"This is Sparta!": 9 myths about the Spartans that historians refute

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Spoiler alert: nobody threw weak babies into the abyss.

Sparta is one of the largest city-states of Ancient Greece. It existed in the XI-II centuries BC. NS. and was located in the southern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. A lot of time has passed since then, and today the mass representations of Sparta and its inhabitants look more like an amusement park than a historical reconstruction. Here are some of the popular myths.

1. The Spartans called themselves that

We know about the Spartans from school, but few people realize that the inhabitants of Sparta used to be called differently. To understand the issue, you will have to tell a little about the political system of Hellas. The self-name of Greece. The term "Hellas" is used for a general designation of the territory of the ancient Greek states. The inhabitant of Hellas is a Hellene. …

Ancient Greece was not the History of Ancient Greece. Ed. V. I. Kuzishchina. M. 2005. a single state: it consisted of many policies Form of government: a certain territory, community, united around one center. To put it simply, a city-state. The most famous cities are Athens and Sparta. with its territory, power and laws. The city, which today is called Sparta, was known to the ancient Greeks as Lacedaemon. It received its name from the region of Laconia in the southern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The inhabitants of Lacedaemon were called Lacedaemonians. That is why the Greek letter lambda (Λ) was depicted on the shields of warriors from Sparta.

The locals became Spartans with the light hand of the Romans. The name comes from the word "Sparta". It denoted full citizens (see myth 4) of the Lacedaemonic polis and was extended to all its inhabitants by the Romans by mistake.

2.300 Spartans saved Greece

The Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) is perhaps the most famous battle of the ancient era. The film "300 Spartans" by Zack Snyder tells about the feat of Tsar Leonidas, who with a handful of brave men held back the huge army of the Persian king Xerxes and saved Greece from ruin. But the ancient Greek historians Herodotus and Ephor of Kimsky, from whose writings we know about those events, described this battle in a slightly different way.

Firstly, 5-7 thousand Greeks fought at Thermopylae, and not all of them were Spartans. On the side of Leonidas and his 300 heavily armed hoplites Spear warriors with shields, marching into battle in close formation. Hoplites were the backbone of the armies of ancient Greek poleis. fought 1,000 Tegeans and Mantineans, 1,120 warriors from Arcadia, 680 Peloponnesians and 700 Boeotians.

When, after the betrayal of Ephialtos, it became clear that the Persians would soon surround the army, Leonidas sent most of the Greeks home. At the same time, Herodotus remained with the Spartans. History. M. 2011.700 Boeotians - residents of Thebes and Thespia. Modern Greeks even decided to restore historical justice and erected a monument in honor of the Thebans and Thespians near the monument to the Spartans.

Second, the battle was lost. Xerxes stayed only briefly in the Thermopylae Gorge and was later able to capture most of the territory of Ancient Greece. Moreover, the intransigence of the Spartans brought Konijnendijk R. The Spartans at war. Myth vs reality. Ancient World Magazine. there are many troubles for the Boeotians, Athenians and all of Central Hellas. So, for example, the Persians burned down Cole M. The Myth of Sparta - Were Ancient Greece’s Greatest Warriors Overrated? Military History Now Athens. The Greeks were able to defeat them on land only a year later in the battle of Plataea (479 BC). Peace was concluded even 30 years later.

3. The Spartans threw children into the abyss

All the same Zack Snyder tells us that the Spartans threw the infirm babies into the abyss. Plutarch mentioned the brutal system of selecting future citizens. Comparative biographies. M. 2011. more Plutarch (46-127 AD) in "Comparative Biographies":

Parents did not have the power to bring up their children. The father brought the baby shortly after birth to a place called "lesha", where all the tribes of the elders who examined him were sitting. If they found him strong and healthy, they ordered him to feed and gave him one of ten thousand parts of the land. If he was weak and ugly, then they sent him to the so-called Apophetes, a place filled with abysses, near Taygetus. They thought that one who was born weak and unhealthy could not be useful either to themselves or to society.

Plutarch ancient Greek writer and philosopher

But this is just a myth. In 2010, Theodorus Pitsios, a researcher at the University of Athens, published the results of an archaeological and anthropological study of the remains found in the Apofety gorge under Mount Taygetus. It turned out that the age of people buried there ranges from 18 to 50 years. This does not in any way correspond to the myth set forth by Plutarch, but it fits well into the system of ancient Greek justice. Throwing into the abyss was a ritual punishment for betrayal and crimes and was used not only in Sparta. For information on this, see Greek law. Encyclopedia Britannica. and in other sources, for example, in the Homeric epics.

4. All inhabitants of Sparta were equal

Sparta is a community of warriors, where everyone was equal, since there are no rich and poor in battle. So you might think if you do not know some of the facts.

In fact, the Spartan society was based on the principles of freedom and equality, but not for all of its members, but only for the above-mentioned Spartans. They were full-fledged citizens - land owners, aristocrats, obliged to carry out military service, if necessary. They called themselves homey ("equals"). In the position of slaves, the Spartiats had helots - farmers conquered by the ancestors of the Spartiats in antiquity.

Also, the social system of Sparta knew many transitional states between homeans and helots:

• perieki - personally free citizens, mainly inhabiting the coast and foothill areas;
• Mofaki - children of non-Partisans who have received a complete Spartan education and the opportunity to become citizens;
• neodamody - helots who received freedom and the right to military service, but did not have full civil rights;
• hypomeyons - degraded, impoverished or physically handicapped Gomei, deprived of part of their rights for this.

But even the status of Sparta still needed to be obtained. Until the age of 18–20, young men were brought up in special boarding schools - agels. After that, the Spartan was still 10-12 years old Marru A. I. History of education in antiquity (Greece). M. 1998. under the supervision of mentors and only after 30 years could leave the barracks and start a private life.

On the other hand, women belonging to the Spartiat clans, in contrast to the inhabitants of Athens and other ancient Greek policies, were respected and had a status comparable to that of men. They were raised at home, practiced sports, learned to hold weapons and control slaves. When men went to war, they had to be able to provide for and protect themselves. Girls were forbidden to marry before the age of 20 so that they could give birth to healthy children. The rights to dissolve the union were Pomeroy S. B. Spartan Women. Oxford Univercity Press. 2002. are the same for both sexes.

5. The Spartans had an invincible army

Of course, the army of Sparta was a serious force and at the end of the 5th century BC. NS. dominated the Greek world, but it is only a stretch to call her invincible.

Before the start of the Greco-Persian wars (499-449 BC), the army of Sparta stood out against the background of other poleis only in number. Writes about this Konijnendijk R. The Spartans at war. Myth vs reality. Ancient World Magazine. Roel Konijnendijk, professor at Leiden University, based on years of research by a group of historians. Lacedaemon could deploy the largest army in Hellas - about 8 thousand people. For comparison: 300 Spartans who died at Thermopylae is only 4% of the number of warriors who could have fought Cole M. The Myth of Sparta - Were Ancient Greece’s Greatest Warriors Overrated? Military History Now for Lacedaemon.700 Boeotians made up the entire male population of Thebes and Thespia, capable of holding weapons.

At the same time, not a single source testifies to the special ferocity, uniqueness of the military institutions of the Spartans or their military exploits. The same Herodotus writes Herodotus. History. M. 2011. that in the Battle of Champions (about 550 BC), under equal conditions, the warriors from Argos showed themselves better than the Spartans. Also sources Xenophon. Lacedaemonic polity / Zaikov A. V. Society of ancient Sparta: the main categories of social structure. Ekaterinburg. 2013. reported that the Lacedaemonian cavalry was useless.

The turning point in the formation of the image of the Spartan army, considers Konijnendijk R. The Spartans at war. Myth vs reality. Ancient World Magazine. Konijnendijk, was the Battle of Thermopylae and especially its description by Herodotus. The earliest source of data on this battle made a myth out of it, which the Spartans happily supported. This often helped them break the spirit of their opponents, even without engaging in battle.

The Spartans were remembered as heroes, but the fact that they surrendered to the Athenians in the battle of Sfakteria (425 BC), lost Asia Minor to the Persians in the Corinthian War (395-387 BC) and lost to Thebes (battle under Leuctra in 371 BCE), no one usually speaks. The Romans also played a role in this, looking for an example of a warlike state to look up to, and maintaining the reputation of the Spartan warriors. Rome, by the way, itself subdued Sparta in 146 BC. NS.

6. Training since childhood and honed art of using weapons - the reason for Spartan victories

The authors who make up the tops of the coolest warriors will tell you that the Spartans learned how to use weapons from childhood, so they had no equal. But historians refute Konijnendijk R. The Spartans at war. Myth vs reality. Ancient World Magazine. it's a delusion.

The Spartans did not live only for the sake of war, and their social structure was no different from the typical ancient Greek oligarchy. A political regime in which power is concentrated in the hands of a narrow circle of wealthy citizens. Described in the works of the classics of ancient Greek literature Plato and Aristotle as one of the political systems of Hellas. … The system of education and upbringing, in which the state takes boys from the family from a young age, existed in other policies as well. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the special individual military skill of the Spartans.

It would be more correct to say that the main advantage of the soldiers from Laconia was discipline, obedience instilled from childhood and the division of the army. Phalanx The formation of spearmen, widespread in Ancient Greece, outwardly resembled a bristling hedgehog. was not a unique invention of the Spartans, but they were the only ones among the Hellenes who guessed to divide it into groups of 15 people and make them move in step in a single formation. The Spartans instilled a simple rule "follow the man in front of you" even to subordinate allies, literally making an army out of the crowd in just a few days.

A clear system of command, distribution and execution of orders is the real reason for the success of warriors with a lambda on their shield. By the way, only in Sparta did the army have the same uniform.

7. The Spartans were not interested in anything other than war

In fact, young Spartiats, despite the barracks living conditions, were not brought up only as warriors and murderers. In agels, they not only did physical exercises, but also studied Konijnendijk R. The Spartans at war. Myth vs reality. Ancient World Magazine. write and read, dance, recite poetry. Military service was the responsibility of the citizens of Sparta, not a profession. Most of the time they were landowners, so they had to be able to manage helots, know the laws and become full-fledged citizens.

The fact that in Sparta not only war was held in high esteem, says the story of the poet Alkman. He was born in Asia Minor and arrived in Sparta as a slave, but Heraclidis Lembi was released for his poetic talent. Excerpta Politarium. Roman and Byzantine Monographs. New York. 1971. and was even awarded a monument in his second homeland.

Another creative hero of Sparta was Terpander Terpander. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. SPb. 1890-1907. - the legendary founder of classical ancient Greek music and lyric poetry. True, he, too, was not a native of this policy, but arrived there to suppress popular unrest.

8. Athens and Sparta were allies

After watching the movie "300 Spartans: The Rise of an Empire" one might think that Sparta and Athens were, if not friendly states, then at least allies. However, this is far from the truth.

The two largest cities of Hellas inevitably went to a collision Mironov VB Ancient Greece. M. 2006. for hegemony in the Greek world. Athens was strong at sea, Sparta was strong on land; the Athenians adhered to the principles of the ancient. Despite the fact that the word "democracy" is of ancient Greek origin, it is impossible to compare modern and Athenian democracy. democracy, and the Spartans had kings and an oligarchy. When Xerxes approached Athens after the Battle of Thermopylae, the Spartans hesitated to send troops. The same thing happened to Herodotus. History. M. 2011. before the famous battle of Marathon (490 BC). However, the Athenians themselves did not come to the aid of Leonidas at Thermopylae.

It is not surprising that after the Persians were repulsed, Athens and Sparta clashed in a series of wars, attracting other poleis to their side. They significantly weakened each other and, as a result, two and a half centuries later, they were conquered by the Romans.

9. Sparta was ruled by one king

Even watching a film that is not as mythologized as "300 Spartans" in 1962, one would think that Sparta was ruled by one charismatic leader. In reality, everything was different. The Lacedaemonians had VB Mironov Ancient Greece. M. 2006. two kings from the dynasties of the Agiads and Euripontides at once. For example, the co-ruler of Leonidas (of the Agiads) was Leotichides II (of the Euripontids). Their power was inherited.

In addition to the kings in Sparta, there was Mironov VB Ancient Greece. M. 2006. gerusia - council of 28 noble elders. She had an equal number of votes with the kings when deciding issues. The Gerons, members of the Gerusia, remained at their post until the end of their lives.

Tsars and Gerons ruled Sparta and formed the basis of its oligarchic system. Ordinary Spartiates at general meetings could only accept or reject their decisions.