CLASSICS 2LW3 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Eugenics, Syssitia, Gerousia
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Plutarch | Life of Lycurgus
480 BC - Battle of Thermopylae
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Epithet of Simonides - "Stranger, go and tell the Spartans that here we lie, obedient to their
command"
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Cicero "Stranger, go and tell the Spartans that here we lie, obedient to their laws"
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Cicero is better versed in Greek than anyone still living - so why change the phrasing?
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Demaratus - "For though they are free men, they are not entirely free. They accept law as
their master. And they respect this master more than your subjects respect you. Whatever
he commands, they do. And his command never changes: he forbids them to flee in battle,
whatever the number of their foes."
○
300 Spartans (not including allies) fought to the death guarding the retreat from the battle against
the Persians. The two survivors committed suicide after arriving home.
Spartan Military Ethos
Literary Testimony to Early Sparta
700 BC - Tyrtaeus, an elegiac poet who was probably Spartan
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500 BC - Herodotus, Thucydides
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400 BC - Xenophon, an Athenian aristocrat who spent some time in Sparta
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100 BC - Plutarch
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Modern day Sparta reveals little to no remains or structures, and virtually no surviving inscriptions.
Spartiates were full citizen hoplite soldiers, often referred to as the Lacedaemonians
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Often accompanying Spartiates to war, they represented a majority of Spartan military
numbers in the hoplite phalanx, and were "not the Spartans' equals, but good soldiers
nonetheless"
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The Perioikoi were those from other communities in Laconia, neither autonomous nor subject to
Sparta
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During the first Spartan expansion westward, conquest and annexation of extra-regional
territory across the Taygetus Mountains led to the acquisition of helots
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Helots were not slaves, as slaves have no property, can be moved at masters will, and
cannot marry; helots were allowed to remain on their land (to hold, but not to own it), to
marry, and reproduce, as long as 50% of their produce was given to the Spartiates who
were allotted their land
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The domestic impact of helotry allowed Spartan citizens to focus on training for battle
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The foreign impact of helotry ensured that the Spartan military could not travel too far
from home, else they'd have to face a helot uprising
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Helots of Messenia
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The Spartan People
820 BC - Lycurgus, the Spartan Law-Giver and Spartan Society
The quasi-legendary law-giver of Sparta who established a military-oriented reformation of
Spartan society, in accordance with the Oracle at Delphi
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"The Lacedaemonians previously had just about the worst customs in all Greece; not only were their
domestic policies no good, but they also had no dealings with foreigners. But they changed their
constitution for the better…" - Herodotus
The first constitutional document to survive from the Archaic Age, the Spartan Constitution is
attributed to Lycurgus
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May have come from conscious decisions (Lycurgus), or may be the result of a long period of
reforms
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Presumably oral, as written documentation was not used by the Spartans - "The Great
Proclamation"
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Tradition of good order and governance eunomia
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800 BC? - The Great Rhetra
Citizens were not permitted to mint coins - thus, Sparta lacked currency in the Archaic Age, and
used iron spits; Plutarch wrote that economic equality lead to fewer legal challenges
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Land in Laconia and Messenia was redistributed amongst the Spartiates to be worked by helots,
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The contents of the Rhetra include:
Lycurgan Sparta
October 23, 2017
3:26 PM
Ancient Law Page 1
Document Summary
300 spartans (not including allies) fought to the death guarding the retreat from the battle against the persians. The two survivors committed suicide after arriving home. Epithet of simonides - "stranger, go and tell the spartans that here we lie, obedient to their command" Cicero "stranger, go and tell the spartans that here we lie, obedient to their laws" Demaratus - "for though they are free men, they are not entirely free. And they respect this master more than your subjects respect you. And his command never changes: he forbids them to flee in battle, whatever the number of their foes. " Modern day sparta reveals little to no remains or structures, and virtually no surviving inscriptions. 700 bc - tyrtaeus, an elegiac poet who was probably spartan. 400 bc - xenophon, an athenian aristocrat who spent some time in sparta. Spartiates were full citizen hoplite soldiers, often referred to as the lacedaemonians.
