The city of Sparta lay at the southern end of the Peloponnese. Largely hemmed in by mountains, it was a strategic site. This meant that invading armies had a hard time reaching Sparta. Its distance from the sea–27 miles–made it difficult to blockade.

The state and culture known as Sparta was formed by the Dorian Greeks, some eighty years after the Trojan War. By the 7th century BC, Sparta had conquered all its surrounding areas.

In the 5th century, Persia threatened Greece with an invasion, so the Greeks allied, but once the Persians were defeated, Sparta and Athens became rivals. The Spartan stand at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Greeks is often considered the greatest last stand of a military force in documented history.

Athens’ attempts to control Greece through its Delian League engendered resentment throughout Greece. Tensions between the two cities finally came to a head in the Peloponnesian War, and Athens was defeated. The city-state’s attempts to control Greece ended in failure.

Due to the outcome of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta became a naval power. Sparta even restrained the majority of key Greek states and overpowered the mighty Athenian navy. This period is called the Spartan Hegemony. Unfortunately, Sparta then had to fight against an alliance of the most powerful Greek states: Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos.

After a dramatic and powerful defeat to Epaminondas of Thebes during the Battle of Leuctra, Sparta went into decline. This was the first time a Spartan army lost a land battle at full strength. Yet even during its decline, Sparta remained defiant and proud. When Philip of Macedon wrote to Sparta saying, “If I enter Laconia I will level Sparta to the ground,” the Spartans’ response was simply: “If.”

Philip of Macedon finally unified Greece against Persia, however, by their own request the Spartans were excluded. Upon the conquest of Persia, Alexander the Great was then sent to Athens with three hundred suits of Persian armor. The armor dawned the inscription “Alexander son of Philip, and the Greeks–except the Spartans–from the Asian barbarians.”

“With this, or upon this”

Sparta is famous through the ages for its militaristic society. The state owned the life of the Spartan citizen and could order it to war at any time. Emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. A mother of a newborn baby would bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived, the elders would decide whether the child was worth rearing. If not, the baby was left on a mountainside to die, although these children were often adopted by noncitizens. Physical strength and fitness for fighting were prized above all. (There were even contests among Spartan soldiers to see who could take the most severe flogging!)

Before male Spartans went go off to war, their wives, sisters, or mothers would give them their shield and say: “With this, or upon this.” Spartans should only return victorious or dead.

With the emphasis on physical fitness and training, the arts of music and literature were subordinate. Girls also were trained in physical fitness and educated, in the belief that strong and intelligent mothers would produce strong and intelligent children.

Back to Ancient Greek Cities