| Sparta Essay, Research Paper
The early expansion of Sparta
Sparta is a town located south of the Arcadian
highlands in Greece. One of a number of townships that
arose on the Laconia plain was Sparta, which consisted of
Pitane, Mesoa, Limnae, and Conoura, all small villages.
Sparta then conquered other nearby villages and took over
the plain of Laconia. Sparta , which may mean ?scattered,?
was made up of homes and estates spread around an area
centering on a small hill that came to be named Acropolis.
Sparta was unwalled, unlike other ancient cities, until after
200 B.C.
The Messenian Wars
The continuing expansion led Sparta to Northeast of Mt.
Parnon to defeat the plain of Thyrea, but the Argives
defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Hysiae. Sparta lost
interest in that area for more than 100 years. The expansion
led toward the west into Messenia a plain which was settled
by the Dorians. A nineteen year war began and the
Spartans won. Then Messenia gave Sparta their extensive
land, and when Messenia combined with Laconia, the area
was appropriately called Lacedaemon.
EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPARTA:
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Boys Trained as Fighters
Sparta was run like an army camp, life was very
competitive, and the people lived like savages. This way of
living was extremely different than the lives of the people
that lived in other Greek communities because they feared
that the helots, or their slaves, would revolt as well as other
enemies. Spartans were tough people who raised their
children to be tough as well. The boys had to walk around
barefoot, and in cold weather they were allowed to wear
only one cloak. They were starved and told to steal food,
but if they got caught they were beaten. This was to teach
them to steal more efficiently in the future. The whip was
part of the upbringing in Sparta, and it was used on younger
boys by the older ones during stealing competitions.
Helots were slaves that greatly outnumbered the
Spartans, and the teaching the children to received was
teach the boys to hunt runaway helots. This involves staying
in the countryside undetected for days and stealing food to
survive. Strength and courage are necessary traits for the
boys to possess in battles against enemies from other
states. They learn to fear authority and do what they are
told so that when they are in battle they will not argue
commands. In other Greek cities, the elderly were not given
as much power and respect as in Sparta.
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Spartan girls also trained in athletics. They were
involved in running, jumping, wrestling, and throwing the
discus and the javelin. This was so that they could raise
strong healthy children.
Why Spartans despised Family Life
Boys do not always go home to their families at night,
and young married couples were not allowed to be seen
with one another in public. Wife and husband were not
meant to become close. Men of all ages ate in military
messes and woman were not around. That was because the
differences created from being raised in separate families
can make people dislike one another. Families tend to be
loyal to themselves, and this can lead to fighting with other
families. If that happened, Sparta would become
vulnerable to the helots and their other enemies.
Encouraging Bravery by Scorning Weakness
Spartans were banned from heavy drinking because
this would allow the helots a chance to revolt. All other
Greek cities had relaxed and happy times because they did
not have the Spartan?s worries, and they had religious
festivals with mass drunkenness.
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Humiliation was a common practice to teach younger
citizens. A man who failed to go into battle and fight bravely
was made to shave only one side of his face and grow a
beard on the other so he could be laughed at and scorned.
The Peloponnesian War
Athens wanted to create one state of all the city-states
and make Athens the capital of all of Greece. Their navy
started to attack cities to force them to join Athenian
empire. Sparta refused to join the Delian League, and
Sparta, with the help of other supporters, formed the
Peloponnesian League. The Peloponnesian War lasted for
twenty-seven years. Finally, a Spartan general, Lysander,
defeated the Athenian fleet by a surprise attack in the
harbor at Aegospotami on the Hellespont. Lysander then
sailed to Piraeus, a place where strong city walls linked the
city with the harbor, and his ships stopped food from getting
to Athens. The starvation caused by this action forced
Athens to surrender in 404 B.C. When the war was over, the
city-states were happy to be free of the harsh rule of the
Athenian empire, until they realized that they were in a far
worse situation then before. Spartan were harsh rulers who
were not believers in democracy. The city-states rebelled
and the powerful Spartans were defeated for the very first
time by a smaller army in the year 371 B.C.
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The Three Classes of the Spartan State
The three classes were the Spartiatai, or true Spartans,
the perioikoi, made up of the inhabitants of federated towns
that surrounded the city of Sparta, and the Helots. Only the
Spartiatai had voting privileges and a say in the
government. The perioikoi carried on the necessary trade
and industry of the country. They were not involved in the
government , but did have certain rights. The Helots carried
on all the daily work and Sparta was able to concentrate on
military training.
BY: Krystal
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