Progressing views on Sparta. Or an examination of the debate on the 'peculiarity' of Archaic and Early Classical Sparta

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the „otherness‟ of Archaic and (Early) Classical Sparta, and the existence of a shift between both periods. Sparta has always been considered to be different. To enquire whether it really was different or not, I investigated the history of the research on Sparta and Laconia (chapter 1), the history of Sparta and Laconia in the broader perspective of Greek developments (chapter 2), the possibility of Sparta being a polis and its connections with other Greek centres (chapter 3), the supposed Spartan conquest of (first) the whole of Laconia, and further Messenia and reducing its people to Perioeci and Helots (chapter 4) and finally the Spartan mirage and the problem of the multiple villages Sparta existed of (chapter 5). To reach this goal, I favoured the „integrated approach‟: I used all possible sources, both textual and archaeological. The archaeological sources are, unfortunately not really abundant. In Sparta mainly rescue excavations have...Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to investigate the „otherness‟ of Archaic and (Early) Classical Sparta, and the existence of a shift between both periods. Sparta has always been considered to be different. To enquire whether it really was different or not, I investigated the history of the research on Sparta and Laconia (chapter 1), the history of Sparta and Laconia in the broader perspective of Greek developments (chapter 2), the possibility of Sparta being a polis and its connections with other Greek centres (chapter 3), the supposed Spartan conquest of (first) the whole of Laconia, and further Messenia and reducing its people to Perioeci and Helots (chapter 4) and finally the Spartan mirage and the problem of the multiple villages Sparta existed of (chapter 5). To reach this goal, I favoured the „integrated approach‟: I used all possible sources, both textual and archaeological. The archaeological sources are, unfortunately not really abundant. In Sparta mainly rescue excavations have been carried out apart from the excavation of the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia and the Roman theatre, and only one thorough surface survey was carried out – just outside Sparta, to the east of the ancient city. Messenia has had one extensive and one intensive survey, but they are mainly limited to the western part of the province. Textual sources are more numerous, but they were mostly written by outsiders who looked at Sparta from an Athenocentric or otherwise biased viewpoint. They together created the mirage that Sparta was conservative, backwards, warlike, „other‟. Therefore we have to be careful to uncritically accept their statements.Show less

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Progressing views on Sparta. Or an examination of the debate on the 'peculiarity' of Archaic and Early Classical Sparta