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Survey

Historical & Geographical Context

- Founded circa 900 BC by Doric tribes → Sparta ‘as we know it’ by 750 BC (after Messenian wars in 8th and 7th C)

- In modern Greece → which, at the time, was broken into powerful city-states • different systems of gov include: tyranny, oligarchy, democracy (Sparta = combo) • shared common language & religion

- In province of Laconia (connected to Nth Greece by Corinth Isthmus) • Taygetus Mt. Range, West • Areadian Mt. Range, North • Parnon Mt. Range + Eurotas River,East • Sea to South → naturally fortified = no walls

- Very fertile = lots of resources (especially in Messenia) • wheat, barley, olives, grapes, figs • sheep, goats, cattle, pigs (meat, dairy, leather, wool) • marble, limestone, clay, iron

“A city is well fortified which has a wall of men instead of brick” Lycurgus → “It is the distance from her enemies, not the valour of her soldiers, that allowed Sparta to remain unwalled…” Fitzhardinge Fertility “greater than words can express” Strabo

Significant Sites - Generally sparse architecture bc no value placed on grandeur + much infrastructure was made of wood and didn’t keep

- Political discussions took place in open air to allow for large numbers

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia Goddess of salvation, fertility, protector of vegetation.

- Founded in 10th C, enlarged in 9th, destroyed by flood in 6th then rebuilt

- Theatre added in Roman period - Clay masks, ivory carvings, cups, dishes,

terracotta figurines, inscriptions of dedications to victorious boys

Amyklaion Apollo = god of sun, oralces, truth, healing, music

- Hyakinthia here - Throne of Apollo - Tomb altar of local god Hyakinthos - Tripods from Messnian War

“If the Spartans’ city were to become deserted, and only the temples and foundations of buildings were left, I think that the people of that time far in the future would find it difficult to believe that the Spartans’ power had been as great as their fame implied, whereas if the same thing were to happen to Athens, from its visible remains one would assume that the city had been twice as powerful as it actually is.”

Temple of Athena Goddess of war, wisdom, crafts, courage

- In Acropolis - Trumpeter statue

Menaleaon Menelaos: Helen of Troy’s Husband (Trojan War) → 8th C – 2nd C

- Atop Mt Parnon - Late Mycenean - Classical cistern, altar, terrace + votive

offerings (vases, terracottas, statues)

Social Structure & Political Organisations The Great Rhetra

& Lycurgus Lycurgus supposedly set up social and political institutions as inspired by the Oracle at Delphi

- Father was king, travelled, overhaled Spartan society

- Soc and pol upheaval in 7th C involving the kings loss of absolute power (instead, Gerousia & Ekklesia)

- Great Rhetra = laws, not written down but oral prose poem, based on Eunomia → council of elders + kleros distribution + outlaw money + syssitia → rider = elders can overrule citizens

- “social engineer” Xenophon - “impossible to make any undisputed

statement about L” Plutarch - “even the very existence of L is

strongly open to doubt” Michell - Wanted to “sweep away the existing

order and to make a complete change od constitution” Plutarch

- Rhetra was “embedded in the citizen’s character and training” Plutarch

- Public meals were “the most effective check on disobedience” Xenophon

Two Kings: Roles & Privileges

- 2 kings from 2 families to keep power in check

- Lead troops (one at a time), waged wars → commander in chief of army

- Exchanged oaths w/ ephorate monthly for loyalty

- Chief priests → consult oracle, sacrifices to Apollo

- Judge and lawgiver (highways, marriage & adoption)

- Supported at expense of state, best

seats at festivals, received ceremonial skins, percentage of booty, double portion at mess, 10 day mourning period after death

- “hereditary generals” Aristotle - “held office as long as they

maintained the pleasure of the gods” Webb

Government Ephorate: 5 Spartiates over 30, elected by citizens each year

- Could only hold office once - Substantial power over kings (could

exile etc.) • 2 supervised king in war

- Presided over meetings of ekklesia - Police powers

Gerousia: 28 elders (men over 60) + 2 kings

- Elected by acclamation in Ekklesia - Elected for life (= corruption) - Court for capital offence - Could veto decisions of Ekklesia - Proposed laws & wrote legislation

Ekklesia: general assembly of all male citizens over 30

- Met monthly in the open - Voted on things - Elected people - Appointed generals - Could free worthy helots

- “best and most deserving” Plutarch

Social Structure Spartiates: elite class, professional soldiers - Born and bred soldiers (life’s work was

training) → this was to maintain their supremacy in the face of a large (sometimes hostile) helot population)

Needed to: prove decent to Dorians, submit to agoge, be a member of a syssition (i.e. provide food, dine w/ every night, be accepted in) Perioikoi: dwellers round about, free inhabitants of the land but not full citizens

- allied to Sparta (paid tax) - operated trade and craft businesses - could enter/leave city states at will - could own property & pursue any

career they wanted (not restricted by ‘spartan’ lifestyle)

- provided troops in war times - couldn’t intermarry w/ Spartiates

Helots: slaves owned by state, outnumbered Spartiates 7:1

- Pre-Dorian inhabitants (i.e. enslaved as prisoners of war)

- No rights or freedoms → c. 460 treatment was “callous and brutal”

- controlled by Krypteia (secret police) → ephors declared ritual war against helots every year

- main duty was to work the kleros so Spartiates could provide to Syssitia

Inferiors: did not fit in other categories, neither slaves not citizens (were spat on)

- “Spartan policy in regards to Helots has been based almost entirely on the idea of security” Thucydides

- “Half slave, half free” Pollux - “Asses under great loads” Tyrtaeus

- “required to give way in the street and cannot be cheerful… will not marry” Plutarch

- Could have lost citizenship (e.g. unable

to provide for syssitia or cowardice) - Spartan fathers and helot mothers - Helots given freedom - Sons of helots ‘adopted’ as training

companions - Couldn’t vote, marry, exercise in public,

wore special clothing

Army Training & Agoge: Birth: thrown off Mt Taygetus if weak 0-7: harsh nurses, not coddled 7: removed from family into agoge 7-12: athletic training, only allowed to wear light tunics, tiny diet (encourage sneaky steeling, punished if caught) 13-18: harsher discipline, taught songs and poems, bathe in river 19-24: became an eirene, could fight, state encouraged violence 24-30: front lines, kings’ guard 30+: full citizen, could grow out hair, live at home, dine at syssitia Composition:

- Phalanx: block of hoplites → spear, shield (hoplon)

- By 4th C, army was no more than 4000 of whom only 1000 were Spartiates (Connolly)

- “their whole education was aimed at developing smart obedience, perseverance under stress, and victory in battle”

Control of the Helots Military: - Kept in check - Duty to protect the state against

rebellion Krypteia:

- Secret police - Terrorised helots to maintain

dominance - Hunted helots in wilderness

Syssitia: - Helots produced food for syssitia - As their primary role in society, this

kept them ‘ocupied’

- Principal aim was to “murder selected troublemaking helots and spread terror among the rest” Cartledge

Women General: - Owned by father/husband - No public roles, couldn’t vote

→ worked ‘behind the scenes’ - Responsible for birthing healthy/raising

loyal children (strong eugenic and socialisation roles)

- Could be ‘leant’ to rear children for other men (Xenophon)

→ Gorgo advised King Kleomenes against a bribe (Herodotus) → “we are the ones who give birth to men” Gorgo → “come home with it or on it”

Land Ownership:

- Managed Kleros while men trained/were at war → men depended on their wives to pay deeds at Syssitia

- Owned over 30% of land Inheritance:

- Were able to keep their dowry during marriage

- Could acquire wealth: inherit land from family/dowry → generally controlled family wealth

- Aristotle was worried this would lead to a gov of women

Education: - Similar to males, but edu separately (at

home, w/ mothers until age of 18 - marriage)

- Could train athletically with boys sometimes

- Plato believed Spartan women had the best edu in philosophy

- Sang songs about the heroes (mental strength)

→ “In Sparta the women abstain from wool work, but weave for themselves instead a life that is not trivial” Plato

The Economy Lycurgan reforms rapidly changed the way that Sparta’s economy functioned (Wilson, 2006), leading to the categorisation of the economy which designated specific roles to sections of the socio-political hierarchy.

Land Ownership Agriculture & Helots: - Agrarian society due to land fertility - Citizenship was based on ability to

provide agricultural goods - This was then farmed and cultivated by

Helots Kleroi:

- Wealth derived entirely from landed properties distributed by the state to support full time military careers

- Supposedly and attempt by L to create equality and dispose of greed BUT

- Size and quality of land varied between plots & kleros could be passed on in inheritance (≠equality) → this lead to ‘poorer’ Spartiates being unable to provide to the syssitia and thus losing their citizenship

- Lycurgus’ most “revolutionary reform” Plutarch

Technology Weapons & Armour: - Metallurgy was a large industry in

Sparta due to military social ethos → perioikoi

- Made of iron, lead, bronze (local

sources) e.g. Dory – spear, sword, hoplon, Corinthian Helmet, curiass, graves

Pottery: e.g. Arcesilas Cup: tells a story - votive offerings & masks - generally Perioikoi, but towards the end of the society, poorer Spartiates may have been involved (“The Spartan Mirage” - Ollier)

→ Fitzhardinge notes there isn’t much known about this industry

Roles of Perioikoi & Helots

Perioikoi: - Manufacturers, craftsmen, and

merchants → provided items for Spartan markets & engaged in trade

- i.e. their role is vital for the state to function

Helots: - enabled Spartiates to contribute to

messes + pursue military excellence - women took care of domestic chores,

allowing Spartan women to manage their kleros

Economic Exchange Iron Bars: - Prior to the 6th C, there was no currency

(barter) - Lycurgus’ reforms forbade the use and

hoarding of gold and silver coinage → Spartiates restricted to iron bars (symbolic form of exchange, ultimately worthless)

Trade: - The loss of meaningful currency slowed

imports and trade - Perioikoi were able to use regular

currency to trade beyond Sparta

- “once this was made legal tender,

many types of crimes disappeared from Sparta” Plutarch

- “thus, gradually cut off from the things that animate and feed it, luxury atrophied of its own accord” Plutarch

- Items from Sparta have been found across the continent

- e.g. Laconian III style vessel in Morocco

Religion, Death, & Burial

General - Polytheistic, anthropomorphic gods - Contractual relationship - Merged religious and secular (kings =

chief priests) - Didn’t believe in honouring gods with

grand architecture, instead, small votive offerings and festivals

Gods & Goddesses Artemis Orthia: Syncretic figure – Local goddess Orthia & Olympiatic goddess Artemis

- Wild animals & vegetation = fertility =

childbirth - Most popular cult - Theft of Cheeses: final part of initiation

into agoge Poseidon: God of the sea – Sparta’s proximity to the ocean + fresh water, horses, earthquakes Apollo: God of sun, oracles, truth, healing, music

- Amyclae - Twin brother of Artemis

→ thousands of miniature votive offerings

Myths & Legends Lycurgus: - Legendary law maker - Conjecture regarding his existence

Dioscuri: - Castor and Pollux: half-brothers

through Leda - Mythical adventures together

→ one such adventure involved them deciding to rape the daughters of Leucyppes → girls cousins came to rescue them, killed Castor but then Zeus killed one and Pollux killed the other → Zeus allowed Pollux to live in Olympus with him or give half of his immortality to Castor to resurrect him → now they spend half their time in Olympus and the other half in the underworld

Festivals Hyakinthia: Named after Hyakinthos, Spartan prince who love Apollo

- Three days in early summer - @ Amyklaion - Two stages:

• Grief: no wreaths or singing, offerings at tomb, Spartiates entertain helots • Rejoicing: choral singing, wreaths, sacrifice to Apollo

Gymnopaedia: Festival of unarmed youths

- Held in agora during summer, commemorating loss at Battle of Thyrea 550 BC

- Everyone takes part - Choral performances, dancing, athletic

displays - Thanks to Apollo

Karneia:

- did much to “sweeten the austerity of Spartan life” Michell

- August → grape harvest - Worship of Apollo + local god Karnos

→ celebration of history of Sparta - Music & chase of young man as good

omen - No battle during this 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

Funerary Customs & Rituals

- Lycurgus wanted to dispel superstition regarding death and burial = burial w/in city grounds

- No personal items buried w/ person (just battle cape and olive leaves)

- Tombstones were only for people who died in battle (the greatest honour) or childbirth

- Eleven day period of grief then a sacrifice to Demeter → but Kings were only people with PUBLIC mourning (no meetings held) • people from each house required to wear mourning clothes • visible sings of mourning • statue if he died in battle

- Helots had no funerary rights

→ “strike their forehead” and “wail without control” Webb “Continually declaring that the king who has just died was the best they ever had” Herodotus

Cultural and Everyday Life

Leisure Activites Athletics: running, discus, javelin, jumping, wrestling. Naked. Olympic success. Hunting: deer, boar (men’s right of passage), hares, helots. Equestrian Sports: famous for this, names associated w/ horses, much prestige. Cockfighting: Militaristic values, symbolised hoplites w/ crested helmets. Food & Clothing: sparse, simple.

- Pork & blood broth - Otherwise typical of Mediterranean - Men usually wore hoplite dress

→ grew out hair as a sign of maturity - Women wore revealing peplos

- “one of the noble and blessed privileges which L appears to have secure for his fellow-citizens was an abundance of leisure” Plutarch

“No Spartan girl could lead a respectable life… they leave their house in loose dresses showing naked thighs” Euripides

Marriage Customs - Point of marriage was procreation BUT Alcman demonstrates feelings of love

- Married @ physical prime: 18 for women, 20 for men (Plutarch)

- Woman captured, head shaved, left alone in the dark, man sneaks in → because of socialisation of men: grew up w/ violence and other men

- Men stayed in Barracks until they were 30 → ‘broke in’ to see wives in the night

- “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

- “an exercise in self-controll” + meant that they were “always fresh for love” Plutarch

Art Sculpture:

- Stone and marble - Mostly associated with religion

Bronze work: - 6th C = golden age - Small figurines - Vix Krater: 23 figures – Celtic burial

Ivory/Bone: - Reflects Eastern influence + trade w/

Africa - Over 200 found at Sanctuary of AO

Vase Painting: - 7th C = geometric (Lak I) to more ornate

(Lak II) to 6th C = storytelling + human subjects (Lak III)

- “Early Sparta had a vibrant culture” Burn → “swinging Sparta” vs “barrack Sparta” Fitzhardinge

- “Laconian Cup” Naucratis Painter (c.

570-560 BCE) - scene of the Syssitia + fantastic winged creatures

- Arkesilas Cup – King supervising loading of a ship

Architecture - No houses have been excavated + in general, archaeological remains are sparse

- Setting for social life, not expression of - Ekklesia = in open air - No walls - Most architecture is religious

- Chief source re: public buildings = Pausanius’ “A Guide to Greece”

- “The city is not regularly planned and contains no temples or monuments of great magnificence, but is simply a collection of villages…” Thucydides

- “for the Spartans, it wasn’t walls or magnificent public buildings that made a city; it was their own ideals.” (Hughes)

Writing Alcman: 7th C - Nature, love, food, wine, legends - Written to be performed: celebration

songs, hymns, choral - Didn’t talk about state

Tyrtaeus: 7th C

- “the soldier’s poet” - War and politics

→ but did not glorify - Pro-state ideals

-

Greek Writer’s Views of Sparta

Herodotus: 5th C - From Asia Minor, travelled widely, lived

in Athens - Persian Wars → military - Preserves attitude of other Greeks to

Sparta Thucydides: 5th C

- Athenian, fought w/ Persian King Cyrus , exiled → bias

- Peloponnesian War - Constitution, Helots, etc. presented as - backwards and inflexible

-

Xenophon: 4th C - Athenian but lived in Sparta, sons

through agoge → bias

- Plays down less attractive sides of Sparta e.g. Krypteia

Aristotle: 4th C - Pupil of Plato, taught ATG - Not a fan: explains breakdown of way of

life (inequality of kleros + women owning land – generally hated women)

Plutarch: 2nd C AD - From central Greece - Had access to archives at Delphi - Wrote biography, not history → Lycurgus (reforms: syssitia, laws, burial)

Pausanias: 2nd C AD - Roman-Greece, travelled lots - Cultural travel guide: describes

buildings + fills in myths etc.

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