Sparta where is it located

If he is strong and of sound body, they command that he be raised, and they assign him an allotment of land from the 9, plots. If he is ill born and misshapen, they throw him into the pit at the place called Apothetae, below Mt.

Taygetus, as it is better neither for him nor for the city to remain alive, as from the beginning he does not have a good start towards becoming healthy and strong" wrote Plutarch, a Greek writer who lived in the first century A. Girls, while not trained militarily, were expected to train physically.

This included running, wrestling, discus and javelin throwing. Spartan woman even competed in the Olympic games , at least in the chariot racing competition, according to ancient writers. In the fifth century B. After Cynisca other women, especially women of Lacedaemon, have won Olympic victories, but none of them was more distinguished for their victories than she," wrote the ancient writer Pausanias who lived in the second century A.

Jones and H. Spartan women likely did not engage in any public nudity. Thucydides also wrote that the Spartans preferred to dress modestly and that "the richer citizens conducted themselves in a fashion that as much as possible put them into an equal position with the general populace. Spartan poetry also showed a desire for equality among the male Spartans. This desire for some level of equality applies to something as simple as a bowl of soup.

It has not been over a fire yet, but soon it will be full of soup, the kind that Alcman, who eats everything, loves hot after the solstice: he doesn't eat any confections, but seeks common, available food just like the people do," reads a poem by Alcman. Sparta in time developed a system of dual kingship two kings ruling at once.

Their power was counter-balanced by the elected board of ephors who may only serve a single one-year term. There was also a Council of Elders Gerousia , each member of which was over the age of 60 and could serve for life.

The general assembly, which consisted of each citizen, also had the chance to vote on legislation. The legendary lawmaker Lycurgus is often credited in ancient sources with providing the groundwork for Spartan law. Kennell notes, however, that he probably never existed and was in fact a mythical character. Initially, Sparta was hesitant to engage with Persia. When the Persians threatened Greek cities in Ionia, on the west coast of what is now Turkey, the Greeks who lived in those areas sent an emissary to Sparta to ask for help.

The Spartans refused but did threaten King Cyrus, telling him to leave Greek cities alone. The Persians did not listen. The first invasion by Darius I took place in B. The second invasion was launched by Xerxes in B. Sparta and one of their kings, Leonidas, became head of an anti-Persian coalition that ultimately made an ill-fated stand at Thermopylae.

Located beside the coast, Thermopylae contained a narrow passage, which the Greeks blocked and used to halt Xerxes' advance. Ancient sources indicate that Leonidas started the battle with a few thousand troops including Spartans at its core. He faced a Persian force many times its size. After spying on the Spartan-led force, and waiting to see if they would surrender, Xerxes ordered an attack.

The "Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but fell in vast numbers: others, however, took the places of the slain, and would not be beaten off, though they suffered terrible losses. In this way it became clear to all, and especially to the king, that though he had plenty of combatants, he had but very few warriors.

The struggle, however, continued during the whole day," wrote Herodotus. Translation by George Rawlinson. After this beaten force withdrew, Xerxes sent an elite unit called the "Immortals" after the Spartan-led force but they too failed.

Herodotus noted the battle tactics the Spartans employed. Eventually, a Greek man showed Xerxes a pass that allowed part of the Persian force to outmaneuver the Greeks and attack them on both flanks. Leonidas was doomed. Many of the troops who were with Leonidas withdrew possibly because the Spartan king ordered them to. According to Herodotus, the Thespians decided to stay with the Spartans by their own free will.

Leonidas then made his fateful stand and "fell fighting bravely, together with many other famous Spartans," Herodotus writes. Ultimately, the Persians killed almost all of the Spartan troops. The helots the Spartans brought with them were also killed. The Persian army proceeded south, sacking Athens and threatening to break into the Peloponnese. A Greek naval victory at the Battle of Salamis halted this approach, the Persian king Xerxes going home and leaving an army behind that would later be destroyed.

The Greeks led by the now dead Leonidas had prevailed. When the threat from the Persians receded, the Greeks resumed their inter-city rivalries. Two of the most powerful city states were Athens and Sparta, and tensions between the two escalated in the decades after their victory over Persia.

The situation was serious enough that Sparta called on allied cities for aid in putting it down. When the Athenians arrived, however, the Spartans refused their help. This was taken as an insult in Athens and bolstered anti-Spartan views. The Battle of Tanagra, fought in B.

Likewise, if a Spartan could not afford to pay the expenses associated with military training, they potentially could lose their right to citizenship. Spartiates were actually a minority within Sparta, and Helots made up the largest class of inhabitants of the city-state.

Helots were originally free Greeks that the Spartans had defeated in battle, and subsequently enslaved. In contrast to populations conquered by other Greek cities, the male Helot population was not exterminated, and women and children were not treated as chattel. Instead, Helots were given a subordinate position within Spartan society more comparable to the serfs of medieval Europe.

Although Helots did not have voting rights, they otherwise enjoyed a relatively privileged position, in comparison to slave populations in other Greek city-states. The Spartan poet, Tyrtaios, gives account that Helots were permitted to marry and retain half the fruits of their labor. They were also allowed religious freedoms and could own a limited amount of personal property. Up to 6, Helots even accumulated enough wealth to buy their own freedom in BCE.

Since Spartiates were full-time soldiers, manual labor fell to the Helot population who worked as unskilled serfs, tilling the Spartan land or accompanying the Spartan army as non-combatants.

Helot women were often used as wet nurses. Relations between Helots and their Spartan masters were often strained, and there is evidence that at least one Helot revolt occurred circa BCE. Many historians argue that because the Helots were permitted such privileges as the maintenance of family and kinship groups and ownership of property, they were better able to retain their identity as a conquered people and thus were more effective at organizing rebellions. Over time, the Spartiate population continued to decline and the Helot population grew, and the imbalance in power exasperated tensions that already existed.

Female Spartans enjoyed status, power, and respect that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world. Spartan women, better fed from childhood and fit from exercise, stood a far better chance of reaching old age than their sisters in other Greek cities where the median life expectancy was Unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore dresses peplos slit up the side to allow freer movement, and moved freely about the city, either walking or driving chariots.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic World. Search for:. Learning Objectives Distinguish key differences between Athens and Sparta. Given its military preeminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars, and defeated Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Sparta functioned under an oligarchy of two hereditary kings. Unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, Spartan society focused heavily on military training and excellence.

Spartan women enjoyed status, power, and respect that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world. The dominant military power in ancient Greece. Key Takeaways Key Points Sparta was an oligarchic city-state, ruled by two hereditary kings equal in authority.

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Macedonia, a small kingdom in northern Greece, established a growing empire from B. With Alexander the Great, Macedonia would come to conquer many lands and usher in the Hellenistic age in the region. Alexander the Great, a Macedonian king, conquered the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, the Middle East, and parts of Asia in a remarkably short period of time. Ruled by Hammurabi, restored by Nebuchadrezzar, conquered by Cyrus—this city in the heart of Mesopotamia was both desired and despised, placing it at the center stage of the dawn of history.

Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Image sparta racecourse This illustration depicts the racecourse at Sparta.