Can the Spartans be considered the best warriors of all time? Chapter I. Free population of Sparta. Spartiates

But where did philosophers come from? If we try to describe the society of “archaic Greece” in one phrase, we can say that it was imbued with a “military” consciousness, and its best representatives were “noble warriors.” Chiron, who took over the baton of education from Phoenix

Where did you come from, “real people”? Europeans who encountered the Ainu in the 17th century were amazed by their appearance. Unlike the usual appearance of people of the Mongoloid race with yellow skin, a Mongolian fold of the eyelid, sparse facial hair, the Ainu had unusually thick

Where did the Westerners come from? At the beginning of the twentieth century. The Austro-Hungarian Empire included the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with its capital in Lemberg (Lviv), which, in addition to ethnic Polish territories, included Northern Bukovina (modern Chernivtsi region) and

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.

The originality of its social order and everyday life Sparta owes to a large extent natural conditions. Sparta was in the southern part Balkan Peninsula-in 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, stretching 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, there lived Basil Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen. It is impossible to say how the settlement of the Dorians proceeded in Laconia, which they conquered, and what their initial relations were with the native population, given the current state of the issue. 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 is the main feature of the 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 thick fog, enveloping the activities of Lycurgus, nevertheless, some real features of the legislator 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 state system, which developed 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 members of the community 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 their campaigns 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 peacetime. 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 made 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 at as if they were main force Spartan system both in the present and in the future. In order to accustom youth to endurance, teenagers and young men were assigned difficult work, which they had to do without any objection or grumbling. 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 it, considering that it is very important for the state’s well-being if youth are educated properly.”

This 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) constituted the main military force of 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 adaptation 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,

Grozny Sultan-o-Sultan, helmet-o 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 a discus, fighting in fist fights, etc. The education of women was considered as the most important state function, because their responsibility was to give birth to healthy children, future defenders of the homeland. “The Spartan girls had to run, fight, throw a 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 military service either. 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, member of the community of equals and 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. Total number 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 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 property.

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 discussed 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, the trading city of Corinth, a rival of Athens, also joined this union.

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 until the end of this [Peloponnesian] war, the Lacedaemonians have the same government system. 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.

Sparta was one of the most important Greek city-states in the ancient world. The main difference was the military power of the city.

Professional and well-trained, Spartan hoplites, with their characteristic red cloaks, long hair and large shields, were the best and most feared fighters in Greece.

Warriors fought in the most important battles ancient world: in and Plataea, as well as in numerous battles with Athens and Corinth. The Spartans also distinguished themselves during two protracted and bloody battles during the Peloponnesian War.

Sparta in mythology

Myths say that the founder of Sparta was Lacedaemon, the son of. Sparta was an integral part and its main military stronghold (this role of the city in is especially indicative).

The Spartan king Menelaus declared war after Paris, the son of the Trojan rulers Priam and Hecuba, kidnapped his future wife, Helen, from the city, who was bequeathed to the hero herself.

Elena was the most beautiful woman in Greece, and there were a lot of contenders for her hand and heart, including from the Spartans.

The history of Sparta

Sparta was located in the fertile Eurotas valley in Laconia, in the southeastern Peloponnese. The area was first inhabited during the Neolithic period and became an important settlement established during the Bronze Age.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Sparta was created in the 10th century BC. At the end of the 8th century BC, Sparta annexed most of neighboring Messenia and its population increased significantly.

Thus, Sparta occupied about 8,500 km² of territory, which made it the largest polis in Greece, a city-state that had influence on the general political life of the entire region. The conquered peoples of Messenia and Laconia had no rights in Sparta and had to submit to harsh laws, such as serving as unpaid mercenaries in the war effort.

Another one social group The inhabitants of Sparta were helots who lived on the territory of the city and were mainly engaged in agriculture, replenishing the supplies of Sparta and leaving themselves only a small percentage for the work.

Helots had the lowest social status, and in the event of martial law being declared, they became liable for military service.

Relations between the full citizens of Sparta and the helots were difficult: uprisings often raged in the city. The most famous occurred in the 7th century BC; because of him, Sparta was defeated in a clash with Argos in 669 BC. (However, in 545 BC, Sparta managed to take revenge at the Battle of Tegea).

Instability in the region was resolved by Spartan statesmen through the creation of the Peloponnesian League, uniting Corinth, Tegea, Elis and other territories.

In accordance with this agreement, which lasted from approximately 505 to 365. BC. League members were obliged to provide their warriors to Sparta at any time necessary. This unification of lands allowed Sparta to establish hegemony over almost the entire Peloponnese.

In addition, Sparta expanded more and more, conquering more and more new territories.

Reunification with Athens

The troops of Sparta managed to overthrow the tyrants of Athens, and as a result, democracy was established in almost all of Greece. Often the warriors of Sparta came to the aid of Athens (for example, in a military campaign against the Persian king Xerxes or in the battle of Thermopylae and Plataea).

Often Athens and Sparta argued over the ownership of territories, and one day these conflicts turned into the Peloponnesian Wars.

Long-term hostilities caused damage to both sides, but Sparta finally won the war thanks to its Persian allies (almost the entire Athenian fleet was then destroyed). However, Sparta, despite its ambitious plans, never became the leading city in Greece.

Ongoing aggressive policy Sparta in central and northern Greece, Asia Minor and Sicily again dragged the city into a protracted military conflict: the Corinthian Wars with Athens, Thebes, Corinth and from 396 to 387. BC..

The conflict resulted in the "King's Peace", in which Sparta ceded its empire to Persian control but still remained the leading city in Greece.

In the 3rd century BC, Sparta was forced to join the Achaean confederation. The final end of Sparta's power came in 396 AD, when the Visigoth king Alaric captured the city.

Spartan army

Great attention was paid to military training in Sparta. From the age of seven, all boys began to study martial arts and lived in barracks. The compulsory set of subjects was athletics and weightlifting, military strategy, mathematics and physics.

From the age of 20, young people entered the service. Harsh training transformed the Spartans from fierce and strong soldiers, hoplites, into those ready to demonstrate their fighting power at any moment.

Therefore, Sparta did not even have any fortifications around the city. They simply didn't need them.

In the southeast of the largest Greek peninsula - the Peloponnese - the powerful Sparta was once located. This state was located in the region of Laconia, in the picturesque valley of the Eurotas River. Its official name, which was most often mentioned in international treaties, is Lacedaemon. It was from this state that such concepts as “Spartan” and “Spartan” came. Everyone has also heard about the cruel custom that has developed in this ancient polis: killing weak newborns in order to maintain the gene pool of their nation.

History of origin

Officially, Sparta, which was called Lacedaemon (from this word also came the name of the nome - Laconia), arose in the eleventh century BC. After some time, the entire area on which this city-state was located was captured by the Dorian tribes. Those, having assimilated with the local Achaeans, became Spartakiates in the sense known today, and the former inhabitants were turned into slaves called helots.

The most Doric of all the states that Ancient Greece once knew, Sparta, was located on the western bank of Eurotas, on the site of the modern city of the same name. Its name can be translated as “scattered.” It consisted of estates and estates that were scattered throughout Laconia. And the center was a low hill, which later became known as the acropolis. Sparta originally had no walls and remained true to this principle until the second century BC.

State system of Sparta

It was based on the principle of the unity of all full-fledged citizens of the polis. For this purpose, the state and law of Sparta strictly regulated the life and life of its subjects, restraining their property stratification. The foundations of such a social system were laid by the treaty of the legendary Lycurgus. According to him, the duties of the Spartans were only sports or the art of war, and crafts, agriculture and trade were the work of the helots and perioecs.

As a result, the system established by Lycurgus transformed the Spartiate military democracy into an oligarchic-slave-owning republic, which still retained some signs of a tribal system. Here, land was not allowed, which was divided into equal plots, considered the property of the community and not subject to sale. Helot slaves also, historians suggest, belonged to the state rather than to wealthy citizens.

Sparta is one of the few states that was simultaneously headed by two kings, who were called archagets. Their power was inherited. The powers that each king of Sparta had were limited not only to military power, but also to the organization of sacrifices, as well as to participation in the council of elders.

The latter was called gerusia and consisted of two archagets and twenty-eight geronts. The elders were elected by the people's assembly for life only from the Spartan nobility who had reached the age of sixty. Gerusia in Sparta performed the functions of a certain government body. She prepared issues that needed to be discussed at public assemblies, and also led foreign policy. In addition, the council of elders considered criminal cases, as well as state crimes, including those directed against archagets.

Court

The legal proceedings and law of ancient Sparta were regulated by the college of ephors. This organ first appeared in the eighth century BC. It consisted of the five most worthy citizens of the state, who were elected by the people's assembly for only one year. At first, the powers of the ephors were limited only to the legal proceedings of property disputes. But already in the sixth century BC their power and powers were growing. Gradually they begin to displace gerusia. The ephors were given the right to convene a national assembly and gerousia, regulate foreign policy, implement internal management Sparta and its legal proceedings. This body was so important in the social structure of the state that its powers included the control of officials, including the archaget.

People's Assembly

Sparta is an example of an aristocratic state. In order to suppress the forced population, whose representatives were called helots, the development of private property was artificially restrained in order to maintain equality among the Spartiates themselves.

The Apella, or popular assembly, in Sparta was characterized by passivity. Only full-fledged male citizens who had reached the age of thirty had the right to participate in this body. At first, the people's assembly was convened by the archaget, but subsequently its leadership also passed to the college of ephors. Apella could not discuss the issues put forward, she only rejected or accepted the solution she proposed. Members of the national assembly voted in a very primitive way: by shouting or dividing participants into different sides, after which the majority was determined by eye.

Population

The inhabitants of the Lacedaemonian state have always been class-unequal. This situation was created social order Sparta, which provided for three classes: the elite, the perieki - free residents from nearby cities who did not have the right to vote, as well as state slaves - helots.

The Spartans, who were in privileged conditions, were exclusively engaged in war. They were far from trade, crafts and agriculture; all this was given over to the Perieks as a right. At the same time, the estates of the elite Spartans were cultivated by helots, whom the latter rented from the state. During the heyday of the state, there were five times fewer nobility than perieks, and ten times fewer helots.

All periods of the existence of this one of the most ancient states can be divided into prehistoric, ancient, classical, Roman and Each of them left its mark not only in the formation of the ancient state of Sparta. Greece borrowed a lot from this history in the process of its formation.

Prehistoric era

The Leleges initially lived on the Laconian lands, but after the capture of the Peloponnese by the Dorians, this region, which was always considered the most infertile and generally insignificant, as a result of deception, went to two minor sons of the legendary king Aristodemus - Eurysthenes and Proclus.

Soon Sparta became the main city of Lacedaemon, whose system for a long time did not stand out among the other Doric states. She waged constant external wars with neighboring Argive or Arcadian cities. The most significant rise occurred during the reign of Lycurgus, the ancient Spartan legislator, to whom ancient historians unanimously attribute the political structure that subsequently dominated Sparta for several centuries.

Antique era

After victory in the wars lasting from 743 to 723 and from 685 to 668. BC, Sparta was able to finally defeat and capture Messenia. As a result, its ancient inhabitants were deprived of their lands and turned into helots. Six years later, Sparta, at the cost of incredible efforts, defeated the Arcadians, and in 660 BC. e. forced Tegea to recognize her hegemony. According to the agreement stored on a column placed near Althea, she forced her to enter into a military alliance. It was from this time that Sparta in the eyes of the people began to be considered the first state of Greece.

The history of Sparta at this stage is that its inhabitants began to make attempts to overthrow the tyrants that had been appearing since the seventh millennium BC. e. in almost all Greek states. It was the Spartans who helped expel the Cypselids from Corinth, the Pisistrati from Athens, they contributed to the liberation of Sikyon and Phocis, as well as several islands in the Aegean Sea, thereby acquiring grateful supporters in different states.

History of Sparta in the classical era

Having concluded an alliance with Tegea and Elis, the Spartans began to attract the rest of the cities of Laconia and neighboring regions to their side. As a result, the Peloponnesian League was formed, in which Sparta assumed hegemony. These were wonderful times for her: she provided leadership in wars, was the center of meetings and all meetings of the Union, without encroaching on the independence of individual states that maintained autonomy.

Sparta never tried to extend its own power to the Peloponnese, but the threat of danger prompted all other states, with the exception of Argos, to come under its protection during the Greco-Persian wars. Having eliminated the immediate danger, the Spartans, realizing that they were unable to wage war with the Persians far from their own borders, did not object when Athens took further leadership in the war, limiting itself only to the peninsula.

From that time on, signs of rivalry between these two states began to appear, which later resulted in the First, which ended with the Thirty Years' Peace. The fighting not only broke the power of Athens and established the hegemony of Sparta, but also led to a gradual violation of its foundations - the legislation of Lycurgus.

As a result, in 397 before our chronology, the uprising of Kinadon took place, which, however, was not crowned with success. However, after certain setbacks, especially the defeat at the Battle of Cnidus in 394 BC. e, Sparta ceded Asia Minor, but became a judge and mediator in Greek affairs, thus motivating its policy with the freedom of all states, and was able to secure primacy in an alliance with Persia. And only Thebes did not submit to the conditions set, thereby depriving Sparta of the benefits of such a shameful peace for her.

Hellenistic and Roman era

Starting from these years, the state began to decline quite quickly. Impoverished and burdened with the debts of its citizens, Sparta, whose system was based on the legislation of Lycurgus, turned into an empty form of government. An alliance was concluded with the Phocians. And although the Spartans sent them help, they did not provide real support. In the absence of King Agis, with the help of money received from Darius, an attempt was made to get rid of the Macedonian yoke. But he, having failed in the battles of Megapolis, was killed. The spirit that Sparta was so famous for, which had become a household name, gradually began to disappear.

Rise of an Empire

Sparta is a state that for three centuries was the envy of all of Ancient Greece. Between the eighth and fifth centuries BC, it was a collection of hundreds of cities, often at war with each other. One of the key figures for the establishment of Sparta as a powerful and strong state was Lycurgus. Before his appearance, it was not much different from the rest of the ancient Greek city-states. But with the arrival of Lycurgus, the situation changed, and priorities in development were given to the art of war. From that moment on, Lacedaemon began to transform. And it was during this period that it flourished.

Since the eighth century BC. e. Sparta began to wage wars of conquest, conquering one after another its neighbors in the Peloponnese. After a series of successful military operations, Sparta moved on to establishing diplomatic ties with its most powerful opponents. Having concluded several treaties, Lacedaemon stood at the head of the union of the Peloponnesian states, which was considered one of the powerful formations of Ancient Greece. The creation of this alliance by Sparta was supposed to serve to repel the Persian invasion.

The state of Sparta has been a mystery to historians. The Greeks not only admired its citizens, but feared them. One type of bronze shields and scarlet cloaks worn by the warriors of Sparta put their opponents to flight, forcing them to capitulate.

Not only the enemies, but also the Greeks themselves did not really like it when an army, even a small one, was located next to them. Everything was explained very simply: the warriors of Sparta had a reputation of being invincible. The sight of their phalanxes brought even the most seasoned into a state of panic. And although only a small number of fighters took part in the battles in those days, they never lasted long.

The beginning of the decline of the empire

But at the beginning of the fifth century BC. e. a massive invasion from the East marked the beginning of the decline of Sparta's power. The huge Persian empire, which always dreamed of expanding its territories, sent a large army to Greece. Two hundred thousand people stood at the borders of Hellas. But the Greeks, led by the Spartans, accepted the challenge.

Tsar Leonidas

Being the son of Anaxandrides, this king belonged to the Agiad dynasty. After the death of his older brothers, Dorieus and Clemen the First, it was Leonidas who took over the reign. Sparta in 480 years before our chronology was in a state of war with Persia. And the name of Leonidas is associated with the immortal feat of the Spartans, when a battle took place in the Thermopylae Gorge, which remained in history for centuries.

This happened in 480 BC. e., when the hordes of the Persian king Xerxes tried to capture the narrow passage connecting Central Greece with Thessaly. At the head of the troops, including the allied ones, was Tsar Leonid. Sparta at that time occupied a leading position among friendly states. But Xerxes, taking advantage of the betrayal of the dissatisfied, bypassed the Thermopylae Gorge and went behind the rear of the Greeks.

Having learned about this, Leonidas, who fought along with his soldiers, disbanded the allied troops, sending them home. And he himself, with a handful of warriors, whose number was only three hundred people, stood in the way of the twenty-thousand-strong Persian army. Thermopylae Gorge was strategic for the Greeks. In case of defeat, they would be cut off from Central Greece, and their fate would be sealed.

For four days, the Persians were unable to break the incomparably smaller enemy forces. The heroes of Sparta fought like lions. But the forces were unequal.

The fearless warriors of Sparta died every single one. Their king Leonidas fought with them to the end, who did not want to abandon his comrades.

The name Leonid will forever go down in history. Chroniclers, including Herodotus, wrote: “Many kings have died and have long been forgotten. But everyone knows and respects Leonid. His name will always be remembered in Sparta, Greece. And not because he was a king, but because he fulfilled his duty to his homeland to the end and died as a hero. Films have been made and books have been written about this episode in the life of the heroic Hellenes.

Feat of the Spartans

The Persian king Xerxes, who was haunted by the dream of capturing Hellas, invaded Greece in 480 BC. At this time, the Hellenes held the Olympic Games. The Spartans were preparing to celebrate Carnei.

Both of these holidays obliged the Greeks to observe a sacred truce. This was precisely one of the main reasons why only a small detachment resisted the Persians in the Thermopylae Gorge.

A detachment of three hundred Spartans led by King Leonidas headed towards Xerxes’ army of thousands. Warriors were selected based on whether they had children. On the way, Leonid's militia was joined by a thousand people each from Tegeans, Arcadians and Mantineans, as well as one hundred and twenty from Orkhomenes. Four hundred soldiers were sent from Corinth, three hundred from Phlius and Mycenae.

When this small army approached the Thermopylae Pass and saw the number of Persians, many soldiers became afraid and began to talk about retreat. Some of the allies proposed withdrawing to the peninsula to guard the Isthmus. However, others were outraged by this decision. Leonidas, ordering the army to remain in place, sent messengers to all cities asking for help, since they had too few soldiers to successfully repel the Persian attack.

For four whole days, King Xerxes, hoping that the Greeks would take flight, did not begin hostilities. But seeing that this was not happening, he sent the Cassians and Medes against them with the order to take Leonidas alive and bring him to him. They quickly attacked the Hellenes. Each onslaught of the Medes ended in huge losses, but others took the place of the fallen. It was then that it became clear to both the Spartans and Persians that Xerxes had many people, but few warriors among them. The battle lasted the whole day.

Having received a decisive rebuff, the Medes were forced to retreat. But they were replaced by the Persians, led by Hydarnes. Xerxes called them an “immortal” squad and hoped that they would easily finish off the Spartans. But in hand-to-hand combat, they, like the Medes, failed to achieve great success.

The Persians had to fight in close quarters, and with shorter spears, while the Hellenes had longer spears, which gave a certain advantage in this fight.

At night, the Spartans again attacked the Persian camp. They managed to kill many enemies, but their main goal was the defeat of Xerxes himself in the general turmoil. And only when it was dawn did the Persians see the small number of King Leonidas’s detachment. They pelted the Spartans with spears and finished them off with arrows.

The road to Central Greece was open for the Persians. Xerxes personally inspected the battlefield. Having found the dead Spartan king, he ordered him to cut off his head and put it on a stake.

There is a legend that King Leonidas, going to Thermopylae, clearly understood that he would die, so when his wife asked him during farewell what his orders would be, he ordered to find himself good husband and give birth to sons. This was it life position Spartans who were ready to die for their homeland on the battlefield in order to receive a crown of glory.

Beginning of the Peloponnesian War

After some time, the Greek city-states at war with each other united and were able to repel Xerxes. But, despite the joint victory over the Persians, the alliance between Sparta and Athens did not last long. In 431 BC. e. The Peloponnesian War broke out. And only several decades later was the Spartan state able to win.

But not everyone in Ancient Greece liked the supremacy of Lacedaemon. Therefore, half a century later, new hostilities broke out. This time his rivals were Thebes, who and their allies managed to inflict a serious defeat on Sparta. As a result, the power of the state was lost.

Conclusion

This is exactly what ancient Sparta was like. She was one of the main contenders for primacy and supremacy in the ancient Greek picture of the world. Some milestones of Spartan history are sung in the works of the great Homer. The outstanding “Iliad” occupies a special place among them.

And now all that remains of this glorious polis are the ruins of some of its buildings and unfading glory. Legends about the heroism of its warriors, as well as a small town of the same name in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, reached contemporaries.