Greece: Sparta Society to the Battle of Leuctra 371BC

1. Geographical Setting

1.2 The geographical setting, natural features, and resources of ancient Sparta

Geographical Setting
• Located in the Peloponnese region in central Greece

• Laconia, Southern Peloponnese

• The Mediterranean Sea surround the region

• Sparta (5 Villages) is situated on a rich, flat alluvial plain (built of rock sediment),
surrounded by mountains with Mt Taygetus as the main one

• 4 villages lie on the edge of the Eurotas River

• Tyreatis Plain in the east

• Strabo: “Laconia... encircled by mountains, rugged and difficult of access for enemies.”

Climate
• Cold in winter/hot in summer-> but adequate seasonal terms for good agriculture

• Mountain ranges remained snow-capped all year and lower wooded slopes provided
excellent hunting grounds and valuable timber

• Mountains also formed a natural barrier/fortress for Sparta

• Area of Laconia and Messenia lay rich plains which were good for growing crops and
grazing horses

Resources
• Abundance in resources

• Minerals & Ores (e.g. Iron, lead, clay)

• Stones (e.g. Porphyry, marble, Imported Copper, and tin for bronze)

• Agriculture (e.g. fruit trees, bees, olives, sheep used for wool and dairy, wild boar)

• Produced wheat, barley grapes for wine, and figs

• Strabo: “Messenia is a land of fine fruit and watered by innumerable streams, abounding
in pasturage for cattle and sheep.”
1.2 Significant sites: Sparta

• Polis (Independent City-State) of Sparta including the city and areas in Laconia

• Sparta is consisted of 5 villages: Limnai, Pitana, Kynosaura, Meosoa, and Amyklai

• Dorians – Warlike tribal people from the Danube area who migrated into the
Peloponnese around 1100BC

• Chief temples located on the outskirt of town: Temple of Athena on the acropolis,
Temple of Artemis Orthia, Sanctuary of Apollo 5km south of Sparta

2. Social Structures and Political Organisation

2.1 The issue of Lycurgus (The Great Rhetra)

• Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited for creating the Spartan
constitution (i.e. System of economy, government etc.)

• Oral Law known as The Great Rhetra, debate on whether Lycurgus was a myth.

• The Great Rhetra mentions 3 parts of the Spartan Constitution

• Dual Kingship
• 30-member council (Gerousia) of 28 (Gerontes) and two kings
• Assembly (ekklesia) of all Spartiates aged over 30

Ancient Sources Modern Sources

Plutarch (46 – 120 BC) – Biographer who • [Link]: “If there was a real
wrote 500 years after the society fell at the Lycurgus, we know nothing of him.” and
Battle of Leuctra 371BC “the perpetuation of his name was one
of the most successful frauds in history.”
• In ‘Life of Lycurgus’ Plutarch argues that
Lycurgus visited the Oracle at Delphi • W.G. Forrest: “If such a person exists,
(Central Greece) that delivered The the greatest thing he did was to take
Great Rhetra as a prophecy what he found and partly by accident,
partly by design.”
• “... Sweep away existing order and
make a complete change of constitution
since piecemeal legislation would have
no effect and value.”
• However, this might not be a reliable
source as Plutarch wrote 500 years
after

Herodotus (484 – 425 BC) – Collected • H. Michell (1952): “... the very existence
materials and simply retold stories told by of Lycurgus is strongly open to doubt.”
all sorts of people when he travelled around
the Mediterranean
 • ‘The Histories’ contained a similar
account to Plutarch about the oracle
• However, he also documents a tale
from the Laconians where Lycurgus
brought the document of The Great
Rhetra from Crete and introduced
reforms as a regent of his nephew King
Leobotus

Xenophon (430 -354BC) Judgement

• Focuses on the success of The Great • Not enough evidence to make a certain
Rhetra judgement
• Wrote specifically on the constitution of • Written sources are somewhat
Sparta in ‘Spartan Society’ where he unreliable and because The Great
credited the success and influence of Rhetra was in ORAL FORM it didn’t
such a small polis, in developing a provide much
military ethos & strict order
• Accounts emerge hundreds of years
• Xenophon describes Lycurgus: “I later
certainly admire him in the highest
• However, a revolution in Spartan
• degree a wise man.... he made his political life DID OCCUR to ensure each
country outstandingly fortunate.” political power was closely in check.
• Some bias because he admired the
Spartan’s constitution

2.1 Roles and Privileges of the two Kings

Origins
• Believed to be a coalition of two distinct tribes Eurypontids and Agiads

• Given equal powers under the constitution

• Succeed by oldest son, but a son born prior to his father’s accession to the throne had
to give way to the firstborn after his father became king

Judicial Role
• Held limited judicial duties, decided on marriages of orphaned heiresses and adoption
of children

• Sat as members of the council of elders (Gerousia) but held no more power than the
other 28

• Had jurisdiction over roads and highways

Religious Role
• Kings were intermediaries between good and men
• Carried out sacrifices to Apollo every month
• Priests of Zeus

Military Role
• Supreme commander of the army, one king leads the military campaign while the other
remained in Sparta and held supreme authority in administration

• Two ephors accompanied the king and kept close supervision on his leadership during
the war and a body guard of 100 men

Restriction on power Special Honours

• Took an oath every 3 month • Supported at the expense of the state

• Dual kingship limited dictatorship • Served first at public meals and given
double portions

2.2 Government: ephorate, Gerousia, ekklesia

Gerousia (Council of Elders)

• Consist of the 2 Spartan Kings and 20 gerontes: men over the age of 60 with past
military service

• Selection was by acclamation (shouting and clapping)

• Formed an aristocratic elite based on age, but in practice those chosen came from
wealthy families

• Held power in deciding in serious criminal cases involving death, exile, or disgrace

• Proposed legislations to be approved/rejected by the ekklesia

• Had numerous judicial functions (exceeds those of the kings)

• Could trial the kings

• Plutarch: “...man over sixty whose merits were regarded as most outstanding...”

• Aristotle questions the effectiveness of this political system “guilty of taking bribes and
have been corrupt enough to give away a lot of public property.”

Ephorate (Magistrates)
• Sparta had 5 Ephors one from each oba (territorial region), elected annually

• Chief officials/magistrates of the state elected by the ekklesia and can only hold office
for a year
• Controlled public finances, presided over meetings of ekklesia, supervised krypteia,
declared wars, influential in deciding foreign policies

• Oversees lesser magistrates and the kings

• Responsible for criminal and civil cases

• Controlled the Krypteia (Secret Police) and state finances

• Xenophon: “Ehpors had the power to fine anyone they wish.. if ever they detect any
irregular behaviour on anyone’s part, they at once punish it.”

• Aristotle: “The ephorate has supreme authority... they are open to bribery, which has
further harmed the constitution... but secretly evade the law and enjoy bodily
pleasures.”

• Plutarch: “Ephors served to reinforce the constitution rather than weaken it”

The Ekklesia (General Assembly)

• The assembly comprised of all male citizens over the age of 30
• Vote on proposed legislations via acclamation
• Elected ephors and Gerousia
• Voted by acclamation, could not initiate legislation could only vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’
• Thycydides: “Spartan assembly made their decisions by acclamation, not by voting.”

2.3 Social Structure: Spartiates, perioeci, ‘inferiors’, helots

Spartites (Homoioi)
• Elite group of male citizens over the age of 30, between 9000-10,000 people
• Obtained their social status through:
• Birth from descents of the Dorian/Laconia tribes

• Successful completion of training laid down by the state (agoge)

• Election to military club (syssition)

• Subjected to disciplined training (expected to be at peak of physical fitness) and

lived by a strict code of honour (e.g. total loyalty to the state, respect authority,
obedience of laws)

• Death in battle was preferred over defeat -> Otherwise punished with loss of
citizenship

• Minimalist lifestyle -> Healthy diet, minimum clothing, not permitted to sleep at
home until 30

• Equal under law and have right to participate in government

Inferiors
• Spartiates who did not conform to the strict code of behaviour and did not abide by the
laws including:
• Children of unmarried Spartans (Partheniai)

• Non-Spartan boys adopted as playmates, but did not normally gain full citizenship
(Mothakes)

• Free groups but non-citizen (Neodamodeis)

• Warriors who failed to show enough courage (Hypomeiones)

Helots
• Original pre-Dorian inhabitants of Laconia and Messina

• Not owned by individuals and could not be sold, they were state-owned agricultural
slaves

• Lived on lands of Spartiates and must provide quota of produce to their masters

• Required to act as servants to citizens and fight for Sparta when necessary – They
served as light-armed troops and occasionally trained as hoplite

• Under the state Helots are often treated with brutality e.g. wear humiliating clothes,
received annual beating, and were under threat by the krypetia (Secret Police)

• Make up 70% of the population and wear a central feature of the Sparta system

• Talbert (“... overwhelming majority had accommodated themselves to the demands of

their masters.”)

• Plutarch suggested that Lycurgus did this to: “They could be completely and utterly
free.”

• Sealey suggests that Spartans and helots didn’t have a negative relationship

Perioeci (or Perioikoi)

• ‘Dwellers’ or neighbours of Sparta

• Largely self-governing, communities that must obey Sparta laws

• Integrated into the Sparta system as traders, merchants, fishermen and sailors

• H. Michell: “There’s nothing to show that they (Spartiates) treated the perioeci with
more than a haughty roughness.”

2.4 Role of Spartan Army

• Hoplites were heavy infantry armed with weapons about half the weight of an average
man, supplied by themselves
• Spared time for military training

• Each had a hoplon (Round wooden shield), bronze helmet and breastplate, spolas
(thick leather strips that hung like a skirt) to protect legs and greaves (bronze shin
pads)

• 7th Century BC, hoplites fought in phalanxes – A band of Spartans in files of 8,12 or
more in compacted shield formation EVIDENCE: Corinthian vase from 640BC.

Military Tactics
• Formed a wall of shields
• Lift spears over shoulder, locked shields and attacked
• Fought with same soldiers
• Marched towards enemies, pushing them back
• Strongest soldiers at back
• Curved swords for hand combat

Military lifestyle-values/beliefs
• Never retreat
• Fitness test at birth – babies not healthy for war thrown into ravine
• Belonged to mess, where they bonded, slept, ate together
• Agoge – age 7
• No greater glory than to die in battle Tyrtaois (‘For it is fine to die in the front line…’)
• Come home from battle with shield or on shield (well-known mothers’ saying)
• Mothers showed no affection
• Loyalty
• Don’t stand out – fight in formation/ as team

Vocab
• Hoplite – Heavily armed Spartan soldier
• Horse-hair on thin bronze helmet
• Long hair (sign of masculinity)
• Bronze breastplate, greaves
• Red Cloth-tunic (hides colour of blood and is warlike) Xenophon
• Spear (almost 3m for thrusting not throwing)

2.5 Control of the Helots: the military, syssitia, krypteia

The Military
• Helots served in the military as servants to Spartan soldiers

• Used as light infantry (Foot Soldiers)

• Often completed humiliating duties → Myron (“They assigned to the helots every
shameful task leading to disgrace.”)
Syssitia
• A common dining hall/mess designed to reinforce group loyalty and co-operation →
Aristotle (“... mess ought to be run at public expense.)

• Usually consisted of 15 Spartans

• Each member must provide equal quantities of food & drinks from estate → Aristotle
(“...at Sparta each individual has to contribute and as some are quite poor and unable
to meet heavy expenditure...”)

• Emphasises Spartiates superiority and helot inferiority

• Spartans drank wine diluted with water to avoid getting drunk. However, helots were
brought in and forced drunk. → Plutarch (“... exhibit to the young as a deterrent from
excessive drinking.”)

Krypteia
• Secret police of Sparta used a fear factor to control the helots and set a harsh example
to remind them of Spartan dominance

• Krypteia chose young men to hide, ambush and kill any helots found on the road

• Important as part of military training

• Run by the ehpors, young Spartans were authorised to kill helots who appeared to
have qualities to revolt

• Paul Cartledge: “krypteia is a kind of commando unit”

• Brigade: “Principal aim of these raids was to murder selected troublemaking helots and
spread terror among the rest.”

• Plato viewed the krypteia as “Rite of passage for young spartans”

2.6 Education System: Agoge

• An education system designed for the social training of spartan boys based on age
groups

0-6 Years
• Born to be inspected by the ephors to undergo the Eugenic Trial, if found to be
deformed or in poor health/strength the child was ‘rejected’ and left to die below the Mt
Taygetus.

• Discipline and values were the responsibilities of the mother and the wet nurse

7-12 Years
• At age of 7, boys left home to live with others the same age and organised into units
• Paidonomos (A select group of youths) acted as authority figures and along with Eirens
(19-20 years adult boys who were public-guardians) could punish younger boys for
misbehaviour → Xenophon (“... Could give the boys whatever instructions seemed
necessary and punish any misconduct.”)

• Gradually introduced physical fitness skills and hardships

• Trained barefoot, one garment per year

• Age 10: Participating in public competition (martial arts and music)

• Encouraged to compete with other bouai

• As a group they ate, trained and served their eiren like servants

• Plutarch: “... thereby learning how to pounce skilfully upon these who are asleep or
keeping guard carelessly”

13-18 Years
• More intensive training

• Expected modesty and brevity of speech

• Only given small amounts of food to prepare for military campaigns. However,
permitted to steal to supplement diet and cultivate themselves to warlike instincts

• Age 19: Those displayed leadership were selected to act as eriens, could join krypetia

24-30 Years
• Presented with full armour and become frontline soldiers

• Group of 300 formed the bodyguard of the king

• Age 30: Became full citizens and had the right to participate in public assembly and
expected to dine in syssitia

2.7 Roles and Statues of women: land ownership, inheritance, education

Roles
• Bearers of children/mothers of warriors, heiresses and managers of estates →
Xenophon noted that children bearing was the most important role for Spartan women

• Expected to support military ethos: expected to participate in eugenic rituals and be the
initial teacher of the values her children to practice

• Women were educated to become mothers/wet nurses → Plutarch (“A Spartan woman
showed off her dutiful sons ... and a good woman to produce sons.”)
• Religious roles as priestesses especially for the Cult of Artemis Orthia & goddess
Aphrodite Hera

Education
• Strict education system like the agoge to enable women, as stated by Plutarch (“To
bear the pains of childbirth.”)

• Girls were taught the basics of reading and writing → Xenophon suggests that Spartan
women had more privilege than other women elsewhere in the Greek world.

• Organised into bands for games and choral singing

• Plato believed that they had the best education on philosophy

Land Ownership
• Sons received the largest inheritance, but daughters also had the opportunity. Women
could inherit properties, but she did not own it and must pass on to her offspring.

• Powell believes that women owned their dowries

• Women managed kleroi when men were at war

• Nearly 2.5 of the population were women

• Aristotle wrote disapprovingly of Spartan women’s free lifestyle and he believed that it
partly contributed to Sparta’s decline

Marriage Customs Appearances and Dress

• Spartans were expected to marry within • Forbidden by Lycurgan law from

their social classes wearing make-up jewellery, perfume or
dyeing their clothes
• Women were accustomed to arranged
marriage • Main garment: short, revealing peplos,
this tunic is not sewn down on the side
• Girls were married in their early teens. to allow for movement and exercise
According to Plutarch, were married EVIDENCE: Votive offerings found at
when “they were ripe for it” the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

• Plutarch (“If an older man with a young • From 5th century onwards many Spartan
wife should take a liking to one of the began to use more luxury goods
well-bred young man and approve of
him, he might introduce him to his
wife.”)
3. The Economy

3.1 Land ownership: agriculture, kleroi, helots

Land Ownership
• Spartiates obliged a portion of land known as Kleros farmed by helots.
• Used to support the family & helots
• Provide for a Spartiate’s continuing contribution to syssition & surplus to the state
• Women oversees the work of helots and managed kleros when men were at war

• Spartiates received their kleros at birth which is reverted to the state upon death

• Spartans could be granted an allotment of kleroi from the state or inheritance from his
father. As Aristotle reveals, “Land was divided through inheritance and bequests.”

• Helots worked on kleros and is expected to meet a quota of produce

• Inequality exists → Record suggests that rich Spartans had private properties which
unlike the kleros could be passed on as inheritance or through marriage leading to an
amalgamation of estates & concentration of land

• Plutarch suggested that Lycurgus instituted the system and made it a law that citizens’
estates were not to be divided.

• D.H. Kelly (“Sparta did not have equality of property”)

• Heraclides Ponticus (“That it is considered shameful for Lacedaemoians to sell land of

the ancient part.”)

3.2 Technology: weapons, armour, pottery

Technology
• Spartans may have been craftsmen until 6th century, the periokoi did most of the
manufacturing & crafts

• Noted for bronze scupltures, decorative vases, religious figurines, votive offerings, and
armour

• Oldest technique of making bronze was casting of the molten alloy in a mould and then
beating it out into thin sheeting with a hammer.

• Superior quality bronze sheeting had a tin content of around 10% - Produced a range
of weapons and armour to equip its hoplite forces

Armour
• Each soldier was fitted with the standard kit including a bronze helmet, hoplon, cuirass
(breastplate), greaves to protect the lower legs and a bronze spear and dagger
Pottery
• Small figurines, mould-made relies of terracotta’s have also been found at most
religious sites.

• A quantity of clay masks has been found at the Orthia sanctuary that are models of
larger masks used in some ritual.

• Decline in Sparta’s production of carvings and pottery by the end of 6th century

• Pottery is often glazed and painted → Best known example is the Arcesilas Cup

3.3 Economic roles of periokoi (‘dwellers around’) and helots

Helot
• Worked for individual Spartiate on their estates

• Provided agriculture resources that can be traded with other city-states

• Required to pay masters a major proportion of their produce → Plutarch states that
“Helots were expected to pay a rent of 70 medimni of barley, along with proportionate
quantities of fresh produce.”

• Tyrtaeus (“Asses exhausted under great loads”)

Periokoi
• Chiefly engaged in mining, manufacture, and commerce

• All mineral and marine resources of Lakonia and Messenia were in perioikoi hands.

• Produced metals and weapons

• Made/imported chariots

• Lead figurines found at the sanctuary of Orthia probably came from the iron ore mined
at Neapolis of Kardamyli.

• Carried out number of duties including fishermen, merchants

• Ensures that there is enough income to pay for armour and equipment

• Traded resources Sparta lacked e.g. copper and tin used to make bronze

• Pliny & Herodotus mentions the periokoi as making of shoes, garments and objects of
wood and iron.

3.4 Economic Exchange: use of iron bars, trade

• Plutarch & Xenophon both state that Lycurgus banned the production of gold and silver
coinage
• Spartans were restricted to using iron bars (pelanors) as means of transaction

• Examples of these iron bars have been found at Lakonian sanctuaries.

• Hodkinson suggests that the number of accusations of bribery make of Spartan shows
that they had some coinage.

• Figueria argues that coinage was not completely eradicated from Sparta and that
goods traded outside must have been paid with coinage.

4 Religion, Death, and Burial

4.1 Gods and Goddesses: Artemis Ortheia, Poseidon, Apollo

• Mythical twin Spartan heroes Dioscuri (‘youths of Zeus’): Castor and Polydeuces were
particularly important to the Spartans.
• Thousands of votive offerings to them have been found, particularly at Amyclae

• The Dioscuri were associated with young men and their pursuits of horsemanship,
athletics, and warfare

• Kings were priests of the Dioscuri

• Artemis Orthia, goddess of hunting, wild animals, vegetations

• The Temple of Artemis Orthia is situated near Eurotas River
• The cult is associated with growth, fertility and presided over childbirth

• Apollo, the Greek sun god

• S. Smith “Horses for Poeidon and Helios, black dogs for Hekate, assess for
Apollo.”

• Festival dedicated to Apollo and his young lover

• Shrine of Apollo at Amyclae

• Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi

Other Gods worshipped in Sparta

• Zeus, patron god of the royal family
• Athena, goddess of wisdom
• Small Bronze Statue of Athena represents her in a familiar warrior pose
• The Temple of Athena in the north-eastern part of acropolis

• Demeter – guardian of women

• Poseidon, temple situated on the coast of Southern Laconia
• Heroes including: Heracles, Menalos, Lycurgus, Alpheios and Maron
Religious Practices
• Pausanius: “A mixed herd of sacrificial animals ready for use to test the will of the gods
at any time.”

• Spartans consulted oracles at Delphi for all important decisions about the future,
military campaigns
• Spartans believed that the Delphic Oracle gave Lycurgus their system of
government

• State ministers were appointed to keep responses of oracles in archives

4.2 Myths and Legends: Lycurgus and the Dioscuri

The Dioscuri
• Mythical twins, youth of Zeus - Castor and Polydeuces (Or Pollx)
• Link to sports, physical fitness, and embodied Spartan ideals

• Two different versions of birth

• Version 1: The twins were born of Tyndareus, King of Sparta and his human wife
Leda

• Version 2: The twins were born of Leda and the God Zeus

• Castor and Hilaera had a child, Anogon

• Pollx and Phoebe had a child, Mnesilus

• In the ensuing violence, Polydeuces killed Lynceus but Idas managed to mortally
wound Castor.

• In anger at the loss of his son, Zeus struck Idas with a thunderbolt.

• Polydeuces was grief stricken at the death of his mortal brother and wanted to die with
him.

• Zeus took pity on his son and allowed Castor and Polydeuces to share immortality,
spending their days alternately living in Olympus and the underworld.

The Dioscuri in the Ancient Sources

• Often depicted on horseback, hunting

• Castor and Polydeuces feature in both the Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer.

• Athenian playwright, Eurpides, has them appear in his play Helen and Elektra.

• They are ofen represented as symbols of twinhoo, shown as a pair of snakes, a pair of
shields or a pair of amphorae evident in archaeological evidence of a Dioscuri relief
showing the two brothers standing on either side of two tall amphorae; on the pediment
above the figures two snakes support Leda’s eggs.
• There are scenes of the two boys in metopes at the top of the Doric friezes of temples
such as those at Delphi. Such scenes represented like this includes the story of the
Argonauts.

Lycurgus
• Legendary lawgiver who supposedly established Spartan political and social institutions
• Herodotus states that the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi recognised Lycurgus’s divinity

The Heraclidae
• Spartan kings ere descendants of the hero Herakles

4.3 Festivals: Hyakinthia, Gymnopaedia, Karneia

Hyakinthia
• Cult related to youth, to celebrate the dead symbolised by the accidental death of
Hyakinthos (Young Lover of Apollo) and thanksgiving of life (due to death and renewal
of purple flower in the myth)

• 3 days in summer (July)

• First Stage – Rites of sorrow & mourning in honour of Hyakinthos

• Second Stage – Rejoicing in the honour of Apollo followed by a period of

communal celebration where participants wore festive wreaths and sang choral
songs

Gymnopaedia “The Festival of Unarmed Boys”

• Held in July (Summer)

• Featured choral performance of young Spartan boys in the agora (Marketplace)

• Seen as ‘rite of passage’ to manhood and initiated belonging to the community →

Aligns with the purpose of the agoge

• Initiate them to obtain a high degree of physical skills

Karneia
• Harvest festival – 9 days in August
• Concerned with the divination and will of Apollo
• Celebration of migration, foundation of the Doric people, military lifestyle
• Involved footraces which resembled chasing of prey/hunting
• Festival included both men and women

The Artemis Orthia

• Young men were involved in the cheese stealing ritual at the altar of Artemis Orthia
• Songs and dance in fine clothes
• Prominence of this – Small votive lead figurines
4.4 Religious role of the Kings

• Carried out sacrifices on their respective patron gods

• Attend annual festivals
• Appointed the 4 pithoi (Sacred envoys) to Delphic oracle

4.5 Funerary customs and Rituals

• Contracted body with stone for a ‘pillow’ burial

• Burials are placed on bedrocks – Limnai quarter of
the city, 4 burials dated by Proto-geometric pottery
Before 900BC
fragments
• Stones found were carefully placed to follow the
curve of the spine

• Jar burials with associated grave goods

• Pottery jars (pithoi) contained calcinated bones
~750BC were unearthed
• A male pithoi was discovered with iron weapons, a
sword & bronze ornaments

• Cist-graves (Lined cavities in the ground)

• 1964 - Christou in Mesoa quarter of the Spartan
city discovered 4 of these graves. The following
were excavated:
~600BC
• Bones of oxen, wild boars, and horses →
associated with sacrifices & ancestral worship
• Relief amphora depicting both hunting and
battle scene

• Two-storey tombs → [Link] interprets the

th
Early 6 century to 2 nd site as a form of worship
century BC • Primary burial structure is in the lower storey (i.e.
body & various offerings)

Funerary Practices
• Soldiers were buried in red cloaks (because it concealed the sight of Spartiates’ blood)
and covered in olive leaves

• Only soldier that died in battle or women who either died in sacred office or childbirth
were permitted inscribed graves within the city

• A tomb and cenotaph were granted to a soldier as reward for bravery in battle

• Funerary games were held to honour the deceased

• Society sought conformity for burial

• Plutarch: “Only a brief period of mourning – 10 days”

Burial of Spartan Kings

• Riders spread news of death
• Men and women from each household dress in mourning
• All social groups in society were attended the funeral
• Communal display of grief
• 10 days mourning period – no public elections/meetings
• Herodotus: “At funerals, men and women strike their foreheads to show grief.”

5 Cultural Life

5.1 Art: sculpture, painted vases, bone, and ivory carving

Feature Evidence

Marble statue of a hoplite identified

as “Leonidas”

Sculptures in stone and marble

A bronze figurine of a Spartiate

wrapped in cloak

Bronze work: small statues and

figurines

• Over 200 ivory carvings were found at the

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
• Ivory work was intricate and highly refined
Ivory carving as well, indicating the Spartan ability to
work with particularly sensitive and
expensive materials

• Ivory combs
An example of Laconian
Pottery work including painted black figure pottery
vases shows excellent
craftsmanship → often traded
with other societies
5.2 Architecture: Amyklaion, Menelaion, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

Amyklaion
• Located 5km south of Sparta, it was a building dedicated to cult of Apollo

• The precinct of Apollo is located on the acropolis at Amyclae.

• Evidence of settlements since the Bronze Age

• The temple is believed to have housed a colossal statue of Apollo – coins have been
found showing a likeness of this statue.

• Not enough evidence to determine what the building looked like

• Pausanias: “At a guess you could say it was forty-five feet [From Sparta]”

Menelaion
• Shrine of Menelaos and Helen located at Therapne, north-east of Sparta
• Small but monumental building
• Roof tiled with terracotta
• Cult objects found suggest that the peak of the hill was a place of worship
• Found votive offerings to Helen

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

• Believed to have Doric columns and a gabled roof with a stone lion on the top of the
pediment

• Show signs of repairs and alterations made as late as the 3rd Century.

• British archaeologists working on the site during the 20th Century established that at a
very early time there was a packed earth altar which contained the ashes of successive
sacrifices.

• Findings included:
• Lead figurines
• Votive offerings
• Ivory and bone carving
• Terracotta figurines

5.3 Writing and Literature: Alcman and Tyrtaeus

• Archaeological evidence attests to the fact that literacy reached Sparta not long after it
was established (c. 775 BC)

• 1975 two inscribed bronze artefacts were excavated at the Menelaion Shrine near
Sparta:
• First: sacrificial meat hook dedicated ‘To Helen’
 • Second: an ovoid aryballos dated to c. 650 BC and inscribed with the words ‘to
Helen, wife of Menelaos’

• The lettering of the aryballos bears the earliest known example of Spartan writing
– far earlier than was previously thought.

Alcman
• Sparta’s choral lyric poet

• Probably had written versions of his poetry produced

• Wrote Parthenian or Maiden song, sung by young girls at festivals

• He was a keen observer and lover of nature and wrote, in the Dorian dialect, of legends
and stories from Homer.

• He also used local Laconian legends and often tried to end a story with a moral
message

• Includes lots of natural imagery in his poetry, as exemplified in the description of Mt

Taygetus at night: “All creeping things that black night nourishes”

• Cartledge: Scholarly work on written and epigraphical evidence suggests that kings,
commanders, ephors, members of the Gerousia and envoys were all literate.

• Plutarch suggests that Spartans “read and write for practical reasons” and that some
women are thought to be literate. However, “All other forms of education were banned.”

• Cartledge’s study of stone inscriptions leads him to suggests that the perioikoi, the
professional stone masons, may have had basic literacy skills.

• Aristophane (*Athens comic playwright) mentions a Spartan poetess

Tyrtaeus
• Greek lyric poet that flourished in the 7th century BC
• Wrote military poetry/songs urging courage and discipline in the 2nd Messenian War
• Serves a very vital propaganda function for the state
• Often described as ‘the soldier’s poet’

Terpander
• Greek poet and musician that flourished in the 7th century BC

• Believed to have been the first to establish music in Sparta

• Credited for innovations in music, changing the form to suit the dancing/singing in
Sparta
5.4 Greek Writer’s views of Sparta: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Aristotle,
Pausanias, Plutarch

Greek Writer Views

• Greek writer in the 5th century BC

• Wrote about conflict between the Greeks
& Persians
• His work contained bias because he was
Herodotus Pro-Athenian, although not openly Anti-
Spartan
• Told scandals of about the kings and the
Spartan constitution & history

• Lived and wrote during the late 5th

century BC
• Wrote from personal observation and
attempts to provide an
Thucydides
objective/balanced account
• Negative view of Sparta as he wrote
during the time of war – Found the
Spartans slow, hostile, and secretive

• Wrote during the 5th – 4th century BC and

witness the downfall of Athens at the
Peloponnesian war
• Exiled from Athens, welcomed by Sparta
and became the city’s representative
Xenophon • Wrote a pamphlet Constitution of Sparta
which gave a simplified account of
Sparta’s social, education, and military
practices
• Responsible for continuing the myth of
Sparta

• Greek philosopher aims to provide a

balanced view in his work
• Also intrigued by Sparta’s political
Aristotle arrangements
• He treated the Sparta system with a
mixture of deep respect and severe
criticism – “Barbaric”

Pausanias • Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd

century AD
 • Described topography, statues, buildings,
and monuments & traditions he could
discover from personal observations
• Useful supplement to surviving
archaeological records

• Greek biographer and essayist

• Based his opinions on a variety of earlier
sources (Xenophon & Plato)

Plutarch • Extensive writings on Sparta, also

contributed to the transmission of the
Spartan myth to this day

• Greek philosopher
• He was sympathetic and fascinated by
the Sparta’s constitution
Plato
• Believed that Spartan discipline,
austerity, and authoritarianism
contributed to their success

6. Everyday Life

6.1 Daily life and leisure activities

Leisure Activities
• Played field sports completely naked

• Full range of sports were played: stadion (running), discus, javelin, and wrestling
• In the 8th century a large proportion of victors at the Olympic games came from
Laconia

• Hunting on houseback & barefoot to kill helots and animals → provided skills necessary
for campaigns, ‘rites of passage’ for young boys
• Hunting on the slopes and forests of Mt Taegetus

• Xenophon: “Hunting developed a man’s courage and agility and made him a
better soldier.”

• Horse racing
• Women rode chariots during Hyakinthia and could breed/train horses for
competitions

• Pausanians: Mentions a shrine dedicated to ‘horse-breeding Poseidon’

 • Depiction of horses & riders on pottery and votive offerings

• Horse decorations/ornaments made from bronze and ivory

• Relief carving of horses from 5th century BC lists 43 horse chariot races and 21
horse races

• Drinking cup, kylix showing a youth on a horse

• Painted vases of chariot racing and horses

• Cockfighting and Boar fighting

• Plutarch: “...Cocks fought to the death”

• Plutarch: “Cocks were sacrificed to Ares, god of war, as a victory offering after
battle.”

• Attic Vase depicting a comparison with a battle between hoplites and fighting
cocks

• Indications that young wild boars were raised in captivity and matched against one
another

• Banquets
• Plutarch mentions attendance at banquets, referencing type of festive meal
symposia

• Prohibition of drunkenness

• 6th century bronze figurine of reclining banqueter

• 35 painted Laconia kylikes (drinking cups)

6.2 Food and Clothing

Diet
• Plain, frugal, and unappetising diet as other Greeks describes

• Black broth made of pork, vinegar, and blood

• Range of fruits were consumed

• Olive & olive oil, cheese

• Meat was uncommon, but Spartans ate pork and fish. Hunting provided meat from
boars, venison, and hare.

• Expected to be moderate in consumption

Clothing
• Had propaganda value on conformity and uniformity

• Plutarch & Xenophon suggests that Lycurgus laid down the dress code

• Aristotle commented that the wealthy in Sparta dressed like the poor → emphasis on
simplicity

• Clothing based on social groups to differentiate between wealth and power

• [Link] suggests that there is a “language of dress in Sparta”

• [Link] suggests that social exclusion was signified by humiliating clothing which he
describes as “uniform of exclusion.”

• Ibid. Describes helot clothing as “bestial uniform designed to be deliberately

humiliating.”

Social Group Clothing

Male Citizens:
• Everyday clothing – tribon, a coarse and
cheap cloak
• Soldiers uniform – phoinikins, a red
military cloak made from the finest wool
and dyed with murex mollusc
• Hair regulations: Half beard,
moustaches banned

Boys in the agoge:

Spartiates • chiton, an over-all garment made from
cloth that is pinned at the shoulders and
tied at the waist
• Younger boys – short chiton
• At age of 12 – himation, a garment
made from oblong material
• Hair regulations: Boys in agoge had hair
cut short

• Cowards who failed in battle – tresentes

(tremblers) and cloak with distinctive
Inferior coloured patches that marked them as
outcasts
 • Humiliating clothing – Kyne, a dog skin
Helot
cap and dress in skins of animals

• Formal garment – Doric peplos

(Rectangular piece of wool fastened at
Women
the shoulders by pins, excessive
material fell like cape)

Jewellery
• We have many examples of bronze pins and brooches of bronze or ivory worn by
Spartan women to pin the peplos. Some are highly decorated and clearly a sign of
wealth and status.

• There are several decorative ivory combs found at religious shrines.

• These combs, carved with scenes from mythology, were probably worn in the hair
as part of a woman’s adornment on special occasions.

6.3 Marriage Customs

• Rationale was to produce healthy babies and to increase the population

• It was against the law to not be married by certain age (bachelors ridiculed, excluded
from Gymnopaedia, denied respect from youth)
• Aristotle suggests that exemptions from military service and taxation were given to
those who produced 3+ sons

• Couples rarely see each other, and men slept in the barracks until they were 30
• Xenophon & Plutarch suggests that this practice created self-control, increased
fertility, and desire to participate in sexual activity

• Not much is known about divorce but Spartan women who owns her dowry must
pay it back after divorce

• Plutarch describes the ‘bride capture’ custom, which involved shaving the bride’s head
and dressing like a male.

• Aclman’s poems expressed feelings of love

• According to Xenophon men and women were not permitted to marry until they reach
their physical prime – Not married young like other societies

• Custom of controlled permissiveness which involved wife sharing to produce offspring

• Plutarch: “If an older man with a younger wife should take a liking to one of the
well-bred young man, he might introduce him to his wife... to produce fine children
that he would adopt as his own.”
6.4 Occupations

• Social hierarchy determined occupation

• All Spartiates were full-time soldiers between 6th – 4th century BC

• As citizens, Spartiates would be expected to fulfil roles in government as perhaps an

ephor, a member of the Gerousia and to be involved in the Spartan assembly.

• Women supervised estates when men went to war

• Helots - farmers, servants that carried out domestic duties, expected to fight for Sparta
when necessary

• Perioikoi – fishermen, painters, potters, textile production, manufacturers, merchants,

also expected to fight for Sparta