Ancient Sparta: features, political system, culture, history. What happened to the mighty Sparta In what century did the Spartans live?

King Agesilaus, full of imperial ambitions, wanting conquer Greece, to have governments everywhere consisting of his friends, manages to alienate all the Greeks, and above all.

Thebes was a long-time and reliable ally of Sparta. Located in an area called , Thebes was an important strategic point during the Peloponnesian War. And Sparta used Thebes to conquer Athens.

But the war helped Thebes become much stronger and richer. Any wealth in the area somehow ends up in Thebes. Moreover, during the war, Thebes begins to feel like a military power, and is now not averse to subjugate all of Boeotia.

During the war, Thebes also manages to create new things, stronger government. While the Peloponnesian War is going on, something like a revolution is happening in Thebes: more than conservative farmers suddenly create democratic society which involves the entire population.

Democratic Thebes so close to Athens is an extremely unpleasant prospect for Sparta. When they learn what kind of winds their ally is blowing, the Spartans undertake what was probably their only head start. foreign policy. The Spartans, instead of somehow calming down Thebes and sharing power with them, make an attempt suppress the democracy of Thebes and undermine their independence.

Sparta launches extremely brutal attacks in an attempt to overthrow the government of Thebes. This causes a response, and it does not boil down to anti-Spartanism. Democracy in Thebes is gaining strength, being created National Army of Thebes of 10 thousand hoplites, superbly prepared both physically and strategically - no less effective than the Spartan army. And they are very angry with Sparta.

The Theban army was commanded by a man who was far superior to his predecessors and had an exceptional influence on the future of Sparta. He was a great commander who resorted to tactics that were unknown before him.

At the beginning, the Spartan king Agesilaus is undaunted, the oligarchy remains inviolable. But with each victory of Agesilaus, Sparta loses something very important: Spartan resources are melting, people are dying in battles, while the Thebans are learning a new character of combat that will prevail in the new era. Agesilaus is talented, and as a military man he is extremely insightful. He is a gifted politician, but forgets one of the basic Spartan principles: don't face the same enemy too often, don't let him learn your secrets.

Epaminondas not only learned the secrets of Sparta, he figured out how to fight back and won. They had met the Thebans on the battlefield too many times and this time they were dealing with a rising military power that, in addition to being strong, was adopting new and very effective military tactics.

Epaminondas had at his disposal a powerful weapon - Athens. After overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants in 403 BC The Athenians slowly but surely restored their fleet and raised a new generation of citizen-soldiers. And they got more stronger democracy. Oddly enough, but defeat in the Peloponnesian War it turned out for Athens almost the best outcome, if you look at it from the point of view of democracy. After the bloody oligarchy of Sparta, democracy in Athens seemed to have found a second wind.

During the first bloody decade of the 4th century BC. Athens was one of Thebes's main allies. also entered into a strong alliance with Corinth, thus creating united front against Sparta.

Corinth was the most important member of the Peloponnesian League. The fact that he joined the axis of Athens - Boeotia - Thebes - Argos was for real for Sparta a serious blow.

In 379 BC. successful uprising marked end of the Spartan oligarchy in Thebes. The Thebans were not alone in hating the regime: there were many other states that could not stand Sparta for other reasons, and therefore were ready to help the Thebans.

Battle of Leuctra

The list of Sparta's enemies grew. A city-state could hate Sparta not only because it was cruel and arrogant, but there was always some other reason. Among Sparta's few remaining allies there was a feeling that the Spartiates were winning wars because sacrificed allies, but not yourself.

When they were not alone in the war, they made it clear that they would fight on the right wing. This meant that the enemy, who would also put his elite troops on the right wing, would not meet the Spartans. Therefore, in many battles the Spartans met weaker units of the enemy. Often we see that the allies are strangely under more pressure than the Spartans. If you want to get rid of distrustful allies, send them to the left wing - the Spartans will deal with them.

Oddly enough, but the city-state, which always tried to isolate itself, which always entered into battle out of extreme necessity, now fought everything known world to maintain their dominion. And all this happened in Boeotia.

If you have a growing population, if your women give birth at 15-18 years old, which is necessary regardless of childhood diseases, a low survival rate is a guarantee that you will not face a disaster.

The number of elite warriors was sharply decreasing, but the ranks of the Spartan system itself were inexorably decreasing. It was easy to fall, almost impossible to get up. You could be expelled from your circle for failing to arrange a dinner for your friends, for faltering in battle, for some other social sins, and this meant the end for you.

A very dangerous one has appeared kind of extra people, who were Spartans by birth and upbringing, but at the same time deprived of Spartan citizenship. They were considered dishonest in a society in which honor was paramount. They brought trouble with them. However, Sparta was forced to condone them, it refrained from any ideological friction, it was even ready to make them new members of the elite. This fact suggests that it is the state has lost contact with reality.

For the first time in my life long history weakened Sparta will be forced to defend itself on its own land. Extremely weak Sparta had to withstand the most difficult test. U Epaminondas, a brilliant Theban commander, was born new plan : redraw the map of the Peloponnese and finally bleed Sparta.

He was interested in not just destroying the power of Sparta, but destroy the myth of Spartan omnipotence, i.e. in other words, drive the last nail into the coffin. He understood that Sparta could not exist as before if free the helots.

The Spartans were completely dependent on labor; their entire system depended on this. Without it, Sparta simply would not have the resources to be a significant power.

With the support of the alliance - - Argos Epaminondas began to the first stage of the destruction of Sparta. At the beginning of 369 BC. he arrives in Messinia and announces that Messenians are no longer helots that they are free and independent Greeks. This is a very significant event.

Epaminondas and his troops remained in Messenia for almost 4 months while the liberated helots built a huge wall around the new city-state.

These Messenians were the descendants of many generations of helots who, at the cost of their independence and lives, ensured the prosperity of Sparta. And now they were witnessing the death of the great Spartan polis. The Spartans tried for centuries to prevent the restoration of Messenian independence. This is exactly what happened.

While the helots were building walls, Epaminondas carried out second stage of your fee. Allied forces erected fortifications in one of the key strategic centers - which in Greek means “big city”.

It was another strong, powerful city, owned by people who had every reason to fear the revival of Sparta. They isolated Sparta. Now Sparta is deprived of the opportunity to regain the power it once had. From that moment on, Sparta became a dinosaur.

The decline of the great polis

Now Epaminondas is ready to invade. He has cornered the Spartans and has 70,000 men at his disposal.

He was a brilliant politician. With the help of authority alone, he created an army of retribution - the first foreign army appeared in the valley Laconia for 600 years. Eat famous saying: In 600 years, not a single Spartan woman had ever seen an enemy fire burn out.

Sparta did something it had never done before: it retreated, thereby making itself second-rate state in the Greek world. The very course of history was against Sparta, demography was against Sparta, geography. And luck itself turned away from her when a man like Epaminondas appeared.

After the liberation of Messenia in 370 BC. will never rise to the level of the power it once was in the Greek world. They were ruined by their own success. They lived in something like a greenhouse - a hermetic environment, feeding on their virtues, but they could not resist the corruption and temptations that accompanied luck.

Unlike other city-states, Sparta was shadow of the former power, it has become something of a living museum. During Roman times, Sparta became a kind of thematic museum where you could go and look at the local people and marvel at their strange way of life.

The great historian said that when future generations looked at Athens, they decided that Athens was 10 times larger than it really was, and Sparta was 10 times smaller than it really was.

The Spartans had very little to show the world; their houses and temples were simple. When Sparta lost power, it left behind very little worth noting. While Athens not only survived, it is still admired by the whole world.

Legacy of Sparta

However, the Spartans left heritage. Even before the smoke cleared from the ashes, Athenian thinkers were reviving the more noble aspects of Spartan society in their city-states.

This first appeared in Sparta constitutional government, other Greeks followed their example.

In many Greek cities there were civil wars , in Sparta - no. What was the matter? The ancients couldn't figure out why, just like we can't today. Something allowed Sparta to exist for a very long time, moreover, to create a certain political tradition associated with stability.

They were considered a kind of ideal of the Greek civilization of virtue. That's what they thought Socrates , . Republic concept largely based on the policies of the Spartans. But sometimes they saw in them what they wanted to see. Over the next 20 centuries, philosophers and politicians returned again and again to the glorious past that was once Sparta.

Sparta was idealized during the period of the Italian and its oligarchic government. Political stability of Sparta was presented as a kind of ideal.

In 18th century France, people were simply in love with Sparta. Rousseau declared that it was not a republic of people, but of demigods. During the time many wanted die nobly like the Spartans.

During American Revolution Sparta was the banner for those who wanted to create a stable democratic country. said that he learned more from the history of Thucydides than from local newspapers.

Thucydides tells how a radical democracy, Athens, lost the Peloponnesian War. This is probably why Jefferson and the other framers of the American Constitution preferred Sparta to Athens. pointed to Athenian democracy as a terrible example of what not to have in . Those. true democracy cannot be combined with an aristocratic element, and the good thing about Sparta is that everyone there lives in society, and everyone is first and foremost a citizen.

However, in the 20th century, Sparta attracted the attention not so much of democratic societies, but of leaders who adopted the worst aspects of Spartan society. I saw an ideal in Sparta, so the history of Sparta was included in the curriculum.

And his associates spoke very warmly about Sparta. He said that other countries could become helots of the German military caste. It is legitimate to see origins of totalitarianism in Spartan society.

The lessons of Sparta are still felt even in today's society. The Spartans were the creators, the founders of what we call Western military discipline, and it became a colossal advantage in, in, during the Renaissance and remains to this day.

Western armies have a completely different idea of ​​what discipline is. Take a Western army and put it against the Iraqi army, against the army of some tribe, and it will almost always win, even if it is significantly outnumbered. Those. We owe Western discipline to Sparta. We learn from them that honor is one of the important components human life. A person can live without honor if the surrounding circumstances make this possible. But a person cannot die without honor, because when we die, we seem to account for our lives.

But speaking of greatness, we must not forget that many people paid a terrible price for what she achieved. They had to suppress human qualities necessary for the full development of personality. At the same time, they doomed themselves to cruelty and narrow-mindedness. What they believed in supremacy and honor at the cost of losing freedom, even their own, is caricature on the true meaning of human life.

In conclusion, it should be said that Sparta got what I deserved. U modern society there is one advantage: by studying history, it can take the best of Sparta and discard the worst.

In the next, classical period of Hellenic history, the regions of Balkan Greece became the main leading centers of the Greek world. -Sparta And Athens. Sparta and Athens represent two unique types of Greek states, in many ways opposite to each other and at the same time different from colonial-island Greece. The history of classical Greece mainly focuses on the history of Sparta and Athens, especially since this history is most fully represented in the tradition that has reached us. For this reason, in general courses the history of these societies is given more attention than other countries of the Hellenic world. Their socio-political and cultural characteristics will become clear from the further presentation. Let's start with Sparta.

Sparta owes the uniqueness of its social system and way of life to a large extent to natural conditions. Sparta was located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, in the Peloponnese. The south of the Peloponnese, where ancient Sparta was located, is occupied by two plains - Laconian and Messenian, separated by a high mountain range Taygetus. Eastern, Lakonian, valley irrigated by the river Eurotom, in fact, it was the main territory of Sparta. From the north, the Laconian Valley was closed by high mountains, and in the south it was lost in the space of malarial swamps that stretched all the way to the sea. In the center there was a valley 30 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide - this is the territory of ancient Sparta - the area is fertile, rich in pastures and convenient for crops. The slopes of Taygetus are covered with forests, wild fruit trees and vineyards. However, the Laconian Valley is small in size and does not have convenient harbors. Isolation from the sea predisposed the Spartans to isolation, on the one hand, and aggressive impulses towards their neighbors, especially the fertile western Messenpi valley, on the other.

The ancient history of Sparta, or Lacedaemon, is little known. Excavations carried out at the site of Sparta by English archaeologists indicate a closer connection between Sparta and Mycenae than previously thought. Pre-Dorian Sparta is a city of the Mycenaean era. In Sparta, according to legend, lived the basil Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen. How did the settlement of the Dorians proceed in Laconia, which they conquered, and what were their initial relations with the native population, when current state question, it is impossible to say. Only a vague story has been preserved about the campaign of the Heraclides (descendants of the hero Hercules) in the Peloponnese and their conquest of Argos, Messenia and Laconia, as the inheritance of their great ancestor Hercules. This is how, according to legend, the Dorians established themselves in the Peloponnese.

As in other communities of Greece, so in Sparta, the growth of productive forces, frequent clashes with neighbors and internal struggle led to the disintegration of clan relations and the formation of a slave state. The state in Sparta arose very

Eurotas Valley. In the distance are the snowy peaks of Taygetos.

early, it was formed as a result of conquest and it retained much more ancestral remnants than in any other polis. The combination of strong statehood with tribal institutions lies main feature Spartan, and partly the Dorian system in general.

Many Spartan institutions and customs are associated with the name of the semi-legendary Spartan legislator-sage Lycurgus, in whose image the features of man and the god of light Lycurgus, whose cult was celebrated in Sparta and in historical times, merged. Only in the 5th century. Lycurgus, whose activities date back approximately to the 8th century, began to be considered the creator of the Spartan political system and was therefore placed in one of the Spartan royal families. From the thick fog that shrouds the activities of Lycurgus, some real features of the legislator nevertheless shine through. With the weakening of clan alliances and the liberation of the individual from blood, local, tribal and other constraints, the appearance on the historical arena of such personalities as Lycurgus is quite plausible. This is proven throughout Greek history. The legend represents Lycurgus as the uncle and educator of the young Spartan king, who actually ruled the entire state. On the advice of the Delphic oracle, Lycurgus, as the executor of the divine will, promulgated retro Retras were short sayings in the form of formulas that contained any important regulations and laws.

Expressed in archaic lapidary language Lycurgova retra laid the foundation of the Spartan state.

In addition, Lycurgus was credited with a major land reform that ended hitherto existing land inequality and the predominance of the aristocracy. According to legend, Lycurgus divided the entire territory occupied by Sparta into nine or ten thousand equal sections (kleri) according to the number of male Spartiates who made up the militia.

After this, the legend says, Lycurgus, considering his reform completed and the goal of his life fulfilled, left Sparta, having previously obligated the citizens with an oath not to violate the constitution they had adopted.

After the death of Lycurgus, a temple was built for him in Sparta, and he himself was declared a hero and god. Subsequently, the name of Lycurgus for the Spartans became a symbol of justice and an ideal leader who loved his people and his homeland.

Throughout its history, Sparta remained an agricultural, agrarian country. The seizure of neighboring lands was the driving force of Spartan policy. In the half of the 8th century. this led to a long war with neighboring Messenia ( First Messenian War) ending with the conquest of Messinia and the enslavement of its population. In the 7th century followed by a new one, second Messenian war, caused by the plight of the conquered helot population, also ending in the victory of Sparta. The Spartans owed their victory to the new political system that emerged during the Messenian wars.

The order that developed in Sparta during the Messenian wars lasted for three hundred years (VII-IV centuries). The Spartan constitution, as noted above, represented a combination of tribal remnants with a strong statehood. All Spartans capable of bearing arms and arming themselves at their own expense, members of the fighting phalanx, constituted “ equal community In relation to the Spartiate citizens, the Spartan constitution was a democracy, and in relation to the mass of the dependent population, it was an oligarchy. i.e. e. domination of a few. The number of equal Spartiates was estimated at nine or ten thousand people. The community of equals represented a military community with collective property and a collective workforce. All community members were considered equal. The material basis of the community of equals was the land cultivated by the conquered helot population.

The structure of ancient Sparta is mainly presented in this form. Since ancient times, the Spartans were divided into three Dorian (tribal) phyla. Each Spartiate belonged to a particular phylum. But the further, the more and more the clan system was supplanted by the state system and clan divisions were replaced by territorial ones. Sparta was divided into five about. Each both was a village, and the whole of Sparta, according to ancient authors, was not a city in the proper sense, but was a combination of five villages.

It also retained many archaic features. royal power in Sparta. The Spartan kings came from two influential families - the Agiads and the Eurypontids. The kings (archagetes) commanded the militia (and one of the kings went on a campaign), tried cases related mainly to family law and performed some priestly functions. The highest political body in Sparta was Council of Elders, or gerusia. Gerusia consisted of 30 people - 2 kings and 28 geronts, elected by a popular assembly from influential Spartan families. The People's Assembly itself ( appella) met once a month, made decisions on all matters relating to war and peace, and elected members of the gerousia and ephors. The institution of ephors (observers) is very ancient, dating back to the “Dolpkurgov Sparta”. Initially ephorate was a democratic institution. The ephors, numbering five people, were elected by the people's assembly and were representatives of the entire Spartan people. Subsequently (V-IV centuries) they degenerated into an oligarchic body that protected the interests of the upper layer of Spartan citizenship.

The functions of the Spartan ephors were extremely extensive and varied. The recruitment of the militia depended on them. They accompanied the kings on the campaign and controlled their actions. The entire highest politics of Sparta was in their hands. In addition, the ephors had judicial power and could bring to justice even kings who sought to expand their powers and escape the control of the community. Every step of the kings was under the control of the ephors, who performed a unique role as royal guardians.

The Spartan organization has many similarities with men's houses modern backward peoples. The whole system and all life in Sparta had a peculiar military character. The peacetime life of the Spartans was not much different from the wartime life. The Spartan warriors spent most of their time together in a fortified camp on the mountain.

The marching organization was maintained in Peaceful time. Both during the campaign and during the peace, the Spartans were divided into enomotives- camps, engaged in military exercises, gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, running exercises, etc., and only at night) returned home to their families.

Each Spartan brought from his home a certain amount of food for common friendly dinners, called sissity, or fidity. Only wives and children dined at home. The rest of the life of the Spartans was also entirely subordinated to the interests of the entire community. In order to complicate the possibility of enriching some and ruining other free citizens, exchange was difficult in Sparta. Only bulky and inconvenient iron money was in use. From birth to the end

Gymnastic exercises. Image on a vase from Noli. In the center are two fist fighters. Gives them instructions, holding a long rod in his hands, supervisor. On the left is a young man holding a rope, serving to measure

jump.

In life, the Spartan did not belong to himself. The father of a newborn child could not raise him without the prior permission of the geronts. The father brought his child to the geronts, who, after examining the child, either left him alive or sent him to the “apophetes”, to the cemetery in the Taygetus crevice. Only the strong and strong were left alive, from whom good soldiers could emerge.

The military imprint lay on the entire education of the Spartan. This education was based on the principle: win in battle and obey. Young Spartans went without shoes all year round and wore rough clothing. They spent most of their time in schools (gymnasiums), where they engaged in physical exercises, sports and learned to read and write. The Spartan had to speak simply, briefly, in Lakonian (laconic).

Spartan gymnasiasts drank, ate and slept together. They slept on hard reed beds, prepared with their own hands without a knife. To test the physical endurance of teenagers, real flagellations were organized in the Temple of Artemis under a religious pretext. *3 and the execution was observed by a priestess holding a figurine of the god in her hands, now tilting it, now raising it, thereby indicating the need to strengthen or weaken the blows.

Special attention was paid to the education of youth in Sparta. They were looked upon as the main force of the Spartan system both in the present and in the future. In order to accustom youth to endurance, adolescents and young men were prescribed difficult jobs which they had to carry out without any objection or murmur. Not only the authorities, but also private individuals were required to monitor the behavior of the young men under the threat of fines and dishonor for negligence.

“As for youth, the legislator paid special attention to them, believing that it is very important for the state’s well-being. important, if the youth are educated properly."

Such attention to military training was undoubtedly facilitated by the fact that Sparta was, as it were, a military camp among the enslaved and always ready to rebel population of the surrounding regions, mainly Messenia.

At the same time, the physically strong and well-disciplined Spartans were well armed. Military equipment Sparta was considered exemplary throughout Hellas. The large reserves of iron available in Taygetos made it possible to widely expand the production of iron weapons. The Spartan army was divided into detachments (suckers, later moras) of five hundred people. The small fighting unit was the enomotia, consisting of approximately forty men. Heavily armed infantrymen (hoplites) formed the main military force Sparta.

The Spartan army set out on a campaign in an orderly march accompanied by the sounds of flutes and choral songs. Spartan choral singing enjoyed great fame throughout Hellas. “There was something in these songs that ignited courage, aroused enthusiasm and called for exploits. Their words were simple and artless, but their content was serious and instructive.”

The songs glorified the Spartans who fell in battle and condemned “pathetic and dishonest cowards.” Spartan songs in poetic treatment enjoyed great popularity throughout Greece. An example of Spartan war songs can be the elegies and marches (embateria) of the poet Tyrtea(VII century), who arrived in Sparta from Attica and enthusiastically praised the Spartan system.

“Don’t be afraid of huge enemy hordes, don’t be afraid!

Let everyone hold his shield directly between the first fighters.

Life is hateful, considering the gloomy harbingers of death as sweet as the rays of the sun are dear to us...”

“It’s glorious to lose your life, among the valiant warriors who fell, - to a brave man in battle for the sake of his fatherland...”

“Young men, fight, standing in rows, do not be an example of shameful flight or pathetic cowardice to others!

Do not leave the elders, whose knees are already weak,

And do not run away, betraying the elders to your enemies.

A terrible shame on you when among the warriors the first fallen Elder lies in front young in years fighters..."

“Let him, taking a wide step and placing his feet on the ground,

Everyone stands in place, lips pressed with teeth,

Hips and legs from below and your chest along with your shoulders Covered with a convex circle of a shield, strong with copper;

With his right hand let him shake the mighty lance,

Putting your foot together and leaning your shield on the shield,

Terrible sultan - oh sultan, helmet - oh comrade helmet,

Having tightly closed chest to chest, let everyone fight with enemies, clasping the hilt of a spear or sword with his hand. " 1 .

Until the very end of the Greco-Persian wars, the Spartan phalanx of hoplites was considered an exemplary and invincible army.

The armament of all Spartans was the same, which further emphasized the equality of all Spartans before the community. The Spartiates wore crimson cloaks; their weapons consisted of a spear, shield and helmet.

Considerable attention in Sparta was also paid to the education of women, who occupied a very unique position in the Spartan system. Before marriage, young Spartan women engaged in the same physical exercises as men - running, wrestling, throwing discus, fighting in fist fights, etc. The education of women was considered as the most important government function, because their responsibility was to give birth to healthy children, future defenders of the homeland. “The Spartan girls had to run, fight, throw discus, throw spears to strengthen their bodies, so that their future children would be strong in body in the very womb of their healthy mother, so that their development would be correct and so that the mothers themselves could be delivered from pregnancy successfully and easily, “thanks to the strength of my body.”

After getting married, the Spartan woman devoted herself entirely to family responsibilities - giving birth and raising children. The form of marriage in Sparta was the monogamous family. But at the same time, as Engels notes, many remnants of ancient group marriage remained in Sparta. “In Sparta there is pair marriage, modified by the state in accordance with local views and in many respects still reminiscent of group marriage. Childless marriages are dissolved: King Anaxandrid (650 BC), who had a childless wife, took a second one and kept two households; around the same time the king

Ariston, who had two barren wives, took the third, but released one of the first. On the other hand, several brothers could have a common wife; a man who liked his friend’s wife could share her with him... A real violation of marital fidelity, the infidelity of wives behind the husband’s back, was therefore unheard of. On the other hand, Sparta, at least

Young woman, running race. Rome. Vatican.

At least in its best era, it did not know domestic slaves, serf helots lived separately on estates, so the Spartiates were less tempted to use their women. It is natural, therefore, that due to all these conditions, women in Sparta occupied a much more honorable position than among the rest of the Greeks.”

The Spartan community was created not only as a result of a long and persistent struggle with its neighbors, but also as a result of the peculiar position of Sparta among a large enslaved and allied population. The mass of the enslaved population was helots, farmers, painted according to the clerks of the Spartiates in groups of ten to fifteen people. Helots paid rent in kind (apophora) and bore various duties in relation to their masters. The quitrent included barley, spelt, pork, wine and butter. Each Spartan received 70 medimni (measures), barley, Spartan 12 medimni with the corresponding amount of fruits and wine. Helots were not exempt from carrying military service. Battles usually began with the appearance of helots, who were supposed to disrupt the ranks and rear of the enemy.

The origin of the term "helot" is unclear. According to some scholars, “helot” means conquered, captured, and according to others, “helot” comes from the city of Gelos, whose inhabitants were in unequal, but allied relations with Sparta, obliging them to pay tribute. But whatever the origin of the helots and no matter what formal category - slaves or serfs - they are classified into, the sources leave no doubt that the actual position of the helots was no different from the position of slaves.

Both land and helots were considered communal property; individual property was not developed in Sparta. Each full-fledged Spartiate, a member of a community of equals and a member of the fighting phalanx of hoplites received from the community by lot a certain allotment (kler) with the helots sitting on it. Neither the clairs nor the rafts could be alienated. The Spartiate, of his own free will, could neither sell nor release the helot, nor change his contributions. The helots were for the use of the Spartan and his family as long as he remained in the community. The total number of clerks according to the number of full-fledged Spartiates was equal to ten thousand.

The second group of the dependent population consisted of perieki,(or perioikoi) - “living around” - residents of the regions allied with Sparta. Among the perieks were farmers, artisans and merchants. Compared to the absolutely powerless helots, the perieci were in a better position, but they did not have political rights and were not part of a community of equals, but served in the militia and could have land ownership.

The “Community of Equals” lived on a real volcano, the crater of which constantly threatened to open up and swallow everyone living on it. In no other Greek state did the antagonism between the dependent and the dominant population manifest itself in such a sharp form as in Sparta. “Everyone,” notes Plutarch, “who believes that in Sparta the free enjoys the highest freedom, and the slaves are slaves in the full sense of the word, define the situation absolutely correctly.”

This is the reason for the proverbial conservatism of the Spartan order and the exceptionally cruel attitude of the ruling class towards the disenfranchised population. The Spartans' treatment of the helots was always harsh and cruel. By the way, the helots were forced to get drunk, and after that the Spartans showed the youth how disgusting drunkenness can lead to. In no other Greek city did the antagonism between the dependent population and the masters manifest itself as sharply as in Sparta. The unity of the helots and their organization was greatly facilitated by the very nature of their settlements. The helots lived in continuous settlements on the plain, along the banks of the Eurotas, heavily overgrown with reeds, where they could take refuge if necessary.

In order to prevent carnal uprisings, the Spartans from time to time organized crypts, i.e. punitive expeditions against the helots, destroying the strongest and strongest of them. The essence of the cryptia was as follows. The ephors declared a “holy war” against the helots, during which detachments of Spartan youth, armed with short swords, were sent out of the city. During the day, these detachments hid in remote places, but at night they emerged from ambush and suddenly attacked the helot settlements, created panic, killed the strongest and most dangerous of them, and disappeared again. Other methods of dealing with helots are also known. Thucydides says that during the Peloponnesian War, the Spartiates gathered helots who wanted to receive liberation for their merits, put wreaths on their heads as a sign of imminent liberation, led them to the temple, and after that these helots disappeared to God knows where. Thus, two thousand helots immediately disappeared.

The cruelty of the Spartans, however, did not protect them from helot uprisings. The history of Sparta is full of large and small uprisings of helots. Most often, uprisings occurred during the war, when the Spartans were distracted by military operations and could not monitor the helots with their usual vigilance. The uprising of the helots was especially strong during the second Meseen war, as mentioned above. The uprising threatened to sweep away the very “community of equals.” Since the time of the Messenian wars, cryptia arose.

“It seems to me that the Spartans have become so inhuman since then. since a terrible earthquake occurred in Sparta, during which the helots rebelled.”

The Spartans invented all sorts of measures and means to keep the historically established social order in balance. This is where their fear of everything new, unknown and outside the framework of the usual, the structure of life, a suspicious attitude towards foreigners, etc. came from. And yet, life still took its toll. The Spartan order, for all its indestructibility, was destroyed both from the outside and from the inside.

After the Messenian wars, Sparta tried to subjugate other regions of the Peloponnese, primarily Arcadia, but the resistance of the Arcadian mountain tribes forced Sparta to abandon this plan. After this, Sparta seeks to ensure its power through alliances. In the VI century. through wars and peace treaties the Spartans managed to achieve organization Peloponnesian League, which covered all the regions of the Peloponnese, except Argos, Achaia and the northern districts of Arcadia. Subsequently, this union included market town Corinth, rival of Athens.

Before the Greco-Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian League was the largest and most powerful of all Greek alliances. “Lacedaemon itself, after it was settled by the Dorians, who now live in this area, for a very long time, as far as we know, suffered from internal unrest. However, for a long time it was governed by good laws and was never under the rule of tyrants. IN During the little over four hundred years that elapsed before the end of this [Peloponnesian] war, the Lacedaemonians had the same state structure. Thanks to this, “they became powerful and organized affairs in other states.”

Spartan hegemony continued until the Battle of Salamis, that is, until the first major naval battle, which brought Athens to the fore and moved the economic center of Greece from the mainland to the sea. From this time on, the internal crisis of Sparta began, which ultimately led to the disintegration of all the above-described institutions of the ancient Spartan system.

Orders similar to those observed in Sparta also existed in some other Greek states. This concerned primarily the areas conquered by the Dorians, especially the cities of. Krita. According to ancient authors, Lycurgus borrowed a lot from the Cretans. And indeed, in the Cretan system, which developed after the Dorian conquest, known to us from the inscription from Gortyna, there are many common features with Sparta. Three Dorian phyla are preserved, and there are public dinners, which, unlike Sparta, are organized at the expense of the state. Free citizens use the labor of unfree farmers ( Clarots), who in many ways resemble the Spartan helots, but have more rights than the latter. They have their own property; the estate, for example, was considered their property. They even had the right to the master's property if he did not have a relative. Along with the clarota, there were also “purchased slaves” in Crete, who served in city houses and did not differ from the slaves in developed Greek policies.

In Thessaly, a position similar to the Spartan helots and Cretan clarotes was occupied penestae, who paid rent to the Thessalians. One source says that “the Penestes handed themselves over to the power of the Thessalians on the basis of a mutual oath, according to which they would not tolerate anything bad while working and would not leave the country.” About the position of the penests - and the same can be attributed to the helots and clarots - Engels wrote the following: “Undoubtedly, serfdom is not a specific medieval-feudal form, we meet it everywhere where the conquerors force the old inhabitants to cultivate the land - this was the case, for example, in Thessaly at a very early time. This fact has clouded my and many others' view of medieval serfdom. It was very tempting to justify it with a simple conquest, so everything turned out unusually smoothly” 2.

Thucydides, I, 18. ! Marx and Engels, Letters, Sotsekgiz, 1931, p. 346.

is a city in Laconia, Peloponnese in Greece. In ancient times it was a powerful city-state with a famous military tradition. Ancient writers sometimes called him as Lacedaemon and his people as Lacedaemonians.

Sparta reached the height of its power in 404 BC. after the victory over Athens in the second Peloponnesian War. When it was in its heyday, Sparta did not have city walls; its occupants seemed to prefer to defend it by hand rather than with mortar. However, within a few decades of defeat against Thebans at the Battle of Leuctra, the city found itself reduced to "second-class", a status from which it never recovered.

The valor and fearlessness of the warriors of Sparta inspired western world for thousands of years, and even into the 21st century it has been incorporated into Hollywood films such as 300 and the futuristic Halo video game series (where a group of super-soldiers are called the Spartans).

But the city's real history is more complex than popular mythology makes it out to be. The task of sorting out what is real about the Spartans from what is myth is made more difficult because many of the ancient stories were not written by Spartans. As such, they should be taken with an appropriate grain of salt.

The ruins of an ancient theater sit near the modern city of Sparta, Greece

Early Sparta

Although Sparta was not built until the first millennium BC, recent archaeological discoveries indicate that early Sparta was an important site at least as far back as 3,500 years ago. In 2015, a 10-room palace complex containing ancient records written in a script archaeologists call "linear B" was discovered just 7.5 kilometers (12 kilometers) from where early Sparta was built. Frescoes, a goblet with a bull's head and bronze swords were also discovered in the palace.

The palace burned down in the 14th century. Supposedly there was an older Spartan city located somewhere around the 3500 year old palace. Later Sparta was built. Future excavations may reveal where this older city is located.

It is unclear how many people continued to live in the area after the palace was burned. Recent research suggests that a drought that lasted three centuries was keeping Greece warm around the time the Spartan palace burned down.

Archaeologists know that sometime in the early Iron Age, after 1000 BC, four villages - Limna, Pitana, Mesoa and Chinosura - which were located near what would be the Spartan acropolis, came together to form the new Sparta .

Historian Nigel Kennell writes in his book The Spartans: new story" (John Wiley & Sons, 2010) that the city's location in the fertile Eurotas Valley gave its inhabitants access to an abundance of food that its local rivals did not experience. Even the name Sparta is a verb meaning “I sowed” or “to sow.”

Culture of early Sparta

Although early Sparta made efforts to consolidate its territory in Laconia, we also know that at this early stage the city's inhabitants seem to have taken pride in their artistic abilities. Sparta was known for its poetry, culture and pottery, its products have been found in places as far away as Cyrene (in Libya) and the island of Samos, off the coast of modern Turkey. Researcher Konstantinos Kopanias notes in a 2009 journal article that before the sixth century B.C. Sparta appears to have held an ivory workshop. Surviving elephants from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta depict birds, male and female figures and even the “tree of life” or “sacred tree”.

Poetry was another key early Spartan achievement. “In fact, we have more evidence of poetic activity in seventh-century Sparta than for any other Greek state, including Athens,” writes historian Chester Starr in a chapter of Sparta (Edinburgh University Press, 2002).

While much of this poetry survives in fragmentary form, and some of it, for example from Tyrtai, reflects the development of the martial values ​​that Sparta became famous for, there is also work that appears to reflect a society concerned with art rather than simply war .

This fragment from the poet Alcman, which he composed for a Spartan festival, stands out. This refers to a choir girl named "Agido". Alcman was a Spartan poet who lived in the seventh century BC.

There is such a thing as retribution from the gods.
Happy is he who, the sound of the mind,
weaves during the day
unwept. I sing
light of Agido. I see
like the sun, to whom
Agido calls to speak and
a witness for us. But a nice choir mistress
forbids me to praise
or blame her. For she seems
outstanding as if
one placed in pasture
the perfect horse, a prize-winner with loud hooves,
one of the dreams that live below the cliff...

The translation of this verse is accurate, so there is no question of rhyme

War of Sparta with Messenia

A key event in Sparta's path to becoming a more militaristic society was the conquest of the land of Messenia, located to the west of Sparta, and its reduction to slavery.

Kennell points out that this conquest appears to have begun in the eighth century BC, with archaeological evidence from the city of Messene showing that the last evidence of occupation was during the eighth and seventh centuries BC. before the desertion began.

The inclusion of people from Messenia in Sparta's slave population was important because it provided Sparta with "the means to maintain the closest thing to a standing army in Greece", writes Kennell, freeing all of its adult male citizens from the need for manual labor.

Keeping this group of slaves under control was a problem that the Spartans would have been able to exploit for centuries using some brutal methods. The writer Plutarch claimed that the Spartans used what we might consider death squads.

“The magistrates from time to time sent into the country, for the most part, the most reserved young warriors, equipped only with daggers and such accessories as were necessary. During the daytime they scattered into obscure and well-kept places where they hid and were silent, but at night they came down the highway and killed every Helot they caught."

Spartan training system

Availability large quantity slaves relieved the Spartans of manual labor and allowed Sparta to build a citizen education system that prepared the city's children for the brutality of war.

“At seven years of age, the Spartan boy was taken from his mother and raised in the barracks under the eyes of older boys,” writes University of Virginia professor J. E. Landon in his book Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity (Yale University Press, 2005 ). "The boys were rebelled to instill respect and obedience, they were poorly dressed to make them tough, and they were hungry to make them resistant to hunger..."

If they were too hungry, the boys were encouraged to try stealing (as a way to improve their stealth), but were punished if they were caught.

Spartans trained strictly and developed through this training system until the age of 20, at which time they were allowed to enter into the communal order and therefore become full citizens of the community. Each member is expected to provide a certain amount of food and undergo rigorous training.

The Spartans mocked those who could not fight due to disabilities. “Because of their extreme standards of masculinity, the Spartans were cruel to those who were not capable, while rewarding those who were capable despite their transgressions,” wrote Walter Penrose Jr., a history professor at the University of San Diego, in a paper published in 2015 in the Classical World magazine.

Women of Sparta

Girls who are not militarily trained are expected to do physical training. Physical fitness was considered as important for women as for men, and girls took part in races and tests of strength,” writes Sue Blundell in her book Women in Ancient Greece. This included running, wrestling, discus and javelin throwing. They also knew how to drive horses and raced in two-wheeled chariots.”

According to ancient writers, a Spartan woman even competed in the Olympic Games, at least in chariot competitions. In the fifth century BC, a Spartan princess named Cynica (also spelled Kiniska) became the first woman to win the Olympic Games.

“She was extremely ambitious to do well in the Olympics and was the first woman to breed horses and the first to win an Olympic victory. After Siniscus, other women, especially women from Lacedaemon, won Olympic victories, but none of them was more distinguished for their victories than she,” wrote the ancient writer Pausanias, who lived in the second century AD.

Kings of Sparta

Sparta developed a dual kingdom system in time (two kings at once). Their power was balanced by an elected council of ephs (which could only serve one year term). There was also a Council of Elders (Gerousia), each of whom was over 60 years of age and could serve for life. The general assembly, consisting of every citizen, also had the opportunity to vote on legislation.

The legendary lawgiver Lycurgus is mentioned frequently in ancient sources, providing the basis for Spartan law. However, Kennell notes that he probably never existed and was in fact a mythical character.

War of Sparta with Persia

Initially, Sparta was hesitant to engage with Persia. When the Persians threatened the Greek cities in Ionia, on the west coast of what is now Turkey, the Greeks who lived in these areas sent an emissary to Sparta to seek help. The Spartans refused, but threatened King Cyrus, telling him to leave the Greek cities alone. “He must not have harmed any city in Greek territory, otherwise the Lacedaemonians would not have attacked him,” wrote Herodotus in the fifth century BC.

The Persians didn't listen. The first invasion of Darius I occurred in 492 BC. and was repulsed mainly by Athenian forces at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. A second invasion was launched by Xerxes in 480 BC, with the Persians crossing the Hellespont (a narrow strait between the Aegean and Black Seas) and moving south, gaining allies along the way.

Sparta and one of their kings, Leonidas, became the head of an anti-Persian coalition that ultimately made the ill-fated position at Thermopylae. Located off the coast, Thermopylae contained a narrow passage which the Greeks blocked and used to stop Xerxes' advance. Ancient sources indicate that Leonidas began the battle with several thousand soldiers (including 300 Spartans). He faced a Persian force many times their size.

Lacedaemonians

The Lacedaemonians fought in a manner that deserves attention, and showed themselves to be much more skilful in battle than their opponents, often turning their backs and making it appear as if they were all flying away, on which the barbarians hastened after them with great noise and shouting when the Spartans were at they will be circumvented as they approach and will appear before their pursuers, thereby destroying a huge number of enemies.

Eventually, a Greek man showed Xerxes a passage that allowed part of the Persian army to outwit the Greeks and attack them on both flanks. Leonidas was doomed. Many of the troops that were with Leonidas left. According to Herodotus, the Thespians decided to stay with the 300 Spartans of their own free will. Leonidas made his fatal stand and “fought bravely alongside many other famous Spartans,” writes Herodotus.

Ultimately, the Persians killed almost all the Spartans. The helots, carried down along with the Spartans, were also killed. The Persian army marched south, sacking Athens and threatening to penetrate the Peloponnese. The Greek naval victory at the Battle of Salamis stopped this approach, the Persian king Xerxes went home and left behind an army that would later be destroyed. The Greeks, led by the now dead Leonidas, were victorious.

Peloponnesian War

With the threat from the Persians receding, the Greeks resumed their intercity rivalry. Two of the most powerful city states were Athens and Sparta, and tensions between them escalated in the decades following the victory over Persia.

In 465/464 BC. powerful earthquakes struck Sparta, and the helots took advantage of the situation to revolt. The situation was serious enough that Sparta called on allied cities to help stop it. However, when the Athenians arrived, the Spartans refused their help. This was taken as an insult in Athens and strengthened anti-Spartan views.

The Battle of Tanagra, fought in 457 BC, announced a period of conflict between the two cities that continued on and on for over 50 years. At times, Athens appeared to have the advantage, such as the Battle of Sphacteria in 425 BC. when, shockingly, 120 Spartans surrendered.

Nothing that happened in the war surprised the Hellenes as much as this. It was believed that no force or hunger could force the Lacedaemonians to give up their weapons, but they would fight as best they could and die with them in their own hands, wrote Thucydides (460-395 BC).

There were periods when Athens was in trouble, such as in 430 BC, when the Athenians, who were packed outside the city walls during a Spartan attack, suffered from a plague that killed many people, including their leader Pericles. There have been suggestions that the plague was actually an ancient form of the Ebola virus.

Conflict between Sparta and Athens

Ultimately, the conflict between Sparta and Athens was resolved at sea. While the Athenians enjoyed the naval advantage for most of the war, the situation changed when a man named Lysander was named commander of Sparta's fleet. He sought Persian financial support to help the Spartans build their fleet.

He convinced the Persian king Cyrus to provide him with money. The king had brought with him, he said, five hundred talents; if this sum proved inadequate, he would use his own money, which his father had given him, and if this too proved inadequate, he would go so far as to break the throne on which he sat on silver and gold, wrote Xenophon (430-355 BC).

With financial support from the Persians, Lysander built his fleet and trained his sailors. In 405 BC. he was engaged in the Athenian fleet at Aegospopati, on the Hellesponos. He managed to catch them by surprise, winning a decisive victory and cutting off Athens from its grain supplies from the Crimea.

Now Athens was forced to make peace under the terms of Sparta.

“The Peloponnesians with great enthusiasm began to tear down the walls [of Athens] with the music of the flute girls, thinking that this day was the beginning of freedom for Greece,” wrote Xenophon.

Fall of Sparta

The fall of Sparta began with a series of events and mistakes.

Soon after their victory, the Spartans turned against their Persian supporters and began an inconclusive campaign in Turkey. The Spartans were then forced to campaign on multiple fronts over the next decades.

In 385 BC. The Spartans clashed with the Mantleans and used the floods to tear their city apart. “The bricks below became saturated and could not support those above them, the wall began to first crack and then give way,” wrote Xenophon. The city was forced to abandon this unorthodox onslaught.

More problems affected Spartan hegemony. In 378 BC. Athens formed the second naval confederation, a group that challenged Spartan control of the seas. Ultimately, however, the fall of Sparta came not from Athens, but from a city called Thebes.

Thebes and Sparta

Under the influence of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, relations between the two cities of Thebes and Sparta became increasingly hostile, and in 371 BC. A key battle took place at Leuctra.

The Lacedaemonian force was defeated by Thebes on the field of Leuctra. Although an ally of Sparta during the long Peloponnesian War, Thebes became a leader of resistance when the victorious Sparta became an evil tyrant in turn, writes Lendon. He notes that after peace was agreed upon with Athens in 371 BC, Sparta turned its attention to Thebes.

At Leuctra, for reasons unclear, the Spartans sent their cavalry ahead of their phalanx. The Lacedaemonian cavalry was poor because good Spartan warriors still insisted on serving as hoplites [infantry]. The Thebans, on the contrary, had an old cavalry tradition, and their fine horses, much exercised in recent wars, quickly routed the Spartan cavalry and returned them to the phalanx, confusing its order.

With the Spartan lines confused, the carnage continued.

Clembrutus, fighting in the phalanx like the Spartan kings, was overwhelmed and pulled out of the battle, writes Lendon. Other leading Spartans were soon killed in the battle. The Theban general Epaminondas is said to have said: Give me one step and we will have victory!

Of the seven hundred total Spartan citizens, four hundred died in the battle...

Watch the video: Ancient Sparta. Ancient world history

Late history of Sparta

In the following centuries, Sparta in its reduced state was influenced by various powers, including Macedonia (eventually led by Alexander the Great), the Achaean League (a confederation of Greek cities) and later Rome. During this period of decline, the Spartans were forced to build a city wall for the first time.

There were attempts to restore Sparta to its former military strength. The Spartan kings Agis IV (244-241 BC) and later Cleomenes III (235-221 BC) introduced reforms that abolished debt, redistributed land, allowed foreigners and non-citizens to become Spartans and eventually expanded the civilian corps to 4,000. Although the reforms brought about some renewal, Cleomenes III was forced to cede the city to Achaean control. The Ageean League, in turn, along with all of Greece, eventually fell to Rome.

But although Rome controlled the region, the people of Sparta never forgot their history. In the second century AD, the Greek writer Pausanias visited Sparta and noted the presence of a large market.

“The most striking feature in the market is the portico, which they call Persian because it was made from trophies taken from the Persian wars. Over time they changed it until it was as big and beautiful as it is now. the pillars are white marble figures of the Persians...,” he wrote.

He also describes a tomb dedicated to Leonidas, who by this point had died 600 years earlier at Thermopylae.

“Opposite the theater there are two tombs, the first is Pausanias, the general in Plataea, the second is Leonidas. Every year they make speeches over them and hold a competition in which no one can compete except the Spartans,” he wrote, “A plate was created with the names and names of their fathers, of those who withstood the fight at Thermopylae against the Persians.”

Ruins of Sparta

Sparta continued into the Middle Ages and, indeed, was never lost. Today, the modern city of Sparta stands near ancient ruins with a population of more than 35,000 people.

Historian Cannell writes that today only three sites can be identified with certainty: the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia near the Eurotas [river], the temple of Athena Halsiocus (House of Bronze) on the acropolis, and the early Roman theater just below.

Indeed, even the ancient writer Thucydides predicted that the ruins of Sparta did not stand out.

Suppose, for example, that the city of Sparta were to become deserted and that only the temples and the foundations of buildings remained, I think that future generations would, in time, have a very difficult time believing that this place was really as powerful as it was made out to be.

But Thucydides was only half right. Although the ruins of Sparta may not be as impressive as Athens, Olympia or a number of other Greek cities, the stories and legends of the Spartans live on. And modern people, watching movies, playing video games or studying ancient history, know something about what this legend means.

Ancient Sparta was the main economic and military rival of Athens. The city-state and its surrounding territory were located on the Peloponnese peninsula, southwest of Athens. Administratively, Sparta (also called Lacedaemon) was the capital of the province of Laconia.

The adjective "Spartan" in modern world came from energetic warriors with an iron heart and steely endurance. The inhabitants of Sparta were famous not for their arts, science or architecture, but for their brave warriors, for whom the concepts of honor, courage and strength were placed above all else. Athens at that time, with its beautiful statues and temples, was a stronghold of poetry, philosophy and politics, and thereby dominated the intellectual life of Greece. However, such dominance had to end someday.

Raising children in Sparta

One of the principles that guided the inhabitants of Sparta was that the life of every person, from birth to death, belongs entirely to the state. The elders of the city were given the right to decide the fate of newborns - healthy and strong were left in the city, and weak or sick children were thrown into the nearest abyss. This is how the Spartans tried to secure physical superiority over their enemies. Children who went through “natural selection” were brought up under conditions of severe discipline. At the age of 7, boys were taken from their parents and raised separately, in small groups. The strongest and bravest young men eventually became captains. The boys slept in common rooms on hard and uncomfortable beds made of reeds. The young Spartans ate simple food - soup made from pork blood, meat and vinegar, lentils and other roughage.

One day, a rich guest who came to Sparta from Sybaris decided to try the “black soup”, after which he said that now he understands why Spartan warriors give up their lives so easily. Boys were often left hungry for several days, thereby inciting them to petty theft in the market. This was not done with the intention of making the young man a skilled thief, but only to develop ingenuity and dexterity - if he was caught stealing, he was severely punished. There are legends about one young Spartan who stole a young fox from the market, and when it was time for lunch, he hid it under his clothes. To prevent the boy from being caught stealing, he endured the pain of the fox gnawing his stomach and died without making a single sound. Over time, discipline only became stricter. All adult men, between the ages of 20 and 60, were required to serve in the Spartan army. They were allowed to marry, but even after that, the Spartans continued to sleep in barracks and eat in common canteens. Warriors were not allowed to own any property, especially gold and silver. Their money looked like iron rods of different sizes. Restraint extended not only to everyday life, food and clothing, but also to the speech of the Spartans. In conversation they were very laconic, limiting themselves to extremely concise and specific answers. This manner of communication in Ancient Greece was called “laconicism” after the area in which Sparta was located.

Life of the Spartans

In general, as in any other culture, issues of everyday life and nutrition shed light on interesting little things in people’s lives. The Spartans, unlike residents of other Greek cities, did not attach much importance to food. In their opinion, food should not be used to satisfy, but only to saturate a warrior before battle. The Spartans dined at a common table, and everyone handed over food for lunch in the same quantity - this is how the equality of all citizens was maintained. The neighbors at the table kept a watchful eye on each other, and if someone did not like the food, he was ridiculed and compared to the spoiled inhabitants of Athens. But when the time came for battle, the Spartans changed radically: they put on their best outfits, and marched towards death with songs and music. From birth, they were taught to perceive each day as their last, not to be afraid and not to retreat. Death in battle was desired and equated to the ideal end to the life of a real man. There were 3 classes of inhabitants in Laconia. The first, most revered, included residents of Sparta who had military training and participated in political life cities. Second class - perieki, or residents of surrounding small towns and villages. They were free, although they did not have any political rights. Engaged in trade and handicrafts, the perieki were a kind of “service personnel” for the Spartan army. Lower class - helots, were serfs, and not much different from slaves. Due to the fact that their marriages were not controlled by the state, the helots were the most numerous category of inhabitants, and were restrained from revolt only by the iron grip of their masters.

Political life of Sparta

One of the peculiarities of Sparta was that the state was headed by two kings at the same time. They ruled together, serving as high priests and military leaders. Each of the kings controlled the activities of the other, which ensured the openness and fairness of government decisions. Subordinate to the kings was a "cabinet of ministers", consisting of five ethers or observers, who exercised general custody of laws and customs. The legislative branch consisted of a council of elders, which was headed by two kings. The most respected people were elected to the council people of Sparta who have overcome the 60-year age barrier. Army of Sparta, despite its relatively modest numbers, was well trained and disciplined. Each warrior was filled with determination to win or die - returning with a loss was unacceptable, and was an indelible shame for the rest of his life. Wives and mothers, sending their husbands and sons to war, solemnly presented them with a shield with the words: “Come back with a shield or on it.” Over time, the militant Spartans captured most of the Peloponnese, significantly expanding the boundaries of their possessions. A clash with Athens was inevitable. The rivalry reached its climax during the Peloponnesian War, and led to the fall of Athens. But the tyranny of the Spartans caused hatred among the inhabitants and mass uprisings, which led to the gradual liberalization of power. The number of specially trained warriors decreased, which allowed the inhabitants of Thebes, after about 30 years of Spartan oppression, to overthrow the power of the invaders.

History of Sparta interesting not only from the point of view of military achievements, but also factors of political and life structure. The courage, dedication and desire for victory of the Spartan warriors were the qualities that made it possible not only to restrain the constant attacks of enemies, but also to expand the boundaries of influence. The warriors of this small state easily defeated armies of thousands and were a clear threat to their enemies. Sparta and its inhabitants, brought up on the principles of restraint and the rule of force, were the antipode of the educated and pampered Athens, which in the end led to a clash between these two civilizations.

Climate of Greece

The climate of Greece is characterized by particularly mild, warm, humid winters and hot, slightly dry summers. The swimming season in Greece lasts more than five months - from mid-May until velvet season at the end of October. When is the best time to travel to Greece? Experienced travelers strongly recommend not to miss April and the beginning of May - at this time nature acquires a special, charming and delicate beauty, the sun has not yet entered full force, and gives pleasant warmth rather than summer heat.

Ballet in Greece: how it was then and how it is today

Fur coats in Greece, buy a fur coat in Greece

Typically, winter is considered the longest season of the year because it is the coldest. On cold winter days, time drags on especially long. Therefore, in order not to freeze even in the most severe frosts, women have worn fur products since ancient times. But then it was more of a means of warming up. Now, a fur coat will not only warm you, but also emphasize your femininity, elegance and status.

Zografov Monastery. Zograf

The Zograf Monastery, located in the northwestern part of the Athos Peninsula, in a wooded area on the mountain, occupies ninth place in the hierarchy of the leading monasteries of the Holy Mountain. Its foundation dates back to the 10th century and is associated with three brothers originally from the city of Ohrid, the Athonite monks John, Moses and Aaron. According to Tradition, there was a disagreement between them regarding who should dedicate the monastery cathedral church.

Sparta was the most brutal civilization in human history. Around the dawn of Greek history, while it was still going through its classical period, Sparta was already experiencing radical social and political revolutions. As a result, the Spartans came to the idea of ​​complete equality. Literally. It was they who developed the key concepts that we partially use to this day.

It was in Sparta that the ideas of self-sacrifice in the name of the common good, the high value of duty and the rights of citizens were first voiced. In short, the goal of the Spartans was to become as ideal people as possible for a mere mortal. You won't believe it, but every utopian idea, which we still think about today, draws its origins from Spartan times.

The biggest problem with studying the history of this amazing civilization is that the Spartans left very few records and did not leave behind monumental structures that could be studied and analyzed.

However, scholars know that Spartan women enjoyed freedom, education, and equality to a degree unmatched by women in any other civilization at the time. Each member of society, woman or man, master or slave, played his own special valuable role in the life of Sparta.

That is why it is impossible to talk about the famous Spartan warriors without mentioning this civilization as a whole. Anyone could become a warrior; it was not a privilege or obligation for certain social classes. A very serious selection took place for the role of a soldier among all citizens of Sparta, without exception. Carefully selected applicants were trained to become ideal warriors. The process of hardening the Spartans was sometimes associated with very harsh methods of training and went to extremely extreme measures.

10. Spartan children were raised from an early age to participate in wars

Almost every aspect of Spartan life was under the control of the city-state. This also applied to children. Each Spartan infant was brought before a board of inspectors who checked the child for physical defects. If something seemed to them to be outside the norm, the child was removed from society and sent to his death outside the city walls, thrown from the nearby hills.

In some fortunate cases, these abandoned children found their salvation among random wanderers passing by, or they were taken in by “gelots” (lower class, Spartan slaves) working in the nearby fields.

IN early childhood those who survived the first qualifying stage bathed in baths with wine instead. The Spartans believed that this strengthened their strength. In addition, it was customary among parents to ignore the crying of their children so that they would get used to the “Spartan” lifestyle from infancy. Such educational techniques delighted foreigners so much that Spartan women were often invited to neighboring lands as nannies and nurses for their iron nerves.

Up until the age of 7, Spartan boys lived with their families, but after that the state itself took them away. The children were moved to public barracks, and a training period called “agoge” began in their lives. The goal of this program was to train young men into ideal warriors. The new regime included physical exercise, training in various tricks, unconditional loyalty, martial arts, hand-to-hand combat, developing pain tolerance, hunting, survival skills, communication skills and moral lessons. They were also taught to read, write, compose poetry and speak.

At the age of 12, all boys were stripped of their clothing and all other personal belongings except for a single red cloak. They were taught to sleep outside and make their own beds from reed branches. In addition, boys were encouraged to rummage through garbage or steal their own food. But if the thieves were caught, the children faced severe punishment in the form of flogging.

Spartan girls lived with their families even after the age of 7, but they also received the famous Spartan education, which included dancing lessons, gymnastics, throwing darts and discus. It was believed that these skills helped them best prepare for motherhood.

9. Hazing and fights among children

One of the key ways to mold boys into ideal soldiers and develop a truly stern disposition in them was to provoke them into fights with each other. Older boys and teachers often started quarrels among their students and encouraged them to get into fights.

The main goal of agoge was to instill in children resistance to all the hardships that would await them in war - cold, hunger or pain. And if someone showed even the slightest weakness, cowardice or embarrassment, they immediately became objects of cruel ridicule and punishment from their own comrades and teachers. Imagine that someone is bullying you at school, and the teacher comes up and joins the bullies. It was very unpleasant. And in order to “finish off”, the girls sang all sorts of offensive chants about the guilty students right during ceremonial meetings in front of high-ranking dignitaries.

Even grown men did not avoid abuse. The Spartans hated fat people. That is why all citizens, including even kings, participated daily in joint meals, “sissitia,” which were distinguished by their deliberate meagerness and insipidity. Along with daily physical activity this allowed Spartan men and women to keep themselves in good shape throughout their lives. Those who stood out from the mainstream were subject to public censure and even risked being expelled from the city if they did not rush to cope with their inconsistency with the system.

8. Endurance competition

An integral part Ancient Sparta and at the same time one of her most disgusting practices was the Endurance Contest - Diamastigosis. This tradition was intended to honor the memory of the incident when residents from neighboring settlements killed each other in front of the altar of Artemis as a sign of veneration of the goddess. Since then, human sacrifices have been performed here every year.

During the reign of the semi-mythical Spartan king Lycurgus, who lived in the 7th century BC, the rituals of worship at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia were relaxed and included only the flogging of boys undergoing agoge. The ceremony continued until they completely covered all the steps of the altar with their blood. During the ritual, the altar was strewn with pine cones, which the children had to reach and collect.

The older children were waiting for the younger ones with sticks in their hands, beating the children without any compassion for their pain. The tradition at its core was the initiation of little boys into the ranks of full-fledged warriors and citizens of Sparta. The last child standing received great honors for his manhood. Children often died during such initiation.

During the occupation of Sparta by the Roman Empire, the tradition of Diamastigosis did not disappear, but lost its main ceremonial significance. Instead it just became spectacular. sporting event. People from all over the empire flocked to Sparta to watch the brutal flogging of young boys. By the 3rd century AD, the sanctuary had been converted into a regular theater with stands from which spectators could comfortably watch the beatings.

7. Crypteria

When the Spartans reached the age of 20 or so, those who were tagged as potential leaders were given the opportunity to participate in the Krypteria. It was a kind of secret police. Although, to a greater extent, it was about partisan detachments that periodically terrorized and occupied neighboring Gelot settlements. The best years of this unit came in the 5th century BC, when Sparta had approximately 10,000 men capable of fighting, and the civilian Gelot population outnumbered them by a few.

On the other hand, the Spartans were constantly under threat of rebellion from the Gelotes. This constant threat was one of the reasons why Sparta developed such a militarized society and prioritized the belligerence of its citizens. Every man in Sparta was required by law to be raised as a soldier from childhood.

Each fall, young warriors were given the chance to test their skills during an unofficial declaration of war against enemy Gelot settlements. Members of Crypteria went out on missions at night, armed only with knives, and their goal was always to kill any Geloth they encountered along the way. The larger and stronger the enemy, the better.

This annual massacre was carried out to train neighbors to obey and reduce their numbers to a safe level. Only those boys and men who participated in such raids could expect to receive higher rank and privileged status in society. The rest of the year, the "secret police" patrolled the area, still executing any potentially dangerous Gelot without any proceedings.

6. Forced marriage

And although it can hardly be called something frankly terrifying, forced marriages by the age of 30 today would be considered unacceptable and even frightening by many. Until the age of 30, all Spartans lived in public barracks and served in the state army. Upon reaching the age of 30, they were released from military duty and transferred to the reserve until the age of 60. In any case, if by the age of 30 one of the men did not have time to find a wife, they were forced to marry.

The Spartans considered marriage important, but not the only way to conceive new soldiers, so girls were not married off until they were 19 years old. Applicants had to first carefully assess the health and physical fitness of their future life partners. And although it was often decided between the future husband and father-in-law, the girl also had the right to vote. After all, according to the law, Spartan women had equal rights with men, and even much greater than in some modern countries to this day.

If Spartan men married before their 30th birthday and while still in military service, they continued to live separately from their wives. But if a man went into the reserves while still single, it was considered that he was not fulfilling his duty to the state. The bachelor faced public ridicule for any reason, especially during official meetings.

And if for some reason the Spartan could not have children, he had to find a suitable partner for his wife. It even happened that one woman had several sexual partners, and together they raised common children.

5. Spartan weapons

The bulk of any ancient Greek army, including the Spartans, were “hoplites”. These were soldiers in bulky armor, citizens whose armament was spent at considerable expense so that they could participate in wars. And while the warriors of most Greek city-states lacked sufficient military and physical training and equipment, Spartan soldiers knew how to fight all their lives and were always ready to go to the battlefield. While all the Greek city-states built protective walls around their settlements, Sparta did not care about fortifications, considering its main defense to be hardened hoplites.

The main weapon of a hoplite, regardless of its origin, was a spear for the right hand. The length of the copies reached about 2.5 meters. The tip of this weapon was made of bronze or iron, and the handle was made of dogwood. This particular tree was used because it had the necessary density and strength. By the way, dogwood wood is so dense and heavy that it even sinks in water.

In his left hand the warrior held his round shield, the famous “hoplon”. The 13-kilogram shields were used primarily for defense, but were sometimes used in close combat strike techniques. Shields were made of wood and leather, and covered with a layer of bronze on top. The Spartans marked their shields with the letter "lambda", which symbolized Laconia, a region of Sparta.

If a spear broke or the battle became too close, the hoplites from the front would take up their "xipos", short swords. They were 43 centimeters long and were intended for close combat. But the Spartans preferred their “kopis” to such xipos. This type of sword inflicted particularly painful slashing wounds on the enemy due to its specific one-sided sharpening along the inner edge of the blade. The kopis was used more like an axe. Greek artists often depicted Spartans with copis in their hands.

For additional protection, soldiers wore bronze helmets that covered not only their heads, but also back neck and face. Also among the armor were chest and back shields made of bronze or leather. The soldiers' shins were protected by special bronze plates. The forearms were covered in the same way.

4. Phalanx

There are certain signs of what stage of development a civilization is at, and among them is how peoples fight. Tribal societies tend to fight chaotically and haphazardly, with each warrior swinging his ax or sword as he pleases and seeking personal glory.

But more advanced civilizations fight according to thoughtful tactics. Each soldier plays a specific role in his squad and is subordinate to the overall strategy. This is how the Romans fought, and the ancient Greeks, who included the Spartans, fought this way. By and large, the famous Roman legions were formed precisely according to the example of the Greek “phalanxes”.

Hoplites gathered into regiments, “lokhoi,” consisting of several hundred citizens, and lined up in columns of 8 or more rows. This formation was called a phalanx. The men stood shoulder to shoulder in close groups, protected on all sides by comrade shields. In the gaps between the shields and helmets there was literally a forest of spears sticking outward with their peaks.

The phalanxes were characterized by highly organized movement thanks to rhythmic accompaniments and chants, which the Spartans learned intensively at a young age during training. It happened that Greek cities fought among themselves, and then in battle one could see spectacular clashes of several phalanxes at once. The battle continued until one of the troops stabbed the other to death. It could be compared to a bloody skirmish during a rugby match, but in ancient armor.

3. Nobody gives up

The Spartans were raised to be extremely loyal and despised cowardice above all other human shortcomings. Soldiers were expected to be fearless in all circumstances. Even if we are talking about the last straw and until the last survivor. For this reason, the act of surrender was equivalent to the most intolerable cowardice.

If, under some unimaginable circumstances, a Spartan hoplite had to surrender, he would then commit suicide. The ancient historian Herodotus recalled two unknown Spartans who missed an important battle and committed suicide out of shame. One hanged himself, the other went to certain expiatory death during the next battle in the name of Sparta.

Spartan mothers were famous for often telling their sons before battle: “Come back with your shield, or don’t come back at all.” This meant that they were either waiting for victory or dead. Moreover, if a warrior lost his own shield, he also left his comrade without protection, which jeopardized the entire mission and was unacceptable.

Sparta believed that a soldier had fully fulfilled his duty only when he died for his state. The man had to die on the battlefield, and the woman had to give birth to children. Only those who fulfilled this duty were entitled to be buried in a grave with their name engraved on the headstone.

2. Thirty Tyrants

Sparta was famous for the fact that it always sought to extend its utopian views to neighboring city-states. First there were the Messenians from the west, whom the Spartans conquered in the 7th - 8th centuries BC, turning them into their slaves, the Gelots. Later, Sparta's gaze turned even to Athens. During the Peloponnesian War of 431–404 BC, the Spartans not only subjugated the Athenians, but also inherited their naval supremacy in the Aegean region. This has never happened before. The Spartans did not raze the glorious city to the ground, as the Corinthians advised them, but instead decided to mold the conquered society in their own image.

To do this, they established a “pro-Spartan” oligarchy in Athens, infamously known as the regime of the “Thirty Tyrants”. The main goal of this system was the reformation, and in most cases the complete destruction of the fundamental Athenian laws and orders in exchange for the proclamation of the Spartan version of democracy. They carried out reforms in the field of power structures and reduced the rights of most social classes.

500 councilors were appointed to perform judicial duties that had previously belonged to all citizens. The Spartans also elected 3,000 Athenians to "share power with them." In fact, these local managers simply had slightly more privileges than other residents. During the 13-month regime of Sparta, 5% of the population of Athens died or simply fled from the city, many other people's property was confiscated, and crowds of associates of the old system of government of Athens were sent into exile.

The former student of Socrates, Critias, leader of the Thirty, was recognized as a cruel and completely inhumane ruler who set out to turn the conquered city into a reflection of Sparta at any cost. Critias acted as if he were still on duty in the Spartan Cryptea, and executed all Athenians whom he considered dangerous to the establishment of the new order of things.

300 standard bearers were hired to patrol the city, who ended up intimidating and terrorizing the local population. About 1,500 of the most prominent Athenians who did not support the new government forcibly took poison - hemlock. Interestingly, the more cruel the tyrants were, the more resistance they encountered from local residents.

As a result, after 13 months of the brutal regime, a successful coup took place, led by Thrasybulus, one of the few citizens who escaped from exile. During the Athenian Restoration, the 3,000 aforementioned traitors were granted amnesty, but the remaining defectors, including those same 30 tyrants, were executed. Kritias died in one of the first battles.

Mired in corruption, betrayal and violence, the short reign of the tyrants led to strong distrust of the Athenians towards each other even for the next few years after the fall of the dictatorship.

1. The famous Battle of Thermopylae

Best known today from the 1998 comic book series and the 2006 film 300, the Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 BC, was an epic massacre between the Greek army led by the Spartan king Leonidas I and the Persians led by King Xerxes.

Initially, the conflict arose between these two peoples even before the accession of the mentioned military leaders, during the reign of Darius I, the predecessor of Xerxes. He greatly expanded the boundaries of his lands deep into the European continent and at some point turned his hungry gaze to Greece. After the death of Darius, Xerxes almost immediately after assuming his rights as king began preparations for the invasion. This was the greatest threat Greece had ever faced.

After much negotiation between the Greek city-states, a combined force of approximately 7,000 hoplites was sent to defend the Thermopylae Pass, through which the Persians planned to advance into all of Hellas. For some reason, in the film adaptations and comics, those same several thousand hoplites were not mentioned, including the legendary Athenian fleet.

Among the several thousand Greek warriors were the celebrated 300 Spartans, whom Leonidas personally led into battle. Xerxes assembled an army of 80,000 soldiers for his invasion. The relatively small Greek defense was due to the fact that they did not want to send too many warriors too far to the north of the country. Another reason was a more religious motive. In those days the sacred days were just passing. Olympic Games and Sparta's most important ritual festival, Carneia, during which bloodshed was prohibited. In any case, Leonidas realized the danger facing his army and called together 300 of his most devoted Spartans, who had already given birth to male heirs.

Located 153 kilometers north of Athens, the Thermopylae Gorge provided an excellent defensive position. Only 15 meters wide, sandwiched between almost vertical cliffs and the sea, this gorge created a great inconvenience for the numerically superior Persian army. Such limited space did not allow the Persians to properly deploy their full power.

This gave the Greeks a significant advantage along with the defensive wall already built here. When Xerxes finally arrived, he had to wait 4 days in the hope that the Greeks would surrender. That did not happen. Then he sent his envoys one last time to call on the enemy to lay down their arms, to which Leonidas replied “come and take it yourself.”

For 2 next days The Greeks repelled numerous Persian attacks, including a battle with the elite detachment of "Immortals" from the personal guard of the Persian king. But betrayed by a local shepherd, who showed Xerxes about a secret bypass route through the mountains, on the second day the Greeks still found themselves surrounded by the enemy.

Faced with such an unpleasant situation, the Greek commander disbanded most of the hoplites, except for 300 Spartans and a few other selected soldiers, to make a last stand. During the last attack of the Persians, the glorious Leonidas and 300 Spartans fell, honorably fulfilling their duty to Sparta and its people.

To this day, in Thermopylae there is a sign with the inscription “Traveler, go tell our citizens in Lacedaemon that, keeping their covenants, here we died in bones.” And although Leonidas and his people died, their joint feat inspired the Spartans to gather their courage and overthrow the evil invaders during the subsequent Greco-Persian wars.

The Battle of Thermopylae forever secured Sparta's reputation as the most unique and powerful civilization.