When was sparta formed

However, they invaded anyway and took the city with ease, increasing the Spartan appetite for empire even more. In BCE, a new Spartan king, Agesilaus II, assumed power next to Lysander there were always two in Sparta , and he set his sights on exacting revenge over the Persians for their refusal to let the Ionian Greeks live freely. So, he gathered an army of around 8, men and marched the opposite route that Xerxes and Darius had taken nearly a century before, through Thrace and Macedon, across the Hellespont, and into Asia Minor, and was met with little resistance.

Fearing they could not stop the Spartans, the Persian governor in the region, Tissaphernes, first tried, and failed, to bribe Agesilaus II and then proceeded to broker a deal that forced Agesilaus II to stop his advance in exchange for the freedom of some Ionian Greeks. Agesilaus II took his troops into Phrygia and began planning for an attack. With the rest of the Greek world keenly aware that the Spartans had imperial ambitions, there was an increased desire to antagonize Sparta, and in BCE, Thebes, which had been growing more powerful, decided to support the city of Locris in its desire to collect taxes from nearby Phocis, which was an ally of Sparta.

The Spartan army was sent to support Phocis, but the Thebans also sent a force to fight alongside Locris, and war was once again upon the Greek world. Shortly after this happened, Corinth announced it would stand against Sparta, a surprising move given the two cities longstanding relationship in the Peloponnesian League.

Athens and Argos also decided to join the fight, pitting Sparta up against almost the entire Greek world. Sparta came to the aid of the oligarchic factions seeking to maintain power and the Argives supported the democrats.

At this point, Sparta tried to end the fighting by asking the Persians to broker peace. Their terms were to restore the independence and autonomy of all Greek city states, but this was rejected by Thebes, mainly because it had been building up a base of power on its own through the Boeotian League.

So, fighting resumed, and Sparta was forced to take to the sea to defend the Peloponnesian coast from Athenian ships. However, by BCE, it was clear that no side would be able to gain an advantage, so the Persians were once again called in to help negotiate peace.

The terms they offered were the same — all Greek city states would remain free and independent — but they also suggested that refusing these terms would bring out the wrath of the Persian empire. Some factions tried to muster up support for an invasion of Persia in response to these demands, but there was little appetite for war at the time, so all parties agreed to peace. However, Sparta was delegated the responsibility of making sure the terms of the peace treaty were honored, and they used this power to immediately break up the Boeotian League.

This greatly angered the Thebans, something that would come to haunt the Spartans later on. The Spartans were left with considerable power after the Corinthian War, and by BCE, just two years after peace had been brokered, they were once again working to expand their influence. Thebes had been forced to allow Sparta to pass through its territory as they marched north towards Macedon, a sign of Thebes subjugation to Sparta.

Around the same time, another Spartan commander, Sphodrias, decided to launch an attack on the Athenian port, Piraeus, but he retreated before reaching it and burned the land as he returned towards the Peloponnese. This act was condemned by Spartan leadership, but it made little difference to the Athenians, who were now motivated to resume fighting with Sparta more than ever before. They gathered their fleet and Sparta lost several naval battles near the Peloponnesian coast.

However, neither Athens nor Thebes really wanted to engage Sparta in a land battle, for their armies were still superior.

Furthermore, Athens was now faced with the possibility of being caught in between Sparta and the now-powerful Thebes, so, in BCE, Athens asked for peace. At the peace conference, however.

This is because doing so would have accepted the legitimacy of the Boeotian League, something the Spartans did not want to do. This outraged Thebes and the Theban envoy left the conference, leaving all parties unsure if the war was still on. But the Spartan army clarified the situation by gathering and matching into Boeotia.

However, for the first time in nearly a century, the Spartans were soundly beaten. This proved that the Theban-led Boeotian League had finally surpassed Spartan power and was ready to assume its position as the hegemon of ancient Greece.

This loss marked the end of the Spartan empire, and it also marked the true beginning of the end for Sparta. Part of the reason why this was such a significant defeat was that the Spartan army was essentially depleted. To fight as a Spartiate — a highly-trained Spartan soldier — one had to have Spartan blood.

This made it difficult to replace fallen Spartan soldiers, and by the Battle of Leuctra, the Spartan force was smaller than it had ever been. Furthermore, this meant that the Spartans were dramatically outnumbered by helots , who used this to revolt more frequently and upend Spartan society. As a result, Sparta was in turmoil, and the defeat at the Battle of Leuctra all but relegated Sparta to the annals of history.

While the Battle of Leuctra marks the end of classical Sparta, the city remained significant for several more centuries. However, the Spartans refused to join the Macedons, led first by Philip II and later by his son, Alexander the Great, in an alliance against the Persians, which led to the eventual fall of the Persian empire.

Sparta continued to be an important trading center throughout medieval times, and it is now a district in the modern-day nation of Greece.

However, after the Battle of Leuctra, it was a shell of its formerly all-powerful self. The era of classical Sparta had ended. While the city was founded in the 8th or 9th century B. C, the golden age of Sparta lasted roughly from the end of the 5th century — the first Persian invasion of ancient Greece — until the Battle of Leuctra in BCE.

During this time, Spartan culture flourished. However, unlike their neighbors to the north, Athens, Sparta was hardly a cultural epicenter. Some artisanry did exist, but we see nothing in terms of philosophic or scientific advancements like those that came out of Athens in the final century B. Instead, Spartan society was based around the military. Power was held onto by an oligarchic faction, and individual freedoms for non-Spartans were severely restricted, although Spartan women may have had much better conditions than women living in other parts of the ancient Greek world.

One of the key features of the social structure in Sparta were the helots. The term has two origins. For all intents and purposes, the helots were slaves.

They were needed because Spartan citizens, also known as Spartiates, were forbidden from doing manual labor, meaning they needed forced labor to work the land and produce food. In exchange, the helots were allowed to keep 50 percent of what they produced, were allowed to marry, practice their own religion, and, in some cases, own property.

Yet they were still treated quite poorly by the Spartans. Furthermore, helots were expected to go off to war when commanded to do so by Spartan leadership, the punishment for resisting being death. Typically, helots were Messenians, those who had occupied the region of Messenia before the Spartans conquered during the First and Second Messenian Wars fought in the 7th century B. This history, plus the poor treatment the Spartans gave to the helots , made them a frequent problem in Spartan society.

Revolt was always right around the corner, and by the 4th century B. C, helots outnumbered Spartans, a fact they used to their advantage to win more freedoms and destabilize Sparta until it could no longer support itself as the Greek hegemon. The armies of Sparta have gone down as some of the most impressive of all time. They achieved this status during the Greco-Persian wars especially the Battle of Thermopylae when a small force of Greeks led by Spartan soldiers managed to fend off Xerxes and his massive armies, which included the then-superior Persian Immortals, for three days, inflicting heavy casualties.

The Spartan soldier, also known as a hoplite , looked the same as any other Greek soldier. He carried a large bronze shield, wore bronze armor, and carried a long, bronze-tipped spear. Furthermore, he fought in a phalanx , which is an array of soldiers designed to create a strong line of defense by having each soldier protect not only himself but the soldier sitting next to him using a shield.

Nearly all Greek armies fought using this formation, but the Spartans were the best, mainly because of the training a Spartan soldier had to go through before joining the military. To become a Spartan soldier, Spartan men had to undergo training at the agoge , a specialized military school designed to train the Spartan army.

Training in this school was grueling and intense. In the event that the Spartan boys did not pass the test, they were placed at the base of Mount Taygetus for several days for a test that ended with death by exposure, or survival.

Spartan boys were often sent out into the wild on their own to survive, and they were taught how to fight. However, what set the Spartan soldier apart was his loyalty to his fellow soldier. In the agoge, the Spartan boys were taught to depend on one another for the common defense, and they learned how to move in formation so as to attack without breaking ranks. Spartan boys were also instructed in academics, warfare, stealth, hunting and athletics.

This training provided to be effective on the battlefield as the Spartans were virtually unbeatable. Their only major defeat, the Battle of Thermopylae, occurred not because they were an inferior fighting force but rather because they were hopelessly outnumbered and betrayed by a fellow Greek who told Xerxes of the way around the pass. At the age of 20, Spartan men would become warriors of the state.

This military life would go on until they turned While much of the lives of Spartan men would be ruled by discipline and military, there were also other options over time available to them. For instance as a member of the state at age twenty, Spartan men were allowed to marry, but they would not share a marital home until they were thirty or older.

For now their lives were dedicated to the military. When they clocked thirty, Spartan men became full citizens of the state, and as such they were granted various privileges.

The newly granted status meant Spartan men could live at their homes, most of the Spartans were farmers but the helots would work the land for them. If Spartan men would get to the age of sixty they would be considered retired. After sixty the men would not have to perform any military duties, this included all war-time activities.

Spartan men were also said to wear their hair long, often braided into locks. Spartan men were generally well groomed. Citizenship in Sparta was taught to acquire, as one had to prove their blood relation to an original Spartan, and this made it difficult to replace soldiers on a one to one basis. Over time, particularly after the Peloponnesian War during the period of the Spartan Empire, these put considerable strain on the Spartan army.

They were forced to rely more and more on helots and other hoplites, who not as well-trained and therefore beatable. This finally became apparent during the Battle of Leuctra, which we now see as the beginning of the end for Sparta. While Sparta was technically a monarchy governed by two kings, one each from the Agiad and Eurypontid families, these kings were relegated over time to positions that most closely resembled generals.

This is because the city was really governed by the ephors and gerousia. The gerousia was a council of 28 men over the age of Once elected, they held their post for life. Typically, members of the gerousia were related to one of the two royal familes, which helped to keep power consolidated in the hands of the few. The gerousia was responsible for electing the ephors , which is the name given to a group of five officials who were responsible for carrying out the orders of the gerousia.

They would impose taxes, deal with subordinate helot populations, and accompany kings on military campaigns to ensure the wishes of the gerousia were met. To be a member of these already exclusive leading parties, one had to be a Spartan citizen, and only Spartan citizens could vote for the gerousia. Because of this, there is no doubt that Sparta operated under an oligarchy, a government ruled by the few.

Many believe this arrangement was made because of the nature of the founding of Sparta; the combining of four, and then five, towns meant that leaders of each needed to be accommodated, and this form of government made this possible. Next to the ephors, the gerousia , and kings, were the clergy. Spartan citizens were also considered to be at the top of the Spartan social order, and below them were helots and other non-citizens.

Because of this, Sparta would have been a highly unequal society where wealth and power were accumulated into the hands of the few and those without citizen status were denied basic rights. One unique thing about Sparta was that it had always had two kings ruling simultaneously. The leading theory about why this was the case deals with the founding of Sparta.

It is thought that the original villages made this arrangement to ensure that each powerful family got a say but also so that neither village could gain too much of an advantage over the other. Plus, the gerousia was established to further weaken the power of the Spartan kings and limit their ability to rule autonomously. In fact, by the time of the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan kings had little or no say over the affairs of the Spartan polis. Instead, by this point, there were relegated to nothing more than generals, but they were even limited in how they could act in this capacity, meaning most of the power in Sparta was in the hands of the gerousia.

Both royal families, the Agiads and the Eurypontids, claimed ancestry with the gods. Specifically, they traced their ancestry to Eurysthenes and Procles, the twin children a Heracles, one of the sons of Zeus. Some of these kings include, from the Agiad dynasty:. While many parts of Spartan society were considerably unequal, and freedoms were limited for all but the most elite, Spartan women were granted a much more significant role in Spartan life than they were in other Greek cultures at the time.

Of course, they were far from equals, but they were afforded freedoms unheard of in the ancient world. They were also fed the same foods as Spartan men, something that did not happen in many parts of ancient Greece, and they were restricted from bearing children until they were in their late teens or twenties.

This policy was meant to improve the chances of Spartan women having healthy children while also preventing women from experiencing the complications that come from early pregnancies. They were also allowed to sleep with other men besides their husbands, something that was completely unheard of in the ancient world.

Furthermore, Spartan women were not allowed to participate in politics, but they did have the right to own property. Spartan women were seen as the vehicle by which the city of Sparta constantly advanced. Of course, as compared to the world we live in today, these freedoms hardly seem significant. But considering the context, one in which women were typically seen as second-class citizens, this relatively equal treatment of Spartan women set this city apart from the rest of the Greek world.

The story of Sparta is certainly an exciting one. The task of sorting out what is real about the Spartans from what is myth has been made more difficult because many of the ancient accounts were written by non-Spartans. As such, they need to be taken with the appropriate grain of salt. While the city of Sparta wasn't constructed until the first millennium B.

In , a room palace complex containing ancient records written in a script that archaeologists call "linear B" was discovered just 7. Murals, a cultic cup with a bull's head and bronze swords were also discovered in the palace. The palace burned down in the 14th century B. Presumably there was an older Spartan city located somewhere near the 3,year-old palace but not where the first millennium B. Sparta was later built.

Future excavations may reveal where this older city is. It's not clear how many people continued to live in the area after the palace burned down. Recent research suggests that a drought that lasted for three centuries afflicted Greece around the time the Spartan palace burned down. Archaeologists do know that sometime in the early Iron Age, after B.

Even the name Sparta is from a verb meaning "I sow" or "to sow. Although Sparta made efforts to consolidate its territory in Laconia, we also know that, at this early stage, the people of the city appear to have taken pride in their artistic skills. Sparta was known for its poetry and it pottery, its wares being found in places as far flung as Cyrene in Libya and the island of Samos, not far from the coast of modern-day Turkey.

Researcher Konstantinos Kopanias notes in a journal article that, up until the sixth century B. Surviving ivories from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta depict birds, male and female figures and even a "tree of life" or "sacred tree. Poetry was another key early Spartan achievement.

While much of this poetry survives in fragmentary form and some of it, such as from Tyrtaeus, reflects the development of the martial values that Sparta would become famous for, there is also work that appears to reflect a society concerned with art, rather than just war.

This fragment from the poet Alcman, which he composed for a Spartan festival, stands out. It refers to a choir girl named "Agido. There is such a thing as retribution from the gods. Happy is he who, sound of mind, weaves through the day unwept.

I sing the light of Agido. I see it like the sun, whom Agido summons to appear and witness for us. But the glorious chorus mistress forbids me to either praise or blame her. For she appears to be outstanding as if one placed among a grazing herd a perfect horse, a prize-winner with resounding hooves, one of the dreams that dwell below the rock A key event on Sparta's road to becoming a more militaristic society was its conquest of the land of Messenia, located to the west of Sparta, and its conversion of its subjects to helots slaves.

Kennell points out that this conquest appears to have begun in the eighth century B. The incorporation of the people of Messenia into Sparta's slave population was important as it provided Sparta with "the means to maintain the nearest thing to a standing army in Greece," Kennell writes, "by freeing all its adult male citizens from the need for manual labor.

Keeping this population of slaves in check was a problem the Spartans would have for centuries with some deeply cruel methods employed. The writer Plutarch who lived A. In the day time they scattered into obscure and out-of-the-way places, where they hid themselves and lay quiet; but in the night they came down into the highways and killed every Helot whom they caught. Spartan poetry written in the seventh century B. Tyrtaeus writes:. Here is courage, mankind's finest possession, here is the noblest prize that a young man can endeavor to win, and it is a good thing his city and all the people share with him when a man plants his feet and stands in the foremost spears relentlessly, all thought of foul flight completely forgotten, and has well trained his heart to be steadfast and to endure, and with words encourages the man who is stationed beside him.

Here is a man who proves himself to be valiant in war The presence of large numbers of slaves relieved Spartan men from manual labor and allowed Sparta to build a citizen training system that prepared the city's children for the harshness of war. If they got too hungry, the boys were encouraged to try stealing as a way of improving their stealth but were punished if they got caught. The Spartans trained rigorously and progressed through this training system until the age of 20 when they were allowed to join a communal mess and hence become a full citizen of the community.

Each member of the mess was expected to provide a certain amount of foodstuffs and to keep training rigorously. Those who could not fight due to disability were mocked by the Spartans.

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. Athens was strong at sea, but the Spartans were invincible on land. Pericles knew that facing the enemy there would mean certain defeat. From birth, Spartan boys were prepared both physically and mentally for their later, inevitable combat service.

Most boys lived with their families until age seven, after which time they were delivered to the agoge —part military academy, part boot camp—to be trained as soldiers. Family ties loosened, and young recruits effectively belonged to the state. The first-century Roman historian Plutarch details the regime to which young Spartans were subjected:. When they were 12 years old, they no longer had tunics to wear, received one cloak a year, had hard flesh, and knew little of baths. They slept together When war loomed, the Gerousia, the council of elders, decided when to draw from this silo of young fighters.

Their proposal then had to be approved by the Spartan assembly. Spartan men aged between 20 and 60 would then be called up, starting with the most experienced. Known as a hoplon —from which is derived the name of its bearer, the hoplite—the shield was, together with the spear, the most important weapon of the Spartan warrior. Each shield was circular and convex, weighed more than 15 pounds, and measured three feet in diameter.

Shields were specially made out of layers of wood that had been rounded off and glued together. The exterior was covered with a fine layer of bronze, whose surface, glinting in the sun and replicated across the formation, would present a daunting spectacle to an enemy. The Spartan hoplites organized themselves into a tight-packed phalanx that then relentlessly pushed forward behind this wall of bronze.

There were many reasons for launching a military campaign. For example, Sparta might face an existential threat, prompting its participation in the Battle of Plataea in B.

At other times, Sparta engaged in disputes with its rival Greek city-states, especially Athens and Thebes. Slave rebellions had to be nipped in the bud—the Helots, conquered peoples enslaved by the Spartans, had to be routinely subdued.

When facing a foreign foe, the Spartan king would first offer a sacrifice to Zeus Agetor, in order to know whether the gods approved of the campaign. If it was discerned that they did, the official fire bearer, the pyrphorus, would take up the sacred fire from the altar and carry it with him throughout the march in order to ensure divine protection. As a bonus, it also provided the expedition with a constant source of fire.

The meat of the goats and sheep sacrificed to Zeus was then used as food for the soldiers. During the march, the Skiritai, the mountain-dwelling mercenaries to the north of Sparta, and calvary were placed at the front. They carried light weapons and formed a daunting defensive and scouting force at the front of the convoy.

Next came the hoplites in two long lines, flanking the cargo mules; the Helot slave porters; and the noncombatants—physicians, artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, and tanners, bearing all the objects that the company might need. Each soldier would carry 20 days worth of provisions with him.

This consisted of rye bread, cheese, and salted meat, which in the spirit of Spartan egalitarianism was distributed among soldiers and officers alike.

Most campaigns took place in the late spring, when water was scarce, so drinking water also had to be hauled. Every Spartan soldier carried his own weapons, while a Helot slave took charge of his other belongings.

At night the soldiers had no more than capes to protect them from the cold. They did not sleep in tents but lay on the ground or under simple shelters. After the army arrived at the border of the Spartan region, the king made a new sacrifice, this time dedicated to Zeus and Athena. Upon reaching the battlefield, the Spartans set up camp in the most appropriate place—close to a water source when possible.

The camp itself was laid out in the form of a square, with the animals, supplies, and slaves placed in the middle. The elite Skiritai and cavalry made constant patrols of the high ground to keep watch.

Sometimes the guard was more concerned about the Helot slaves trying to flee the camp than about an attack from the rival army. The Spartan soldiers kept to a strict schedule when on campaign. There would be physical exercise before breakfast, an inspection, a changeover of those on guard duty and then military instruction. They were the only men in the world for whom war brought a respite in the training for war.

In the afternoon the soldiers would compete in athletic exercises in which a polemarch high-ranking military commander acted as judge and gave a prize to the winner, this usually being meat for dinner.

At the end of the day the soldiers would sing hymns and poems by the seventh-century B. Dressed for battle, Spartans and Athenians looked alike. This painted Athenian cup above shows the traits that would have been displayed by all such groups across the Greek-speaking world in the s B. In previous centuries Greek warriors had worn very thick, heavy armor, much of which, by the classical period, had been largely dispensed with.

For those fighting on either side in the Peloponnesian War, the armor would have been made up of: 1 greaves over the legs; 2 a breastplate; and 3 a helmet. By this period, the solid bronze armor plates had been replaced with pieces made from layers of linen stuck together, stiffened by immersion in vinegar and salt, and reinforced with layers of bronze.

As well as for defense, 4 the shield was used to batter and barge.