A Companion to Sparta: 2 Volume Set

Presents the first comprehensive, multi–authored series of essays to address all aspects of Spartan history and society from its origins in the Greek Dark Ages to the late Roman Empire.

Home to perhaps the most celebrated warrior elite the world has ever known, few societies have left a more enduring legacy than the ancient Greek city–state of Sparta. A Companion to Sparta gives readers a unique and immersive look at this incredible society and its effect on the world. In this two–volume collection, authors combine cutting–edge research and innovative insights of their own with accessible surveys of recent scholarship on Sparta′s archaeology and history from its mist–shrouded origins in the Greek Dark Ages following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization to the waning days of the late Roman Empire.

Along with coverage of the full evolutionary sweep of classical Sparta′s politics and warfare, essays highlight cultural topics such as Sparta′s distinctive systems of education and religion, athletics, music, plastic art, and vase–painting; as well as its influence on the modern world and reception in Europe and North America. Of particular note are chapters addressing such themes as the unique roles of women, state–owned Helots, and perioikoi (free, yet non–citizen inhabitants) in ancient Spartan society.

Offers a lucid, comprehensive introduction to all aspects of ancient Sparta, a community recognized by contemporary cities as the greatest power in classical Greece Features in–depth coverage of Spartan history and culture Includes contributions by today′s internationally–recognized scholarly authorities on Sparta Provides over a dozen images of Spartan art that reveal the evolution of everyday life in Sparta Sheds new light on modern controversy relating to changes in Spartan society from the Archaic to Classical periods

Unlike any book before it, A Companion to Sparta offers invaluable insights into an ancient warrior society that has fascinated and inspired the Western world for millennia, and will appeal to students and scholars of ancient history, ancient Greece, Classical Greece, and Archaic Greece.

Notes on Contributors ix

Foreword by Paul Cartledge xii

Preface xvii

PART I Reconstructing Sparta: General 1

1 Sparta: Reconstructing History from Secrecy, Lies and Myth 3
Anton Powell

2 Sparta: An Exceptional Domination of State over Society? 29
Stephen Hodkinson

PART II Origins: From Pre–Classical to Classical Culture 59

3 An Archaeology of Ancient Sparta with Reference to Laconia and Messenia 61
William Cavanagh

4 Lykourgos the Spartan Lawgiver : Ancient Beliefs and Modern Scholarship 93
Massimo Nafissi

5 Laconian Pottery 124
Maria Pipili

6 Laconian Art 154
Francise Prost (Translated by James Roy)

7 Pre ]Classical Sparta as Song Culture 177
Claude Calame (Translated by James Roy)

8 Luxury, Austerity and Equality in Sparta 202
Hans van Wees

9 The Common Messes 236
Hans van Wees

PART III Political and Military History: The Classical Period and Beyond 269

10 Sparta and the Persian Wars, 499 478 271
Marcello Lupi

11 Sparta s Foreign and Internal History 478 403 291
Anton Powell

12 The Empire of the Spartans (404 371) 320
Françoise Ruzé(Translated by Anton Powell)

13 Sparta and the Peloponnese from the Archaic Period to 362 bc 354
James Roy

14 From Leuktra to Nabis, 371 192 374
Daniel Stewart

15 Sparta in the Roman Period 403
Yves Lafond(Translated by Anton Powell)

Notes on Contributors ix

PART IV Culture, Society and Economy: The Classical Period and Beyond 423

16 Spartan Religion 425
Michael A. Flower

17 Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans Divine Dyarchy 452
Ellen G. Millender

18 Equality and Distinction within the Spartiate Community 480
Philip Davies

19 Spartan Women 500
Ellen G. Millender

20 Spartan Education in the Classical Period 525
Nicolas Richer (Translated by Anton Powell)

21 Sparta and Athletics 543
Paul Christesen

22 Helotage and the Spartan Economy 565
Thomas Figueira

23 The Perioikoi 596
Jean Ducat(Translated by Anton Powell)

24 Roads and Quarries in Laconia 615
Jacqueline Christien (Translated by Christopher Annandale and Anton Powell)

25 Spartan Cultural Memory in the Roman Period 643
Nigel M. Kennell

PART V Reception of Sparta in Recent Centuries 663

26 The Literary Reception of Sparta in France 665
Haydn Mason

27 Reception of Sparta in Germany and German ]Speaking Europe 685
Stefan Rebenich

28 Reception of Sparta in North America: Eighteenth to Twenty ]First Centuries 704
Sean R. Jensen

29 Sparta and the Imperial Schools of Britain: Comparisons 723
Anton Powell

Bibliography 760

Index

Anton Powell is Director of the Classical Press of Wales, and an internationally recognized authority on Sparta, Athens, and the Roman Revolution. He founded the International Sparta Seminar, and co–edited a succession of collective volumes which have contributed to the revival and reshaping of Spartan studies. Powell is the author of Athens and Sparta, Third Edition, and editor of Classical Sparta, Sparta at War, and Sparta: The Body Politic, among others.