary laws and burial
customs are all recorded by him

Pausanias
- 2nd century AD
- Lived in greece when it was ruled by the romans
- Roman travellers visited greece and needed a cultural travel guide. Pausanias takes his
readers on an itinerary around Lakonia and through the city of Sparta itself, pointing out
the buildings and describing them. He also fills in something of the history and legends
associated with the temples, statues and monuments

Everyday life

Daily life and leisure activities

“One of the noble and blessed privileges which Lycurgus appears to have secured for his
fellow-citizens was abundance of leisure… choral dances and feats and festivals and hunting
and bodily exercise and social converse occupied their whole time, when they were not on a
military expedition.” - Plutarch

Athletics
- Running, discus, javelin, jumping and wrestling
- Naked
- Between 720 and 576BC 46 out of 81 olympic athlete winners were Spartan
- Girls were known for their running and jumping

Hunting
- Deer, boar, hares were hunted
- Hunting boars was considered very dangerous and was part of a man’s rite of passage
- Hunting helots was also part of the building of spartan character

Equestrian sports
- “The stele… records many other victories, the well over thirty won by Damonon in horse
races at Spartan festivals…” - Cartledge
- Sparta was famous for its horses
- Many spartans had names associated with horses
- Equestrian sport was both a chance for the demonstration of a rider’s skill and
endurance, and an outlet for the competitive display of wealth invested in the beautiful
horse.
- Equestrian victories carried enormous prestige and glory reflected not only on the victor
but also on the city-state from which it came
Cockfighting

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- Popular in sparta as the aggressive cocks who fought to the death were a symbol of the
hoplite soldiers with their crested helmets

Food and clothing

Food
- Spartans were expected to be moderate in their consumption of food and drink.
Excessive drinking and eating did not fit well with the spartan disciplined lifestyle.
- Their food appears to have been asic, particularly a black broth made with pork, vinegar
and blood.
- The surrounding natural resources were used. Barley was the staple grain, wheat, fruit,
honey, cheese, and small portions of meat.

Clothing
- Spartan clothing was as sparse and simple as their way of life.
- Lycurgus laid down the rules for dress
- Men would usually be attired in their hoplite dress.
- The only concession to extravagance would be the red cloak a spartan soldier was
allowed to wear.
- Simplicity was to mask the differences in wealth and power
- When boys were growing up in the agoge they only received a light garment, expected
to to cope with the elements
- Boys had their hair cut short in the agoge
- Young women were expected to dress in the revealing peplos
- Women wore little makeup and jewelry
- “No spartan girl could lead a respectable life… they leave their house in loose dresses
showing naked thighs” (Euripides)
- It has been suggested that they dressed to distinguish between those who were free
citizens, those young and in training, and those who were disgraced or enslaved.
- The most famous garment was the purple/red phoinikes
- Men grew their hair long as a sign of maturity

Marriage customs
- Although the main rationale behind these customs was to produce healthy babies and to
increase the citizen numbers, there is evidence from the poems of Alcman of feelings of
love.
- Men and women were not permitted to marry until they had reached their physical prime
of - about 18 for a girl and 20 for a man (Plutarch)
- Until they were 30, men slept every night in the barracks, only visiting their wives by
stealth at night.

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- Xenophon and Plutarch suggested that this practice created self-control, increased
fertility, heightened their desire at the next meeting and made their offspring stronger.
- If a respectable man admired another man’s wife for the children she produced, he was
able to approach the woman’s husband for permission to sleep with her.
“The custom was to capture women for marriage - not when they were slight and immature, but
when they were in their prime and ripe for it.” - Plutarch, LoL 15

Occupations
- All spartiates were full time soldiers, and during their absence at war the women
supervised the management of their estates.
- Perioikoi were the craft workers, manufacturers, fishermen and traders.
- Helots were agricultural workers and nurses in spartan families.
- Both helots and perioikoi contributed to the army.

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