What are kings in Sparta? Kings of Sparta
Leonidas is one of the most famous Spartan, and indeed ancient Greek kings. His fame is well deserved. Thanks to the feat accomplished at the Battle of Thermopylae, the name of this commander and statesman has survived centuries and is still a symbol of the highest patriotism, courage and sacrifice.
early years
Leonidas' father was Anaxandrides II, a Spartan king from the Agiad family who reigned from 560–520 BC. According to the historian Herodotus, King Anaxandrides was married to his brother’s daughter, who remained childless for a long time. So that the royal line would not be interrupted, the ephors advised the king to let go of his wife and take another. Anaxandrides, who loved his wife, replied that he could not offend his wife, who had not done anything wrong to him. Then the ephors allowed the king to keep his first wife, but at the same time take a second one, who could bear him children. So the king began to live in two families at the same time.
A year later, his second wife brought him a son, Cleomenes. Soon after this, Anaxandrides's first wife, previously considered barren, also became pregnant and gave birth to three sons one after another: Dorieus, and then the twins Leonidas and Cleombrotus. The king's second wife did not give birth again.
When Anaxandrides died in 520 BC. e., the Spartans faced the question of succession to the throne. Cleomenes was the eldest son of the king, but Doria, on the advice of one of his friends, declared that he was born from a first, as it were, more legitimate marriage, and therefore had more rights to power. The Spartans were divided into two camps, but ultimately Cleomenes' supporters won. In anger, Dorias left Sparta and sailed west. In 515 BC. e. he attempted to found a colony, first on the northern coast of Africa, and then in the west of Sicily, but the Carthaginians who ruled here expelled him each time. In a battle with them in 510 BC. e. Doria died.
Meanwhile, Cleomenes enlisted the help of his younger brothers. He married his daughter Gorgo to Leonid, which speaks, if not of friendship, then at least of some kind of trust between them. Cleomenes was one of the most warlike and ambitious Spartan kings. He defeated Sparta's longtime rival Argos, subjugated Arcadian Tegea, and then united the city-states dependent on Sparta into the Peloponnesian League under its hegemony.
Panorama of modern Sparta. Mount Taygetos, which separated Laconia from neighboring Messenia, is visible in the background. In the foreground are the ruins of a Roman theater. The photo was taken from the hill on which the acropolis of Sparta was located
Moreover, unlike most Spartans, Cleomenes was extremely unprincipled in achieving his goals. So, in 491 BC. e. he managed to remove the second king Demaratus from power, accusing him of allegedly being illegitimate. Demaratus fled to the Persians, but this incident caused a big scandal in Sparta, during which some details of Cleomenes’ intrigues were revealed. Fearing the trial of the ephors that threatened him, Cleomenes left the city and settled in Arcadia. Here he began to incite the Spartan allies to revolt. In fear of him, the ephors agreed to forget about what had happened. In 487 BC. e. Cleomenes returned to Sparta, where he suddenly fell into madness and committed suicide.
Since Cleomenes had no sons of his own, he was succeeded by Leonidas. Among modern historians, this gave rise to speculation about Leonid’s involvement in the dark details of the death of his predecessor. However, it should be recognized that we do not have direct evidence of malicious intent. And the high reputation that Leonid enjoyed both during his life and especially after his death does not allow unfounded accusations to be brought against him.
Persian threat
Leonidas was king for 7 years, but he remained famous primarily for his role in the battle of Thermopylae. To move on to presenting the history of Xerxes’ campaign against Greece, a few words should be said about its background. The Greeks had a long-standing relationship with the Persian Achaemenid power. The Ionian city-states of the western coast of Asia Minor were subjects of King Darius and paid him tribute. In 499 BC. e. they raised an uprising, in which Athens and Eretria came to the aid of the Ionians. The Spartan king Cleomenes, who was also visited by Ionian ambassadors, showed caution in this matter.
Having suppressed the uprising, the Persians decided to punish the Greeks who helped the rebels. In 492 BC. e. the royal relative Mardonius with a large Persian army crossed to Thrace. A number of Greek communities: Thebes, Argos, Aegina - agreed to give the king “land and water” as a sign of recognition of his power over them. The Spartans not only refused to do this, but also killed the royal ambassadors, throwing them into the abyss and offering to find earth and water at the bottom.
Greek ambassador to the Persian king Darius. Painting of an antique vase, 5th century BC. e.
In 490 BC. e. A large Persian fleet arrived on the shores of Greece. The Persians destroyed Eretria on Euboea, sold its inhabitants into slavery, and then headed towards Attica. The Athenians turned to Sparta for help, and while they hesitated to set out on a campaign, they themselves managed to defeat the uninvited guests in the Battle of Marathon. The remnants of the Persian army boarded ships and sailed back to Asia. The Spartans, who were late for the battle, could only inspect the bodies of the barbarians and pay their respects to the Athenians. The Persian king was very saddened by what happened, but his plans for revenge were prevented by the uprising that broke out in Egypt, and in 486 BC. e. Darius died. His successor Xerxes was forced to pacify the rebel Egyptians and Babylonians throughout the years 486–483. Thus, the Greeks received a 10-year respite.
In 483 BC. e. Xerxes finally dealt with the rebels and finally began to prepare a great campaign against Greece. The army he assembled was huge and, according to Herodotus, numbered 1.7 million people. At sea she was accompanied by a huge fleet of 1,200 ships. According to modern researchers, figures from 80,000 to 200,000 warriors and from 400 to 600 ships look more realistic.
For two years these forces gathered in Sardis. Finally, with the onset of spring 480 BC. e., the Persian army set out on a campaign. By order of Xerxes, two pontoon bridges, each 1300 m long, were built across the Dardanelles. Using them, the Persian army continuously crossed to the European shore of the strait for 7 days.
At the news of the approach of Xerxes' army, the Greek city-states were seized with horror. The Thessalians, Thebans and Boeotians hastened to express their submission to the king. Even the most authoritative oracle of Apollo at Delphi predicted defeat for his troops.
Greek plans for the defense of the country
Athens and Sparta led the resistance to the Persians. Back in the fall of 481 BC. e. A pan-Greek congress met in Corinth, whose participants united into the Hellenic Union to jointly fight the Persians and those Greeks who voluntarily came out on their side. Sparta was elected hegemon of the union by a majority of votes, as the most powerful state militarily.
When discussing defensive strategy among the allies, serious disagreements emerged. Sparta and the rest of the Peloponnesians proposed to strengthen the narrow Isthmus of Corinth with a wall and defend against the Persians here. This decision was hotly opposed by the Athenians and other allies, whose lands would inevitably be destroyed. After heated debates, the Greeks decided to take up defense in the Tempeian Gorge and in the spring of 480 BC. e. They sent there 10,000 soldiers under the command of the Spartan Evenet and the Athenian Themistocles.
Here disputes between the allies flared up again. The Spartans did not want to fight, having the Thessalians in their rear, among whom pro-Persian sentiments were strong. In addition, they pointed out, the Persians could penetrate into Thessaly by another, albeit difficult, road through Olympus, or even land from the sea south of the pass. After standing for some time in Tempe, the army returned before the Persians had time to arrive there.
Thermopylae, modern view from an airplane. Sperheus sediments have greatly altered the coastline since antiquity; then the sea approached the very rocks, approximately to the line of the modern highway, leaving a passage, in the narrowest part no more than several meters wide
The second line of defense was the Thermopylae Gorge on the border between northern and central Greece. In this place, the high mountains came very close to the sea, leaving only a narrow seven-kilometer passage stretching between the mountain spur of Callidros and the southern marshy coast of the Gulf of Mali. At the same time, the Greek navy was supposed to station itself near Thermopylae, in the strait between the northern coast of Euboea and Cape Sepia, and thus cover the army from the sea. At the beginning of July, 200 Athenian ships commanded by Themistocles and 155 Peloponnesian ships under the command of Eurybiades arrived here.
But the forces sent by the Spartans to Thermopylae turned out to be much smaller than those expected here. The Spartans themselves sent only 300 warriors, another 1000 were from among the Perieci, the Arcadians sent slightly more than 2120 warriors, the Corinthians 400, the Phliuntians 200, the Mycenaeans 80. In total, the detachment numbered about 4000 hoplites. To give the matter more importance in the eyes of the Greeks, the Spartans placed King Leonidas at the head of their small detachment. The 300 Spartans accompanying him most likely belonged to the selected detachment of “horses” who made up the king’s retinue on the campaign.
When Leonidas and his army passed through Boeotia, 700 Thespian warriors voluntarily joined him; The Thebans, whose Persian way of thinking was well known, were forced to give him 400 of their warriors, practically as hostages of their loyalty. The Locrians and Phocians sent about 1,000 men. In total, Leonidas’s army, when he set up his camp at Thermopylae, consisted of 7,200 soldiers.
Head of a marble statue found in 1925 on the Acropolis of Sparta. The warrior is depicted in heroic nudity; for greater expressiveness, the eyes of the statue were made of glass. Not without reason, the statue is considered to be an image of Leonidas, in whose honor the Spartans erected a monumental complex on the acropolis
Initially, it was assumed that Leonid's advance detachment was only a vanguard, which would soon be followed by the main forces. The Greeks occupied the passage and restored the wall that once blocked it. However, the promised help never materialized. The Spartan authorities, in response to Leonid's requests to send reinforcements, stated that this was being hampered by the upcoming festival of Carnei (celebrated in September for 9 days) and promised that after its end they would immediately come to the rescue with all their forces. Until that moment, Leonid had to defend the passage alone.
Modern historians are divided on the sincerity of these promises. The Spartans in ancient times were known for their exceptional conservatism and respect for religious rituals. Any unfavorable omens could cause a delay, and similar cases occurred many times later. On the other hand, among the Spartans themselves and their allies, as stated earlier, there was no unanimity regarding where and how they should defend themselves from the enemy. Therefore, to the Athenians, the position of the Spartan authorities seemed only an attempt to stall for time and an attempt to preserve their main forces for the defense of the Peloponnese.
Defense of Thermopylae
Meanwhile, Leonidas encamped at Alpina and awaited the arrival of Xerxes. One local resident, telling the Hellenes about the large number of barbarians, added that “if the barbarians shoot their arrows, then the cloud of arrows will cause an eclipse of the sun.” In response, the Spartan Dienek joked lightheartedly:
“Our friend from Trachin brought great news: if the Medes darken the sun, then it will be possible to fight in the shadows.”
When the Persians arrived, seeing their numbers, the Greeks lost heart. Some called for a retreat, but the Phocians opposed this, and Leonidas himself and his Spartans remained firmly committed to holding their post to the end.
Xerxes, while still in Thessaly, heard that the Thermopylae Pass was occupied by a small detachment of Greeks, but he did not think that they would remain there when he approached. Having set up camp at Trakhin, he sent a spy to see how many Greeks there were and what they were doing. Returning, the spy told the king that he had seen an advanced post, where some warriors were amusing themselves by running races with each other, while others were combing their long hair. Xerxes found such an activity ridiculous for men, but Demaratus, the exiled king of the Spartans, who accompanied him on this campaign, said the following:
“These people have come here to fight us for this pass, and they are preparing for battle. This is their custom: every time they go to mortal combat, they decorate their heads. Know, king, if you defeat these people and those who remained in Sparta, then not a single people in the world will dare to raise a hand against you.”
Thermopylae, modern view. In ancient times, the coastline ran where the highway runs today. The opening view was taken from Kolonos Hill, where the final scenes of the battle took place
Before giving the order to march, Xerxes waited 4 days, and then sent the most combat-ready detachments of the Medes, Kissians and Sacas after the Persians themselves into the pass with the order to take the Greeks alive and bring them to him. At the beginning of the battle, the Greeks were asked to lay down their arms, to which Leonidas, according to Plutarch, gave the legendary answer: “Come and take it” (ancient Greek Μολὼν λαβέ). The battle in the pass lasted the whole day, but the Medes failed to advance a single step forward.
The next day, by order of Xerxes, detachments consisting of the Persians themselves were sent to attack. These were the so-called “immortals” - the flower of the Persian army, led by their commander Hydarn. Leonidas pitted the Spartans against them, who had not taken part in the battle until that time. The battle was repeated with the same result. The Spartans, standing in tightly closed ranks, repelled one attack after another. From time to time they pretended to take flight and retreated back, where the passage was wider. As soon as the Persians rushed after them, the Spartans turned back at once, knocked over the densely crowded enemy or drove him into a swamp by the sea. They repeated this maneuver several times, and by the end of the day the Persians had lost more than 6,000 people, not one step closer to victory.
Battle of Thermopylae, reconstruction by P. Connolly
For Xerxes, this development of events came as a complete surprise. He didn’t know what to do next, but then a traitor came to his aid. The Malian Ephialtes, who, hoping for a great reward, showed the Persians a path leading through the mountain bypassing Thermopylae. Subsequently, Ephialtes, in fear of the Spartans, fled to Thessaly, and there he was killed by his old enemy for personal reasons. The Spartans still paid the latter the reward promised for the head of the traitor.
Ephialtes promised to lead 20,000 of the best Persian warriors, led by Hydarnes, to the rear of the Greeks. The Persians walked all night and at dawn, finding themselves on the top of the mountain, they suddenly saw a small detachment of Greeks in front of them. These were the Phocians, sent by Leonidas specifically to guard the path. The Phocians carried out their service carelessly and noticed the Persians only when the first arrows flew at them. Having barely had time to grab their weapons, they left their post and rushed to the top of the mountain. Hydarn did not pursue them and hastily began to descend.
Last Stand
Even the evening before, the soothsayer Megistius, based on the sacrifice, predicted to the Greeks that death would await them that day. At night, scouts appeared and informed Leonid that the Persians were going around the mountains. The forces he had were not enough to successfully repel an attack from two sides simultaneously. In order not to sacrifice people in vain, Leonidas gave the order to retreat to all other units except the Spartans. He himself did not dare to retreat, because he considered it dishonorable to leave the post he was assigned to protect.
Thus, King Leonidas made the only decision possible for a Spartan: to fight and die, following the law of his country and fulfilling his military duty. In addition to the Spartans, the Thespians with their leader Dimophilus voluntarily remained with him, as well as the Thebans, whom Leonidas kept with him by force. In total, about 1,200 Greeks remained at Thermopylae that day.
Reconstruction of Thermopylae. The location of the battlefield between the Greeks and the Persians and the Oenopean Trail, along which Hydarnus’s detachment went behind the defenders of the pass, are indicated
Not counting on victory, but only on a glorious death, the Greeks went forward beyond the wall and fought their last battle at a distance from their previous positions:
“The Hellenes, led by Leonidas, going into mortal combat, now moved much further to the place where the passage widens. For in days past, some of the Spartans defended the wall, while others fought the enemy in the gorge itself, to which they always retreated. Now the Hellenes rushed hand-to-hand, and in this battle the barbarians died by the thousands. Behind the ranks of the Persians stood the commanders of the detachments with whips in their hands and blows of the whips urged the soldiers forward and forward. Many enemies fell into the sea and died there, but many more were crushed by their own. No one paid attention to the dying. The Hellenes knew about the certain death that threatened them at the hands of the enemy who had bypassed the mountain. That is why they showed the greatest military valor and fought the barbarians desperately and with insane courage.”
In this battle Leonidas fell, and a desperate struggle broke out over his body. After a heated battle, the Greeks finally managed to snatch the king’s body from the hands of their enemies. At the same time, they put their opponents to flight four times. The Persians also had huge losses, among the dead were Abrokos and Hyperanthes, the brothers of King Xerxes. Noticing the approach of Hydarn's forces from the rear, the Spartans, who no longer had any chance of salvation, retreated back into the passage and turned against the new enemy. The last surviving defenders of Thermopylae took up a position on the hill. Most of the spears had already broken by that time; they continued to defend themselves with swords, and then with their hands and teeth, until the barbarians bombarded them with a hail of arrows. Thus ended the battle of Thermopylae.
In 1939, Spyridon Marinatos undertook archaeological excavations at Thermopylae. Spearheads and arrowheads, Greek and Persian, discovered on Konos Hill are on display today at the National Museum of Archeology in Athens
King Xerxes personally inspected the battlefield. Having found the body of Leonidas, he ordered his head to be cut off and his body to be crucified. Herodotus condemns this decision and writes that previously it was not the custom of the Persians to subject the bodies of enemies to this kind of outrage. The fallen Greeks were subsequently buried on the same hill where they fought their last battle. At the grave, the Spartans installed a sculpture of a lion with the epitaph of Simonides of Keos:
“Traveler, go and tell our citizens in Lacedaemon,
That, keeping their covenants, we died here with our bones.”
Literature:
- Connolly P. Greece and Rome. Encyclopedia of Military History. - Moscow: Eksmo-Press, 2000. - 320 p.
- Pechatnova L. G. Spartan kings. - M.: Yauza, 2007. - 352 p.
- Pechatnova L. G. History of Sparta (archaic and classical periods). - St. Petersburg: Humanitarian Academy, 2001. - 510 p.
- Hammond N. History of Ancient Greece. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2003. - 703 p.
- Fields N. Thermopylae 480 BC. Last stand of the 300. - Osprey Publishing, 2007. - 97 p.
In ancient Sparta there was not one king, but two. They ruled simultaneously and belonged to two different dynasties. According to Greek mythology, the two Spartan royal families were related to each other and were both descended from Hercules. One of the two royal dynasties of Sparta was considered the older, the second – the younger. The younger line of kings, according to legend, came from Euripontus, the son of Heraclides Proclus, and the eldest from Agis, the son of Eurysthenes, who was a descendant of the son of Hercules, Gill.
Relations between the two dynasties of Spartan kings were not always friendly. According to vague, semi-legendary information, at the dawn of the history of Sparta, the older dynasty of the Agiads (Agids) claimed to dominate the younger (Euripontids, Proklids) and put it in a subordinate position. The outraged Eurypontids rebelled against the Agiads and received support from part of the Dorian aristocracy.
Genus of Heraclides. Scheme. Two dynasties of Spartan kings - in the lower right corner
Many scholars believe that there was no real relationship between the dynasties of the Spartan kings. The Agiades were most likely an ancient Achaean family that lived in the Peloponnese before the Dorian invasion. After a long struggle with the Dorians, the Eurypontids, the native leaders of Agiada reconciled with them under the condition of sharing royal power. The names of the Heraclidean relatives, whom legend calls the ancestors of two royal families, were apparently invented later in order to explain why Sparta had not one king, but two. The struggle between the two dynasties weakened the royal power and increased the governmental importance of the aristocracy; Such has always been the influence of such civil strife.
Only people who did not have any physical disabilities could be priests. Spartan kings were priests, and physical defects disqualified a candidate for monarchical rank from receiving kingship. Due to the priestly character of the kings and their descent from Hercules, they were given high honors both during their lifetime and after their death. The kings of Sparta were stewards of all public sacrifices, chairmen of all holidays and games. At public dinners they received double portions. Everyone except the ephors had to stand before the king. When a king died, the entire population of the Spartan state had to perform mourning rituals. Horse messengers were sent throughout the state to announce the death of the king. Mourners walked around the city of Sparta, sang lamentations and beat copper basins; both men and women wore mourning clothes. All citizens gathered in Sparta for the funeral; deputations of perieci and helots came from all parts of Laconia; everyone had to express sadness by groans and other signs of grief. After the burial of the king, all public affairs ceased for ten days.
In war, the Spartan kings were commanders in chief and had the right to execute by death. Polemarchs and other military leaders formed their military council. During the campaign, the Spartan king had a detachment of bodyguards, consisting of one hundred brave, selected young people. The state provided support for the kings and their retinue during the campaign. They received a significant share of war booty. The governmental and judicial power of the kings of Sparta was limited; It was precisely these rights that were the subject of the supervision of the ephors, to the extent that they were not directly taken away from them and transferred to the ephors. But the kings received and sent ambassadors; lower administrative chiefs were appointed by them and reported to them. In some legal cases, the Spartan kings remained supreme judges; in particular, in all cases of inheritance and family rights.
After the Spartan conquests in the Peloponnese, the kings probably inherited vast lands; but if this was so, then later most of them became the property of the state. However, the kings still had significant family estates and large incomes. Plots of state lands were provided for their use; these properties were cultivated by helots. In many localities of the Spartan region (Laconia), the perieki paid taxes to the kings.
In Sparta there was a royal house, large, but old and simple; it was maintained at the expense of the state; whether each of the two kings had such a house, or whether they both lived in one, remains unclear to us. The kings had a military retinue; it was called frura. In war, the king's tent stood among the tents of the Fur; In Sparta, the kings lived surrounded by the dwellings of the Frouri. The king was succeeded by his son who was the eldest of those born after he received the king's dignity. Only the son of a Spartan woman could inherit the throne; the king was forbidden to marry a foreigner. If the Spartan king had no sons or only those who could not take the throne, then the closest relative would inherit. If the king's son succeeded his father while still a minor, the closest relative ruled until he came of age.
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 directed foreign policy. In addition, the Council of Elders considered criminal cases, as well as state crimes, including those directed against the archaget.
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, and carry out internal governance of 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 by the social system of Sparta, which included 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 subsequently 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. The 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 him to find a good husband and give birth to sons. This was the life position of the Spartans, who were ready to die for their Motherland 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.
1.2 Royal power in Ancient Sparta
As is known, in the system of city-states of the classical period of the history of ancient Hellas, the leading position was occupied by two policies - Athens and Sparta. Both of these states, each in their own way, made a huge contribution to the formation and development of ancient civilization. For a long time, however, Athens attracted much more attention from scientists than Sparta: until a certain point, the Greek polis was studied mainly on Athenian material, which was dictated both by the presence of a rich ancient tradition and by the political situation - in Athens, Western democracies saw a prototype open society.
In turn, the pressure of political and ideological attitudes of modern times greatly influenced the image of Sparta in the works of Western antiquists. At the same time, the topic of the Spartan polis turned out to be unusually relevant and topical for several generations of researchers.
You can figure out how the Spartan state form developed if you take into account the legends about the time preceding the period under study, which have been preserved by researchers. We learn, therefore, “that upon the arrival of the Dorians, the whole country was divided into six urban districts, the capitals of which were Sparta, Amykly, Faris, three inland areas near Eurotas, then Egintus near the Arcadian border, Lasu of the Hythean Sea; the sixth was probably the sea harbor of Bey. As in Messenia, the Dorians scattered to various areas ruled by kings”; they mixed with the former inhabitants; new settlers, such as the Minii, moved from villages to cities.
Due to the fact that already in ancient times historical Sparta and its mythologized model were intertwined in a complex and intricate combination, identifying the historical grain in the legend about the initial reform seems to us a rather difficult task. To solve it, it is necessary, first of all, to evaluate the ancient tradition that has come down to us about the initial reform. Most ancient authors associate the ancient legislation of Sparta with the name of Lycurgus. But the very name of Lycurgus as a Spartan legislator was first mentioned only by Herodotus, that is, relatively late - no earlier than the middle of the 5th century. According to Herodotus, the laws of Lycurgus were mainly political in nature.
The gerusia, or council of elders, headed by kings, is named as the main government body, but subordinate to the appella. Plutarch characterizes gerousia as the first and most important of all the many innovations of Lycurgus. Judging by the great attention Plutarch paid to discussing the number of geronts, he himself had no doubt that the number 30 for geronts was established by Lycurgus. All attempts by modern scientists to give a suitable explanation for the number of Lycurgus geronts, based on the generic or territorial principle, are purely hypothetical. Thus, G. Busolt thinks that the numerical composition of the Spartan gerousia was modeled on the model of the council at Delphi, consisting of 30 members. It is not known what gerousia was like before Lycurgus. But with the introduction of Lycurgus gerusia, Sparta turned into a polis with an aristocratic form of government. Plutarch describes in detail the procedure for election to the geront. The goals of the reform of the political system were the following: to limit the two kings (according to Spartan legends, the two kingdoms were founded by the twins Eurystheus and Proclus), change the composition of the council (gerusia) and give some rights to the people's assembly.
The two kings retained supreme command during the war and a role in the administration of religious worship, but as regards current politics they were mere members of the council. In the past, the council probably consisted of the heads of 27 phratries. Now their number has increased to 30, including kings. Councilors were elected with the approval of the people's assembly, and only “equals” aged 60 years or older had the right to be elected, and they held this position for life. “The council had the exclusive right to make proposals to the people's assembly and to dissolve it. All “equals” participated in the national assembly; it was henceforth to meet at a set time in a set place.” Its electoral powers were clearly defined, and decisions on proposals made by the council were final.
In the national assembly, all Spartans were equal before the state, regardless of their nobility and wealth, and according to the new state structure, “their voice was decisive in cardinal matters in the election of officials and the ratification of bills,” no matter how great the power of Gerusia. Citizens could only say “yes” or “no” when voting. It can be assumed that the popular assembly had the right to expel kings and return them back to the throne.
The Great Retra states that the gerusia also included archagetes. In his commentary to the text of Retra, Plutarch explains that by archagets they mean kings. It is possible that this was the original title of the Spartan kings, which reflected the idea of kings as leaders at the head of the army. "L. Jeffrey, and after her J. Huxley, suggested that in this context the word archaget is not an alternative synonym for the word “kings”. The word "archaget" has a wider range. He can be understood as a “founder,” be it the founder of a new state or a new cult.” We can assume the following: the Spartan kings were called archagetians as members and chairmen of the gerousia. This title clearly articulated their position in the gerusia under Lycurgus - first among equals and nothing more. “It is possible that a new quality of the Spartan kings was consolidated, who, having become members of the gerousia under Lycurgus, were thereby placed under the control of the community.”
The presence of two or more kings is not uncommon in early Greece. Thus, Homer often mentions similar situations: in the kingdom of the Phaeacians, for example, besides Alcinous there were twelve more kings, and in Ithaca Odysseus was not the only king, but one of many. Consequently, autocracy in the Homeric period could well coexist with a multi-power regime. There is undoubtedly a deep family connection between the Homeric and Spartan kings. Both of them are not autocratic monarchs like the Hellenistic kings. These are, rather, representatives of the leading aristocratic clans, exercising collegial leadership of the community. In this context, both the presence of two royal families in Sparta and their place within the Spartan polis become more understandable. One way or another, the main features of the state structure in Sparta remain clear. Two kings ruled there at the same time, belonging to the families of the Agiads and Eurypontids. Both dynasties considered themselves descendants of Hercules; “And in fact, even if this takes us into the realm of myths and legends, the origins of this monarchy were very ancient - even if it took its historical form known to us no earlier than 650-600. BC e." The powers of both hereditary kings were primarily of a military nature; In addition, they looked out for each other (this brought a certain balance) and, as a rule - although not always - made concessions to other political forces of Sparta. The special role of the kings in the division of powers is traced, “including in the field of application of oral law, their undoubted influence on the foreign policy of Sparta, the comparison of the two kings with the “divine twins” Tyndarides (guardians of the city) and the religious aura that surrounded the kings as high priests Zeus”, the non-extension of agoge to representatives of the royal families, the presence of “royal privileges”, the tributary duties of the periekoi to the kings, the allocation of a tenth of any military booty suggests that they were perceived by ancient society not just as “first among the secondary”. The Spartan kings also had an exceptional position in the ideological sphere. Their power through kinship with Hercules and the Olympian gods had a divine basis. “In addition, by communicating directly with the Delphic oracle through the Pythians, they were the guardians of divine truth.” Personal interests and the establishment of connections abroad could be carried out by the kings through proxens they personally appointed. Most likely, such royal commissioners were sometimes completely dependent on the tsar himself and were, “if I may say so, among his “clients.”
E. Curtius draws attention to how prim and alien these two “twin kings” behaved in relation to each other from the very beginning, how this sharp contrast was passed on continuously through all generations, “how each of these houses remained on its own, not connected with the other either by marriage or common inheritance, as each had its own history, chronicles, dwellings and tombs. In his opinion, these were two completely different generations, mutually recognizing each other’s rights and establishing, by agreement, the joint use of royal supreme power.” If one of the representatives of the royal family who was to rule was a child, then a guardian was appointed for him. In Pausanias we find references to this tradition: “Pausanias, the son of Cleombrotus, was not a king; being the guardian of Pleistarchus, the son of Leonidas, who remained still a child (after the death of his father), Pausanias led the Lacedaemonians at Plataea and then the fleet during the campaign against the Hellespont.” What these clans had in common was that their power did not arise from among the Dorians, but was rooted in the Mycenaean era. In addition, “the dual kingdom also served as a guarantee that, due to the competition of the two lines, the tyrannical excess of royal prerogatives became impossible.” There is no doubt that the kings independently administered justice. This can be confirmed by the words of Pausanias about King Polydorus: “while administering justice, he maintained justice, not without a sense of condescension towards people.” The death of a king was a special event in Ancient Sparta. Mourning was declared throughout Laconia. “Representatives of all groups of society (Spartiates, Perieci and Helots), several people from each family, arrive at the funeral procession. After the funeral, the courts and the market, which are the main public places in Sparta, are closed for 10 days.” After the death of the king, the heir who ascended the throne forgave all debts to the royal house or community.
All the institutions listed in the Retra are not the invention of Lycurgus. They existed, no doubt, before him.
The Spartan constitution apparently underwent the first serious modification after Lycurgus in the years 30-20. VIII century According to Plutarch, the authors of the amendment to the Great Retra were the Spartan kings Theopompus and Polydorus. “The meaning of such an amendment was that the geronts and kings should not have ratified the “crooked” decision of the people, but closed the meeting and dissolved the people.”
The innovation consisted in depriving the people of the right to a free and unrestricted discussion of the proposals made by the Gerusia. Now only the gerousia had the right to decide whether to continue the discussion in the appeal or to stop it and dissolve the meeting. The essence of this amendment, therefore, is that the gerusia, together with the kings who headed it, was again placed above the national assembly, for it now had the right to veto any decision of the appeal that it did not like. It is this view of the meaning of this amendment that is generally accepted and rarely disputed.
Of particular importance were the relations of politicians with the largest sanctuary of Hellas - the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, the center of traditional wisdom, which played the role of the spiritual leader of Hellas in archaic and classical times. The kings turned to Delphi for divine sanction. So here, as in the case of Lycurgus, there is an appeal to Apollo. Of particular interest is the relationship between Delphi and Spartan political leaders, “both because of the specifics of the political life of Lacedaemon, and because it was Sparta, of all the Greek city-states, that was most closely associated with Delphi in the ancient tradition.” We see a whole series of Spartan rulers who often very cynically tried to put the authority of the sanctuary at the service of their interests in political intrigues, not even disdaining direct bribery. This problem O.V. Kulishova devotes her monograph, where she gives examples of the influence of Delphi on the legislation of the largest policies in Greece. "The first and perhaps one of the most noteworthy among the rulers associated with this trend was King Cleomenes I." In this regard, we point out the special connections between the Pythian sanctuary of Apollo and the Spartan basileia, the most important aspect of which was its sacred character. The role of the Spartan kings in the worship was extremely significant in the context of their other most important function - military command. War, being an integral part of the political and interstate relations of the Greek polis world, was associated with a traditional complex of religious ideas and sacred actions, among which perhaps the primary role belonged to the so-called military mantle, which was primarily under the jurisdiction of Apollo and Delphi. “The very origin of the double royal power, according to legend, originated from Delphi.” Let us also note the position of special envoys to Delphi - the Pythians (each of the kings had to elect two Pythias), who together with the kings had a meal and also together with them performed the duties of preserving the oracles. The important role of the oracle is also manifested in a curious custom that persisted in Sparta at least until the 3rd century. BC, when the ephors watched one night every eight years to see if a sign would appear indicating that one of the Spartan kings had angered the gods. The kings, in the face of local gods, were representatives of the entire state; “Thanks to them alone, it became possible to connect the new order of things with the past without violating sacred traditions.” The army was always accompanied by a whole herd of sacred animals, intended for fortune-telling sacrifices and ready to be used to determine the will of the gods at any time: on the border of the state, before battle.
There is also no consensus among scientists about the time of the appearance of the ephorate in Sparta. In science, three possible options for the emergence of the ephorate were discussed: before Lycurgus, under Lycurgus or after Lycurgus. Thus, the opinion has been expressed more than once that the ephorate is an ancient Dorian institution, just like the apella, kings and council of elders, and Lycurgus did not create the ephorate, but transformed it, establishing the number of ephors according to the number of obs, i.e., guided by the new territorial principle. N. Hammond believes that Lycurgus nevertheless created an ephorate: “Lycurgus also founded an ephorate, consisting of five ephors, who were elected annually with the approval of the popular assembly from among their “equals.” Initially, the ephors did not have a leading position in the state. They simply supervised the work of the social system: they inspected the physical condition of the boys, administered justice in cases of disobedience, and led processions at the Gymnopedia (national sports and music festival).
The tradition about the post-Lycurgus origin of the ephorate seems to us the most reliable because it is described in sufficient detail by Aristotle. Aristotle considered the reform of Theopompus a very important stage in the development of the Spartan polis. King Theopompus, in his words, deliberately went to diminish his power, ceding some of his functions to ordinary citizens in the name of preserving royal power as such: “By weakening the significance of royal power, he thereby contributed to the extension of its existence, so in a certain respect he did not diminish but, on the contrary, exalted her.” The compromise concluded between the kings and society contributed to the preservation of civil peace in Sparta and the stability of its political system. Both the royal power and the council of elders were relegated to the background by the ephors. They arrogated to themselves the right to negotiate with the community, and became the successors of the legislative work, as far as this could be discussed in Sparta; they decided all public affairs. “In a word, the ancient titles and positions, dating back to heroic times, became more and more pale, while the euphoria reached more and more unlimited power.”
Initially, a college of five ephors was supposed to perform the judicial functions of the Spartan kings in their absence. “In classical times, this position was elective. It is difficult to say when such a qualitative shift towards the creation of a regular elected magistracy occurred.” To a large extent, this could be facilitated by the full employment of the kings in the military sphere during protracted military conflicts.
In the middle of the 6th century. marks the last, third stage of the reform of Spartan society, as a result of which the so-called. classic model of the Spartan polis.
A possible initiator of the changes that took place at that time was the ephor Chilon. Despite the fact that our information about him is extremely scarce, he is nevertheless the only character with whom the Spartan reforms of the end of the archaic period can be associated. We do not know what exactly the reform of the ephorate was, which tradition associates with the name of the ephor Chilon. “Chilo was probably the initiator of the law that transferred the presidency of the popular assembly and of the gerousia from the kings to the ephors.” This was the last step in reforming the ephorate, which completely freed this magistracy from all other power structures. In any case, by the beginning of the classical period, the ephorate already had full executive and controlling power in the state, having become, in essence, the government of Sparta, a formal agreement was concluded, in which the condition for maintaining royal power was the unconditional subordination of the kings to the community represented by its main representatives - the ephors . Actually, these powers gave the ephors the power to oversee the daily life of Spartan citizens, and “at the same time limit the influence of the Council of Elders - gerousia”
As has been expressed more than once in scientific literature, the opinion that the establishment of the ephorate marked the establishment of a new state order and at the same time meant the victory of the community over the sovereign royal power. The transformed ephorate thus becomes the guarantor of the equality of all citizens before the law.
The ephors, as already mentioned, had the function of controlling the kings. It must be said that they even had the right to judge kings. An example of this is the repeated trial of King Pausanias. Pausanias, the author of the Description of Hellas, tells the following about the trial of the Spartan king: “When he [Pausanias] returned from Athens after such a fruitless battle, his enemies called him to trial. At the trial of the Lacedaemonian king are the so-called geronts, twenty-eight people, the entire college of ephors, and with them the king from another royal house. The fourteen Geronts, as well as Agis, a king from another royal house, admitted that Pausanias was guilty; nevertheless, the other judges acquitted him.” Pausanias was acquitted by a margin of 4 votes, which belonged to the ephors. At the trial, the entire college of ephors unanimously voted for Pausanias and thereby decided the case in his favor. The ephors had the unconditional right to interfere in the personal life of the king. An example is the case of King Anaxandrides, whose wife could not give birth to an heir. In this case, the ephors insisted that the king marry another: “when the ephors began to insist that he send her back (to her parents).” The ephors monitored hereditary rights in the state and also had the right to remove rulers from power if they believed that he should not hold this position: “they removed him from the royal rank and gave power to Cleomenes on the basis of the laws of seniority.”
Under the ephor Chilon, a whole series of laws will be issued, with the help of which the ephors will finally cope with the arbitrariness of the kings and bring their activities as commanders-in-chief under their control. The prohibition to constantly wage war with the same enemy could mean the following: “the ephors received the right to cancel repeated military expeditions of the kings, which, in their opinion, could bring harm to Sparta.” Perhaps this limitation on the military power of the kings was introduced after several unsuccessful campaigns of the Spartan army against Argos. But, most likely, the reason for such an innovation was more global in nature and was associated with the emergence of a new direction in Spartan foreign policy: Sparta by the middle of the 6th century. abandoned unbridled military expansion and forced enslavement of neighboring peoples and switched to a more flexible and promising policy - the organization of intercity associations. “In such a situation, the military department, headed by the kings, required the closest attention from the civil authorities in order to prevent unwanted military conflicts in time.”
It is necessary to say something about the institution of navarkhs, which had quite large powers. The commander of the allied fleet led by Sparta was called a navarch. “Of the four Spartan admirals known to us, who commanded the allied fleet between 480 and 477, that is, during the Greco-Persian Wars, one was a king (Leotichides in 479), the other was a close relative of the king (Pausanias in 478) and two were ordinary Spartiates who did not belong to the royal family.” the powers of the fleet commanders were approximately the same as the powers of the kings who stood at the head of the Spartan army. Navarchs were directly subordinate to the ephors, not the kings. Between the navarchy and the tsarist power, apparently, there was no fundamental subordination at all. The powers of the navarchs in the navy were approximately the same as the powers of the kings in the army. To a certain extent, the navarkhs enjoyed even greater freedom than the kings, whose activities were under the constant supervision of society in the person of the ephors. The custom of sending ephors to the active army dates back to the era of the Greco-Persian wars. The number of ephors was not specified, but most often the king was accompanied by only one ephor. By the end of the Peloponnesian War, “as can be seen from the reports of Xenophon, each Spartan king, in addition to advisers, was accompanied by two ephors instead of one.” The decision to increase the presence of ephors in the army from one to two looks like another preventive measure, aimed at preventing corruption in the army.
The Spartan kings represented the origin and beginning of the new state of the Lacedaemonians, which united the Spartiates, the Perieci, the Laconian helots, and later the Messenians.” At the ceremonial burial of the Spartan kings, men and women representing all segments of the population of Lacedaemon - Spartiates, Perieci and Helots - were required to attend, and an official ten-day mourning was observed throughout the country. The kings, on behalf of the Lacedaemonian state, declared war, commanded an army that included Spartiates, Perieci and helots, and made sacrifices on the borders of Laconia before leading the army abroad. They were the high priests of Zeus Lacedaemonian and Zeus Uranius, performed all sacrifices on behalf of the community and appointed envoys of the state to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Their names were the first to appear on the documents of the Lacedaemonian state, they presided over all state celebrations and ceremonies, and were accompanied by a mounted detachment of bodyguards. Thus, the functions of the Spartan kings were similar to those of the British crown.
The ancient Spartans did not share the Athenians' passion for architecture and the arts, and therefore almost nothing has been preserved in the city from the time when its star stood at its zenith. Sacredly believing that no walls would preserve the polis better than the valor of the citizens, they preferred to invest state funds in the education of youth, giving Greece a whole galaxy of famous commanders. Today many of them are half forgotten. Therefore, Grekoblog decided to devote a separate post to this topic, selecting five Spartiates whose fate was most intertwined with the glory of ancient Sparta.
Lycurgus (presumably 9th century BC)
Although many historians doubt that Lycurgus was a real historical figure, the influence of this semi-legendary character on Sparta's place in history cannot be overestimated. Lycurgus, in fact, was the person thanks to whom - according to legend - Sparta set out on the path of development of human valor. The main achievement of Lycurgus was the compilation of a set of laws that contributed to the rapid transformation of this, very ordinary at that time, Greek polis into one of the first superpowers of the Ancient World.
What did Lycurgus do? He carried out political, economic and social reforms, each of which was an important component of the overall plan - the transformation of Sparta into a superpower. Now it is difficult to say whether this was the goal of Lycurgus, but the way the reforms organically complemented each other suggests that this is not a coincidence.
To the man who proposed to establish democracy in Sparta, Lycurgus said: “First establish democracy in your home.”
From a political point of view, Lycurgus limited the power of kings by introducing the gerousia - a council of elders - and transferring significant powers to the popular assembly. The basis of Lycurgus's economic reforms was the redistribution of land and the introduction of iron money into circulation instead of gold and silver. This approach made it possible to equalize the Spartans and for a long time discourage them from accumulating wealth that was not recognized in any other country. The core of the social reform was a new approach to the education of youth, which allowed Sparta to instill in the younger generation the values of state and social structure from childhood, as well as to pay great attention to their military training.
Lycurgus's reforms made it possible to overcome the internal crisis of the state and open a new page in history, full of glory and military valor - a period that lasted almost 500 years.
Cleomenes I Eurysthenes (reign: 520 BC – 491 BC)
They say that all great men are a little mad, and Cleomenes I is no exception. The terrible death of the king was a strange end to his valiant life.
Cleomenes I is rarely mentioned and very little is known about him. But many historians agree on one thing - the years of the reign of Cleomenes I became the zenith of the power of Sparta. If we move from abstract expressions to concrete examples, then the most significant acts of Cleomenes include the defeat of Argos, the expulsion of tyrants from Athens, and the unification of the communities of the Peloponnese into an alliance where Sparta occupied a dominant position.
If Agesilaus heard someone being praised or blamed, he believed that it was no less important to know the character of those who spoke than those who were judged.
Are these events so significant that we put Cleomenes on our short list? The answer to this can only be positive. At that time, Argos and Sparta were the main states of the Peloponnese, which were already becoming crowded on the peninsula. Therefore, the victory of Cleomenes over Argos, albeit bloody, allowed Sparta to “spread its wings,” permanently discouraging its “competitor” from the desire and ability to compete with the Spartans. This, in turn, made it possible to more actively promote the line of foreign policy and form an alliance, which for the next few centuries became the main stronghold of the power of the state.
Leonidas (reigned: 491 BC – 480 BC)
Having replaced Cleomenes on the royal throne, during the first 10 years of his reign, Leonidas, if he did anything worth mentioning, history did not preserve these details. The death of the king in 480 BC looks all the more worthy. at Thermopylae, at the cost of his own life (and several hundred other Greeks) covering the retreat of the united Greek army from the superior forces of the Persians.
When someone told Leonid that he was leading too few men into battle, he replied: “Too many - because they are doomed to death.”
Two films were made about Leonid’s feat and a number of books were written, and therefore his name hardly needs a separate introduction. Let us only note that for thousands of years to come the name of the king became a symbol of Spartan and military valor, and the feat in which he played the role of “first violin” pushed into the background many, sometimes very controversial moments of Spartan history.
Lysander (452-396 BC)
The role of Lysander in Spartan history is difficult to assess unambiguously. On the one hand, he put an end to the Peloponnesian War and took Athens, which was already seriously and not unreasonably laying claim to hegemony in Hellas. This raised Sparta to unprecedented heights and for a short period, not nominally, but quite realistically, allowed it to dictate its will to most of the ancient Greek states on mainland Hellas, the Aegean islands and even in Asia Minor.
Seeing the Lacedaemonians indecisive before the walls of Corinth, Lysander noticed that a hare jumped out of the city through the ditch and exclaimed: “Are you really afraid of enemies who are so lazy that they have under. the wall is holy for hares"
On the other hand, the consequence of victories on external fronts was a significant influx of gold into Sparta, the passion for the possession of which, for the first time in many centuries after Lycurgus, began to erode the foundations of the social order of the Spartans. Later, it was the property stratification of the once homogeneous Spartiate society that researchers would call one of the main reasons for the decline. However, under Lysander this was still far from happening - after all, under him Sparta was the most powerful state in Greece.
Agesilaus (c. 442 - c. 358 BC)
Although after Agesilaus the Spartan land raised many valiant commanders, the king became, perhaps, the last leader of a still great state. It was under Agesilaus that Sparta lost its dominant position in Greece and almost lost its independence. After the death of Agesilaus, the Spartans still managed to win brilliant tactical victories, but exhausted by constant wars and, having lost many allies, they were no longer able to restore their former power.
When a certain doctor prescribed Agesilaus a carefully designed course of treatment, which was very difficult to carry out, the king exclaimed: “I swear by the gods, nowhere does it say that I absolutely need to live and do anything for this.”
However, the loss of Spartan hegemony in Greece cannot be blamed on Agesilaus. Sparta's reluctance to adapt to changing external conditions, the lack of a strong economy and the declining role of Lycurgus's laws in society are much more responsible for the final result. A competent domestic and foreign policy of the authorities could probably delay the process of decomposition of Spartan society for some time, but it is unlikely to prevent it.
While ruling the Spartans, Agesilaus accomplished many valiant feats, demonstrating brilliant qualities as a commander and politician. Under his leadership, in particular, the Greek army landed in Asia Minor and inflicted a series of defeats on the Persians (396-394 BC). Unable to cope with Agesilaus on land, the Persians were forced to subsidize the liberation movement in the states controlled by Sparta. Then internal wars would force Agesilaus to leave the Empire. The calculation turned out to be correct - needing troops to strengthen the shaky position, Sparta recalled Agesilaus back to Greece. Otherwise, who knows, the glory of defeating the Persians could well have belonged to Agesilaus, and not to Alexander the Great.
But history, as we know, does not recognize the word “would”.
