Spartans: A New History

Spartans: A New History chronicles the rise and fall of ancient Sparta, from its Bronze Age origins to the powerful Greek city–state′s demise in Late Antiquity. Incorporating the latest archaeological evidence and scholarly research, Kennell′s comprehensive historical account includes discussions of the Dorian invasion and Greek legend of the Return of the Heraclidae, the Spartan conquest of Messenia, and the origins of helot slavery. Also covered is Sparta′s development as the foremost military power in Greece and its role in the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. Kennell punctuates the narrative with biographical sketches of important figures in Spartan history. Primarily focused on the Archaic and Classical periods, the book also surveys Spartan history during the Hellenistic and Roman ages, when Spartans crafted an image of their city as an unaltered relic from its earlier glory days. Spartans: A New History challenges preconceptions about Spartan history and represents an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship today.

List of illustrations vi Map vii Introduction 1 1 The Name, the Land, and the Sources 4 2 Sons of Heracles 20 3 Conquest, Crisis, and Consolidation 39 4 From Cleomenes to Pausanias 54 5 Helots and Perioeci 76 6 Governing Sparta 93 7 Leotychidas to Lysander 115 8 Agesilaus and the Army 135 9 From Archidamus III to Nabis 159 10 From the Achaean League to the Roman Empire 181 Bibliography 195 Index 203

Nigel M. Kennell  is an Instructor at the International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies in Athens, Greece. He is the author of The Gymnasium of Virtue (1995) , and has published numerous articles on Spartan history and Greek civic institutions – especially the gymnasium – in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

"For those of us not experts in Sparta this is a useful and informative, but occasionally demanding, read." ( Bryn Mawr, August 2010) "This is a book that one may with confidence ... place in the hands of anglophone undergraduate students." ( Anglo–Hellenic Review , Spring 2010)