In the southeast of the largest Greek peninsula - the Peloponnese - the mighty Sparta was once located. This state was located in the region of Laconia, in the picturesque valley of the Evrot River. Its official name, which was most often mentioned in international treaties, is Lacedaemon. It is from this state that such concepts as “Spartan” and “Spartan” came from. Everyone also heard about the cruel custom prevailing in this ancient policy: to kill weak newborns in order to maintain the gene pool of their nation.
History of occurrence
Officially, Sparta, which was called Lacedaemon (from this word also came the name noma - Laconia), arose in the eleventh century BC. After some time, the entire area on which this city-state was located was captured by Dorian tribes. Those who, having assimilated with the local Achaeans, became Spartacians in the sense known today, and the former inhabitants were turned into slaves, called helots.
The most Doric of all the states that Ancient Greece once knew, Sparta, was on the western bank of Eurotus, on the site of the modern city of the same name. Its name can be translated as "scattered." It consisted of estates and estates that were scattered throughout Laconia. And the center was a low hill, which later became known as the Acropolis. Initially, Sparta had no walls and remained true to this principle until the second century BC.
The political system of Sparta
It was based on the principle of unity of all full citizens of the policy. To this end, the state and the law of Sparta strictly regulated the life and life of its subjects, restraining their stratification of property. The foundations of such a social system were laid by the agreement of the legendary Lycurgus. According to him, the responsibilities of the Spartans were only sports or martial arts, and crafts, agriculture and trade were the work of the Helots and the Perieks.
As a result, the system established by Lycurgus transformed the Spartian military democracy into an oligarchic-slave-owning republic, which at the same time retained some signs of a tribal system. It did not allow
private ownership of land, which was divided into equal plots, considered community property and not for sale. Helot slaves also, as historians suggest, belonged to the state, not to wealthy citizens.
Sparta is one of the few states headed by two kings at the same time, which were called archagets. Their power was inherited. The powers that every king of Sparta possessed was reduced not only to military power, but also to the organization of sacrifices, as well as to participate in the council of elders.
The latter was called gerusia and consisted of two archagets and twenty-eight geronts. The elders were elected by the assembly for life only from the Spartan nobility, who reached the age of sixty. Gerusia in Sparta served as a kind of government body. She prepared issues that needed to be discussed at public meetings, and also led foreign policy. In addition, the council of elders considered criminal cases, as well as state crimes, aimed, among other things, against archagets.
Court
Judicial proceedings and the law of ancient Sparta were regulated by a collegium of ephors. This organ first appeared in the eighth century BC. It consisted of the five most worthy citizens of the state, who were elected by the national assembly for only one year. At first, the powers of the Ephors were limited only to the proceedings of property disputes. But already in the sixth century BC, their power and authority was growing. Gradually they begin to displace the gerusia. The Eporams were given the right to convene a national assembly and the Georgians, to regulate foreign policy, to exercise internal control of Sparta and its legal proceedings. This body was so important in the public system of the state that its powers included the control of officials, including the archaghet.
National assembly
Sparta is an example of an aristocratic state. In order to suppress the forced population, whose representatives were called helots, the development of private property was artificially restrained in order to maintain equality among the Spartians themselves.
Apella, or the popular assembly, in Sparta was characterized by passivity. Only full-fledged male citizens who have reached the age of thirty had the right to participate in this body. At first, the national assembly convened an archaget, but later its leadership also passed to the collegium of Ephors. Apella could not discuss the questions put forward, she only rejected or accepted the decision she proposed. The members of the national assembly voted very primitively: by shouting or dividing the participants on different sides, after which the majority was determined by sight.
Population
Residents of the Lacedaemon state have always been class unequal. This situation was created by the social system of Sparta, which provided for three estates: the elite, perieks - free residents from nearby cities without voting rights, as well as state slaves - helots.
The Spartans, who were in privileged conditions, engaged exclusively in war. They were far from trade, crafts and agriculture, all of which were rightfully left to the perieks. At the same time, the estates of elite Spartans processed helots, which the latter rented from the state. In the heyday of the state, the nobility was five times less than the period, and ten - helots.
The history of Sparta
All periods of the existence of this one of the most ancient states can be divided into prehistoric, ancient, classical, Roman and Hellenistic eras. Each of them left its imprint not only in the formation of the ancient state of Sparta. Greece has borrowed a lot from this story during its formation.
Prehistoric era
Leleges originally lived on laconic lands, but after the capture of the Peloponnese by the Dorians, this area, which was always considered the most infertile and generally insignificant, as a result of fraud went to the two minor sons of the legendary king Aristodem - Eurisfen and Proclus.
Soon, the main city of Lacedaemon became Sparta, whose system for a long time did not stand out from the rest of the Doric states. She waged constant external wars with neighboring Argos or Arcadian cities. The most significant rise occurred during the reign of Lycurgus, the ancient Spartan legislator, to whom the ancient historians unanimously attribute the political system that subsequently reigned in Sparta for several centuries.
Antique era
After winning the wars lasting from 743 to 723 and from 685 to 668. BC, Sparta was able to finally defeat and capture Messenia. As a result, its ancient inhabitants were deprived of their land and turned into helots. Six years later, Sparta at the cost of incredible efforts defeated the Arcadians, and in 660 BC. e. led Tegea to recognize its hegemony. According to the agreement, which was kept on a convoy set up near Alphea, she forced her to enter into a military alliance. It was from this time that Sparta in the eyes of the peoples began to be considered the first state of Greece.
The history of Sparta at this stage boils down to the fact that its inhabitants began to make attempts to overthrow the tyrants appearing from the seventh millennium BC. e. in almost all Greek states. It was the Spartans who helped to expel the Kipselids from Corinth, the Pisistrates from Athens, they contributed to the liberation of Sikion and Phocis, as well as several islands in the Aegean Sea, thereby gaining grateful supporters in different states.
The history of Sparta in the classical era
Having entered into an alliance with Tegea and Elis, the Spartans began to win over the rest of the cities of Laconia and neighboring regions. As a result, the Peloponnesian Union was formed, in which Sparta assumed hegemony. These were wonderful times for her: she exercised leadership in wars, was the center of assemblies and all meetings of the Union, without encroaching on the independence of individual states that retained autonomy.
Sparta never tried to extend its power to the Peloponnese, but the threat of danger pushed all other states, with the exception of Argos, to go under its protection during the Greco-Persian wars. Having eliminated the danger directly, the Spartans, realizing that they were not able to wage war with the Persians far from their own borders, did not object when Athens took on further leadership in the war, limiting itself only to the peninsula.
Since that time, signs of rivalry between the two states began to appear, which subsequently spilled over into the First Peloponnesian War, which ended with the Thirty Years' Peace. The fighting not only broke the power of Athens and established the hegemony of Sparta, but also led to a gradual violation of its foundations - the laws of Lycurgus.
As a result, in 397 BC, the uprising of Kinadon occurred, which, however, was unsuccessful. However, after certain setbacks, especially the defeat in the battle of Knidus in 394 BC. e., Sparta lost Asia Minor, but became a judge and mediator in Greek affairs, thus motivating her policy with the freedom of all states, and was able to secure the primacy in alliance with Persia. And only Thebes did not obey the set conditions, thereby depriving Sparta of the advantages of such a shameful world for her.
Hellenistic and Roman era
Starting from these years, the state began to decline rather quickly. Depleted and burdened with the debts of its citizens, Sparta, whose system was based on the laws of Lycurgus, turned into an empty form of government. An alliance was concluded with the Phocians. And although the Spartans sent help to them, they did not provide real support. In the absence of Alexander the Great, King Agis, using the money received from Darius, attempted to get rid of the Macedonian yoke. But he, having failed in the battles at the metropolis, was killed. Gradually began to disappear and became the household spirit, which was so famous for Sparta.
The heyday of the empire
Sparta is a state that for three centuries has been the envy of all of ancient Greece. Between the eighth and fifth centuries BC, it was an accumulation of hundreds of cities, often at war with each other. One of the key figures for the development of Sparta as a powerful and strong state was Lycurgus. Before its appearance, it was not much different from the rest of the ancient Greek polis-states. But with the advent of Lycurgus, the situation changed, and development priorities were given to the art of war. From that moment on, Lacedaemon began to transform. And it is precisely at this period that its heyday falls.
Since the eighth century BC. e. Sparta began to wage aggressive wars, conquering one by one its neighbors in the Peloponnese. After a series of successful military operations, Sparta proceeded to establish diplomatic relations with her most powerful opponents. Having concluded several treaties, Lacedaemon became the head of the alliance of the Peloponnesian states, considered one of the most powerful formations of ancient Greece. Sparta's creation of this alliance was to serve to repel the Persian invasion.
The state of Sparta was a mystery to historians. The Greeks not only admired his citizens, but were afraid of them. One type of bronze shields and scarlet cloaks worn by the warriors of Sparta, fled the enemies, forcing them to capitulate.
Not only the enemies, but the Greeks themselves did not really like it when the army, even a small one, was located next to them. The explanation was very simple: the warriors of Sparta had a reputation as invincible. The sight of their phalanges led to a state of panic even those who saw the species. And although only a small number of fighters participated in the battles in those days, nevertheless, they never lasted long.
The beginning of the recession of the empire
But at the beginning of the fifth century BC e. the massive invasion undertaken from the East was the beginning of the decline of the power of Sparta. The huge Persian empire, which had always dreamed of expanding its territories, sent a large army to Greece. Two hundred thousand people stood at the borders of Hellas. But the Greeks, led by the Spartans, accepted the challenge.
Tsar Leonid
Being the son of Anaxandrid, this king belonged to the Agiad dynasty. After the death of his older brothers, Doriei and Clemen the First, it was Leonid who took over the rule. Sparta in 480 years before our reckoning was at war with Persia. And the name of Leonid is associated with the immortal feat of the Spartans, when a battle took place in the Thermopilsky Gorge, which remained in history for centuries.
It happened in 480 BC. e., when the hordes of Persian king Xerxes tried to capture the narrow passage connecting Central Greece with Thessaly. At the head of the troops, including the allied, was king Leonid. Sparta at that time held a leading position among friendly states. But Xerxes, taking advantage of the betrayal of the dissatisfied, went around the Thermopyllian Gorge and entered the rear of the Greeks.
Warriors of Sparta
Learning about this, Leonid, who fought along with his warriors, dismissed the allied forces, sending them home. And he himself, with a handful of warriors, the number of which was only three hundred people, stood in the way of the twenty-thousandth Persian army. The Thermopilian Gorge was strategic for the Greeks. In the event of a defeat, they would be cut off from Central Greece, and their fate would be a foregone conclusion.
For four days, the Persians could not break the incomparably smaller enemy forces. The heroes of Sparta fought like lions. But the forces were unequal.
Fearless warriors of Sparta died all to one. Together with them, their king Leonid, who did not want to leave his comrades, fought to the end.
Leonid’s name has gone down in history forever. Chroniclers, including Herodotus, wrote: “Many kings died and have long been forgotten. But everyone knows and honors Leonid. His name will always be remembered by Sparta, Greece. And not because he was king, but because he completely fulfilled his duty to his homeland and died as a hero. Films were written about this episode in the life of the heroic Hellenes, and books were written.
The feat of the Spartans
The Persian king Xerxes, whom the dream of capturing Hellas did not leave, invaded Greece in the year 480 BC. At this time, the Hellenes held the Olympic Games. The Spartans were preparing to celebrate the Carneys.
Both of these holidays obliged the Greeks to observe a sacred truce. This was one of the main reasons why only a small detachment opposed the Persians in the Thermopyl Gorge.
A detachment of three hundred Spartans headed by Tsar Leonid went towards the army of Xerxes. Warriors were selected on the basis of having children. On the way to the militias, Leonid was joined by a thousand people of Teigans, Arcadians and Mantines, as well as one hundred and twenty from Orchomen. Four hundred warriors were sent from Corinth, from Flint and Mycenae, three hundred.
When this small army approached the Thermopyllic passage and saw the number of Persians, many soldiers were frightened and began to talk about the retreat. Some of the allies proposed moving to the peninsula to guard Istm. However, others became indignant at such a decision. Leonid, ordered the army to remain in place, sent messengers to all cities asking for help, since they had too few soldiers to successfully repel the Persian attack.
For four days, King Xerxes, hoping that the Greeks would take flight, did not begin hostilities. But seeing that this did not happen, he sent the Cassians and the Medes against them with the order to take Leonid alive and bring him to him. Those quickly attacked the Hellenes. Each onslaught of the Medes ended in huge losses, but others came to the place of the fallen. It was then that the Spartans and Persians realized that Xerxes had a lot of people, but few soldiers among them. The fight lasted all day.
Having received a decisive rebuff, the Medes were forced to retreat. But they were replaced by the Persians, led by Gidarn. Xerxes called them an "immortal" detachment and hoped that they would easily end the Spartans. But in hand-to-hand fighting, they also failed, like the Medes, to achieve great success.
The Persians had to fight in cramped quarters, with shorter spears, while the Hellenes were longer, which in this fight gave a definite advantage.
At night, the Spartans again attacked the Persian camp. They managed to kill many enemies, but their main goal was defeat in the general turmoil of Xerxes himself. And only when it dawned, the Persians saw the small detachment of the king Leonid. They threw spears at the Spartans and finished off with arrows.
The road to Central Greece was open to the Persians. Xerxes personally examined the battlefield. Finding the dead Spartan king, he ordered him to chop off his head and put her on a stake.
There is a legend that Tsar Leonid, going to Thermopylae, clearly understood that he would die, so when he asked his wife when he said goodbye what orders would be, he ordered him to find a good husband and give birth to sons. This was the life position of the Spartans, ready to die for their homeland on the battlefield in order to receive the crown of glory.
The beginning of the Peloponnesian war
After some time, the conflicting Greek policies united and were able to repulse Xerxes. But, despite the joint victory over the Persians, the alliance between Sparta and Athens did not last long. In 431 BC e. Peloponnesian war broke out. And only after several decades, the Spartan state won the victory.
But not everyone in Ancient Greece liked the rule of Lacedaemon. Therefore, half a century later, new hostilities erupted. This time Thebes became his rivals, who, with the Allies, managed to inflict a serious defeat on Sparta. As a result, the power of the state was lost.
Conclusion
That was the ancient Sparta. She was one of the main contenders for primacy and supremacy in the ancient Greek picture of the world. Some milestones of Spartan history are glorified in the works of the great Homer. A prominent “Iliad” occupies a special place among them.
And now from this glorious polis now there are only the ruins of some of its structures and unfading glory. Contemporaries have heard legends about the heroism of her warriors, as well as a small town with the same name in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula.