The city of Sparta it was one of the greatest and greatest in Greece during the classical period. Sparta is believed to have been founded in the 10th century BC. Ç. and that it has expanded territorially from the VIII century; Ç. Its laws, known in the classical period, were supposedly created by Lycurgus, a Spartan legislator.
Sparta was a city militarized, with strict social discipline and who used force to control the group of helotas, the slaves who worked in the lands of the Esparciatas. An intermediate group was the periecos, composed of free men who survived by different trades. Sparta was a polis aristocratic, and only the Spartans were considered citizens.
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Origins
The city of Sparta was one of the most important polis of the Ancient Greece and was located in the Laconia (also called Lakedaemon) on the Peloponnese Peninsula in southern Greece. The human occupation of this region dates back to the
Neolithic Period, but the city of Sparta only appeared in the Homeric Period of Ancient Greece.In the mythological narrative, the city of Sparta was founded by Lacedemon, who is the son of Zeus. he would have if married to sparta, daughter of Eurotas, a descendant of King Lelex, the first king of Laconia. Upon succeeding Eurotas, Lacedemon gave his name to the region (Lacedaemon), and his wife's name was used to name a new city.
It is estimated that the city was developed in Laconia in the 10th century BC. C., having been founded by the Dorians, an Indo-European people who arrived in Greece around 1200 BC. Ç. Once the city of Sparta was established, its inhabitants sought to expand your domains, and thus it is believed that around the 8th century BC a., the region of Messinia was conquered by the Spartans.
This territorial expansion made Sparta the polis with the largest territory under its domain, controlling around 8500 km².
Society
The territorial expansion of Sparta over all of Laconia and Messinia, in addition to transforming the territory Spartan at the largest under the rule of a polis, it also contributed to shaping the social hierarchy of the city of Sparta. During the expansion, a number of populations were subjugated and placed under Spartan rule.
These populations were placed in condition of slavery and ended up forming the class of helots. You helots they were the lowest class of Spartan society, who lived in the lands of the city's aristocrats and had to cultivate them to survive. A part of what was produced by the helots stayed with the Esparciatas, those considered citizens.
The helots were the larger group of Spartan society and, therefore, were placed under a regime of terror, as the Spartans used to often of violence to keep the helots producing and to keep them from rebelling against the slavery. The helots' revolt was a real fear of the Spartan aristocracy, since only the exploitation of this group guaranteed their way of life.
You Spartans, in turn, were the class of spartan citizens. They formed the aristocracy in Sparta and only they had the right to participate in politics in the city. The Spartans called themselves homoioi, which means “equal”, and it is believed that, at the height of the city of Sparta, they corresponded to at most nine thousand people.
The Spartans were the elite corps of the army of sparta, as they devoted their entire lives to military training. This training began at age seven and continued throughout life, which made Spartan soldiers the best and most disciplined from all over Greece. That's exactly why the Spartans kept tight control over the helots.
Their lifestyle, devoted exclusively to military training and politics, depended on exploiting one's labor to produce the food and wealth needed to sustain themselves. Each Esparciata was entitled to a plot of land called kleroi, and, as stated, the cultivation of this land was done by the helots.
Finally, an intermediate class in Spartan society was the periecos. She was formed by menfree that they had no right to be involved in city politics. The periecos, basically, were the group that, during the Spartan expansion, did not become a citizen, but was not subjugated as a slave either (as was the case with the helots).
The periecos had freedom of movement, unlike the helots, and worked in different trades such as merchants, blacksmiths, arms producers for the Spartan troops and in other economic activities not carried out by the Spartans. The periecos, like the helots, could be part of the army, if they were called up.
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Main events
The city of Sparta had a major role in Greek history, therefore, numerous important events in Greece had the Spartans as important characters. Around the 7th century BC C., Sparta already was transformed into a great city. You VI centuries a. Ç. and V a. Ç. marked their peak.
At that time, Sparta was the most powerful city in the Peloponnese and one of the most powerful in Greece. This force secured his influence in southern Greece and allowed him to occupy the leadership of the Peloponnese League. This league was a military and political alliance formed by the polis of the Peloponnese Peninsula.
Among the Peloponnesian League agreements, one of the most important was the military alliance, in which all member cities were ready to defend each other in case of war. This agreement was very beneficial to Sparta because it guaranteed important military alliances to keep the helots under control.
Traditionally, we know Athens as a rival of Sparta in Greece, but beyond that there was the city of argos as Sparta's rival too, and the two cities went to war several times. As a militarized city, war was a frequent reality in Spartan history, and three major conflicts took place at its height. They were:
Medical Wars (492-490 a. Ç. and 480-479 a. C.): fought in two phases, in which the Spartans united with most of the Greek cities (including Athens) to resist the invasion of the Persians. The war was motivated when Athens decided to support the Ionian cities to rebel against the Persians in Asia Minor. The Spartans played an important role in battles such as the one at Thermopylae, led by King Leonidas I, and at Plateia. The Greeks won.
Peloponnesian War (431-404 a. C.): fought between Sparta and its allies against Athens and its allies. Its main cause was the strengthening of Athens and its enrichment at the head of the League of Delos, and its trigger was Athenian interference in two allied polis of Sparta. The Spartans won.
Corinth War (395-387 a. C.): when Sparta fought against Athens, Argos, Corinth and Thebes, this being caused by the Spartan expansion in Greece. It had an inconclusive ending.
Another significant moment in Spartan history came with the Battle of Leuctra, in 371 a. a., when Sparta and Tebas fought to each other because of the tebana dissatisfaction with the Spartan hegemony. Thebes won that battle, placing itself as a hegemonic force in Greece, leaving Sparta in second place.
After that, the city never regained the power of previous centuries. The Spartans were later subdued by Macedonian and romans, and the last big episode involving this city in antiquity was the withdraw who suffered from Visigoths in the fourth century d. Ç.
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Politics
During its classical period, Spartan politics was organized as we shall see below. First, as we already know, participation in politics was a privilege of the Esparciatas, a group of even nine thousand men who could have an opinion in the decisions and occupy the political positions that existed in the institutions Spartans. The Spartan organization and its laws, according to the city's tradition, were derived from the Licurgus legislator, a character who is not sure if he ever existed.
Sparta's policy made it a polisaristocratic, since only the local aristocracy was considered a citizen. The city was based on a diarchy, that is, it had two kings, who held the office in a hereditary way. Kings played an important religious role, and in times of war, one king would join the troops and go to the battlefield, while the other would take care of the city.
The other Spartan institutions were:
appeals: the Spartan assembly, where citizens took decisions. Only citizens, that is, Esparciatas over 30 years old, participated in it. They also elected members of Gerusia, a council of elders who made the city's laws.
gerusia: council of elders formed after election by the Appeal. Twenty-eight Esparciatas over 60 years of age were elected, who met with two seniors who occupied the position for life. They supervised the administration of Sparta, made the laws to be voted on in the Appeal, and followed the Spartan laws.
adviceFromephors: were the de facto representatives of the Spartan government. There were five Esparciatas who presided over the Apela and the Gerúsia, elected annually to fulfill their obligations.
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