Sparta Flashcards
Sparta as a Polis
Sparta: group of villages, which probably arose in 10th C BC
Lacedaemon: mentioned in Mycenaean tablets, the name was used starting in 8th C BC to mean the city and territory controlled by the city = the ‘Spartan state’
*Laconia – 3 x larger than Attica
Mythical origins
- Hercules was to have Sparta passed down to him or his sons in return for helping king Tyndareus
- Instead kingdom went to Menelaus (husband of Tyndareus’ daughter, Helen)
- The descendants of Hercules (the Heraclids) returned with the Dorians to take possession of their kingdom
Messenian Wars
- Poems of Tyrtaeus appear to make reference to an ongoing war (20 years), but poet isn’t explicit
- Rebirth of Messene in 369 BC led to rediscovery of Tyrtaeus’ war, a.k.a. 2nd Messenian War
- Supporters of the alliance between Athens and Sparta also claimed another Messenian revolt that hindered the Spartans from fighting at Marathon, raising the number of wars and revolts to 4
1st Messenian War: 8th C BC
2nd Messenian War: second half of the 7th C BC
Views of the Messenian Wars
Traditional view:
- Need for an effective army always ready to act against a revolt of the enslaved original population
- Decisive factor in development of Spartan institutions, making Sparta a unique polis
Revisionist view:
- No mass enslavement of defeated and total dominance of a warrior elite of conquerors
- Status of Helots and Perioikoi was gradually defined as the result of internal dynamics, not of the ancient right of conquest
Modern theories (3) on Spartan land & property
- All land was public and divided into fixed number of lots, which were assigned to the Spartiatae (full rights citizen)
- Lots couldn’t be divided and are only inherited by 1st son
- State took back the lot when a Spartiatae died
- All land was private and could be divided and left to sons and daughters and even given as gifts => explains the wealth difference but there are little reliable sources
- Land was private and could be divided and left to sons and daughters but the right to inherit it was under public control
Spartan Society
- Full right citizens -> Spartiatae, homoioi
- Dwellers round about -> Perioikoi, free citizens without political rights, settled around Sparta
Views of the Helots
Traditional view:
Helotism = mass enslavement of a conquered population that remained on its own land
Revisionist view:
Helotism was given by regulating and unifying different forms of dependent labor, only in the 6th C, in the context of reforms that also produced the status of fill right homoioi
The Perioikoi
- Were considered Lacedaemonians like the Spartans, their cults and festivals were similar to those of Sparta, and fought in the army with the Spartans
- Towns of the perioikoi were not political communities
- Only the citizens with full rights of Sparta constituted a political community and their decisions were binding on all Lacedaemonians
- Origins of the dependence of the perioikoi on Sparta are not clear
- Status like that of the Helots, was not simply the result of Doric invasion and/or repopulation of Laconia, and not all perioikoi acquired their status in the same way
The Spartiatae
Criteria to quality as full Spartiatae were very demanding:
1. Generous contributions to the monthly common tables (syssitia) & a strict educational system (agoge) 2. Performance of the Spartiatae was subject to continuous scrutiny 3. Members of the elite group were considered ‘equals’ and adopted a modest lifestyle - These criteria were probably formally established between the mid 7th and 6th C - Result increased distance between the elite and others, and the re-definition of the status of the ‘inferiors’
Development of Spartan Institutions
“The Great Rhetra”
-Divide people into tribes and obai (villages), establish a council of 30 elders, the kings included and assemble the people
Sparta (Mentioned in the Rhetra)
3 tribes (phylai)
5 villages (obai)
1 Gherousia (council of elders and 2 kings)
-Spartiatae’s in their 60s were chosen by . . applauding-In charge for life
1 Seasonal assembly (apella)
-Male full-right citizens over 30, voted by applauding, couldn’t propose anything, could only accept/refuse proposals of the gherousia
The people (damos)
- Ruled by 2 kings from 2 families (hereditary) –who claimed to decend from Hercules
- Military power, diplomatic and religious role
- Controlled wealth
- Received exceptional honors in life and death (maybe a cult hero)
- Could lose their honors if they were found acting against the laws
5 ephoroi (guardians)
- Not mentioned in rhetra - In charge for 1 year - Elected representatives of the people, with important judicial powers
The Agoge (education/training)
- Age classes
- Full-time military training
- Restricted family life
- Collective meals
- Final step of their coming of age, young men would make a sacrifice (to Achilles) before fighting each other in groups on an island at Platanistas (“planted with plane trees” – uncertain location
Festivals and initiation
A) Festival of (Artemis) Orthia at Sparta
-Young men stole cheese from gods altar . while being whipped
B) Hyakinthia: festival of Apollo at Amyklai
- Marked the renewal of the world - Foundation myth: accidental death of young hero Hyakinthos, beloved by Apollo and killed by the discus of the god of the gymnasium - Processions, dances, songs of young men and women
C) Gymnopaedia: Apollo was honored by choruses and dances of young and adult men
Started Aug. 1st or 2nd
Finished July 18 and Aug. 17
D) Karneia: Festival was fertility ritual that commemorated the arrival of the Dorians and their Heraclid leaders in the Peloponnese
-Lasted 9 days, normally eneded a lunar month after Gymnopaidiai (Between Aug 16 and Sept. 14)
Spartan age classes
1) Paides (boys) 7-18 years old
2) Paidiskoi 18-20 years
3) Hebontes, Eirenes (young adults) 20-30 years old
4) Homoioi (adults) 30 + years old
- admitted to the hoplitic army, assembly . and ephors
5) Elders 60+ years old
- retired fro the army, some of them admitted to the gherousia (council of elders)
- Population of Sparta (and its army) was divided into groups of people who were born in the same year; when an age class passed to the next step, all classes did the same
- Same of these passages were especially important, as they caused a change in the role of the members (at 20, 30, 60)
Paides (boys) 7-18 years old
7-12 years old: 1st period of training, divided in groups
-After 7, they started training but lived at home with their families
-After 12, they begin initiation cycle
12-18 years old: 2nd period of training, beginning of their initiation
- Shaved heads, slept on straw with their groups, not allowed shoes, have to bathe and oil their bodies and had one clothing each year
- Given just enough food to survive, they were allowed to steal if they were still hungry – but were beaten if caught
- Controlled by man over 30 (paidonomos), who could punish them if they misbehaved
- Had staff of young adults with whips
- Had relationships with young adults
