The Spartan Alternative

Sparta and the Land Crisis

local war instead of colonization

First Messenian War - 730-730 BCE

exception: colony at Tarentum

Tyrtaeus of Sparta and the Hoplite ideal

Spartans vs. Helots

Second Messenian War - 660-630 BCE

 

Ideal Hoplite State

Lycurgus the lawgiver - - Great Rhetra

Two Kings of Sparta – Agiads and Eurypontids

Gerousia - council of elders (Senate)

Ephors

Assembly – Apellai of the Damos

- each Spartan given an equal portion (kleros) of Messenian land

- contribute to meal at communal eating house (syssition)

- Spartan citizens (Homoioi) rule over Helots

The Spartan Legend

Spartan aceticism – the philosopher's ideal

Spartan training – the agoge

Spartan brutality – the krypteia

Equality of lots – no public displays of wealth

Spartan Women – the exceptions to the rules

The beauty of Spartan women – Helen of Troy

The athleticism of Spartan women

The greed of Spartan women

Spartan women vs. other women; Spartan women vs. other men

The Expansion of Spartan Power

Sparta helps Elis regain Olympics from Pisa - 572 BCE

The Bones of Orestes and the Conquest of Tegea

The Battle of the Champions and the Defeat of Argos

The Spartans against the Tyrants – Spartans as Liberators