Spartan army

Athens' parallel rise as a significant power in Greece led to friction between herself with Sparta and two large-scale conflicts (the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars), which devastated Greece. Sparta suffered several defeats during these wars, including, for the first time, the surrender of an entire Spartan unit at Sphacteria in 425 BC. Still, it ultimately emerged victorious, primarily through the aid it received from the Persians. Under its admiral Lysander, the Persian-funded Peloponnesian fleet captured the Athenian alliance cities, and a decisive naval victory at Aegospotami forced Athens to capitulate.^[8] The Athenian defeat established Sparta and its military forces in a dominant position in Greece.

Spartan ascendancy did not last long. By the end of the 5th century BC, Sparta had suffered severe casualties in the Peloponnesian Wars, and its conservative and narrow mentality alienated many of its former allies. At the same time, its military class – the Spartiate caste – was in decline for several reasons:

• Firstly, the population declined due to Sparta's frequent wars in the late 5th century. Since Spartiates were required to marry late, birth rates also remained low, making it difficult to replace their losses from battles.
• Secondly, one could be demoted from the Spartiate status for several reasons, such as cowardice in battle or the inability to pay for membership in the syssitia. Failure to pay became such an increasingly severe problem because commercial activities had started to develop in Sparta. However, commerce had become uncontrollable, leading to the complete ban of commerce in Sparta, resulting in fewer ways of earning income. Consequently, some Spartiates had to sell the land from which they made their livelihood. As the constitution made no provisions for promotion to the Spartiate caste, numbers gradually dwindled.

As Sparta's military power waned,

• Full citizens, known as the
  Spartiates
  proper, or Hómoioi ("equals" or peers), who received a grant of land (kláros or klēros, "lot") for their military service.
• Perioeci (the "dwellers nearby"), who were free non-citizens. They were generally merchants, craftsmen and sailors, and served as light infantry and auxiliary on campaigns.^[9]
• The third and most numerous class was the Helots, state-owned serfs enslaved to farm the Spartiate klēros. By the 5th century BC, the helots, too, were used as light troops in skirmishes.^[1]

The Spartiates were the Spartan army's core: they participated in the Assembly (

The principal source on the Spartan Army's organization is Xenophon, an admirer of the Spartans himself. His Constitution of Sparta offers a detailed overview of the Spartan state and society at the beginning of the 4th century BC. Other authors, notably Thucydides, also provide information, but they are not always as reliable as Xenophon's first-hand accounts.^[14]

Little is known of the earlier organization, and much is left open to speculation. The earliest form of social and military organization (during the 7th century BC) seems to have been set in accordance with the three tribes (phylai: the Pamphyloi, Hylleis and Dymanes), who appeared in the Second Messenian War (685–668 BC). A further subdivision was the "fraternity" (phratra), of which 27, or nine per tribe, are recorded.^[15] Eventually, this system was replaced by five territorial divisions, the obai ("villages"), which supplied a lochos of about 1,000 men each.^[16] This system was still used during the Persian Wars, as Herodotus had made references to the "lochoi" in his Histories.^[17]

The changes that occurred between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars were not documented. Still, according to Thucydides, at Mantinea in 418 BC, there were seven lochoi present, each subdivided into four pentekostyes of 128 men, which were further subdivided into four enōmotiai of 32 men, giving a total of 3,584 men for the main Spartan army.^[18] By the end of the Peloponnesian War, the structure of the army had evolved further, to address the shortages in manpower and create a more flexible system which allowed the Spartans to send smaller detachments on campaigns or garrisons outside their homeland.^[19] According to Xenophon, the basic Spartan unit remained the enōmotia, with 36 men in three files of twelve under an enōmotarches.^[20] Two enōmotiai formed a pentēkostys of 72 men under a pentēkontēr, and two pentēkostyai were grouped into a lochos of 144 men under a lochagos. Four lochoi formed a mora of 576 men under a polemarchos, the Spartan army's largest single tactical unit.^[21] Six morai composed the Spartan army on campaign, to which were added the Skiritai and the contingents of allied states.

The two

At first, in the archaic period of 700–600 BC, education for both sexes was, as in most

Adulthood was reached at the age of 18, and the young adult (eiren) initially served as a trainer for the boys. At the same time, the most promising youths were included in the

Krypteia. If they survived the two years in the countryside they would become full blown soldiers. At 20, Spartans became eligible for military service and joined one of the messes (syssitia), which included 15 men of various ages.^[26] Those who were rejected retained a lesser form of citizenship, as only the soldiers were ranked among the homoioi. However, even after that, and even during marriage and until about the age of 30, they would spend most of their day in the barracks with their unit. Military duty lasted until the 60th year, but there are recorded cases of older people participating in campaigns in times of crisis.^[15]

Throughout their adult lives, the Spartiates continued to be subject to a training regime so strict that, as Plutarch says, "... they were the only men in the world with whom war brought a respite in the training for war."[27] Bravery was the ultimate virtue for the Spartans: Spartan mothers would give their sons the shield with the words "[Return] With it or [carried] on it!" (Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς),^[28] that is to say, either victorious or dead, since in battle, the heavy hoplite shield would be the first thing a fleeing soldier would be tempted to abandon –- rhipsaspia, "dropping the shield", was a synonym for desertion in the field.^[29]

The army on campaign

Tactics

Further information: Phalanx

phalanx

advancing in close ranks.

Like the other Greek city-states' armies, the Spartan army was an infantry-based army that fought using the

phalanx formation. The Spartans themselves did not introduce any significant changes or tactical innovations in hoplite warfare, but their constant drill and superb discipline made their phalanx much more cohesive and effective. The Spartans employed the phalanx in the classical style in a single line, uniformly deep in files of 8 to 12 men. When fighting alongside their allies, the Spartans would normally occupy the honorary right flank. If, as usually happened, the Spartans achieved victory on their side, they would then wheel left and roll up the enemy formation.^[30]

During

Thebans, under Epaminondas, increased the depth of a part of their formation at the Battle of Leuctra

that caused the Spartan phalanx formation to break.

On the march

According to Xenophon, the ephors would first mobilize the army. After a series of religious ceremonies and sacrifices, the army assembled and set out.^[32][33] The army proceeding was led by the king, with the skiritai and cavalry detachments acting as an advance guard and scouting parties.^[34] The necessary provisions (barley, cheese, onions and salted meat) were carried along with the army, and a helot manservant accompanied each Spartan.^[35] Each mora marched and camped separately, with its baggage train.^[36] The army gave sacrifice every morning as well as before battle by the king and the officers; if the omens were not favourable, a pious leader might refuse to march or engage with the enemy.^[37]

Clothing, arms, and armor

The Spartans used the same typical hoplite equipment as their other Greek neighbors; the only distinctive Spartan features were the crimson tunic (chitōn) and cloak (himation),^[38] as well as long hair, which the Spartans retained to a far later date than most Greeks. To the Spartans, long hair kept its older Archaic meaning as the symbol of a free man; to the other Greeks, by the 5th century, the hairstyle's peculiar association with the Spartans had come to signify pro-Spartan sympathies.^[39]

Classical period

The letter

Lacedaemon, which was painted on the Spartans' shields, was first adopted in 420s BC and quickly became a widely known Spartan symbol.^{[40][dubious – discuss]} Military families passed on their shields to each generation as family heirlooms. The Spartan shields' technical evolution and design evolved from bashing and shield wall tactics. They were of such great importance in the Spartan army that while losing a sword and a spear was an exception, to lose a shield was a sign of disgrace. Not only did a shield protect the user, but it also protected the whole phalanx formation. To come home without the shield was the mark of a deserter; rhipsaspia, or "dropping the shield," was a synonym for desertion in the field. Mothers bidding farewell to their sons would encourage them to come back with their shields, often saying goodbyes such as "Son, either with this or on this" (Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς). This saying implied that they should return only in victory, a controlled retreat, or dead, with their body carried upon their shield.^[41][42]

Spartan hoplites were often depicted bearing a transverse horsehair crest on their helmet, which was possibly used to identify officers.[43] During the Archaic period, Spartans were armored with flanged bronze cuirasses, leg greaves, and a helmet, often of the Corinthian type. It is often disputed which torso armor the Spartans wore during the Persian Wars. However, it seems likely they either continued to wear bronze cuirasses of a more sculptured type or instead had adopted the linothōrax. During the later 5th century BC, when warfare had become more flexible, and full-scale phalanx confrontations became rarer, the Greeks abandoned most forms of body armor. The Lacedaemonians also adopted a new tunic, the exōmis, which could be arranged to leave the right arm and shoulder uncovered and free for action in combats.^[44]

The Spartan's main weapon was the dory spear. For long-range attacks, they carried a javelin. The Spartiates were also always armed with a xiphos as a secondary weapon. Among most Greek warriors, this weapon had an iron blade of about 60 centimeters; however, the Spartan version was typically only 30–45 centimetres in length. The Spartans' shorter weapon proved deadly in the crush caused by colliding phalanxes formations – it was capable of being thrust through gaps in the enemy's shield wall and armor, where there was no room for the longer weapons. The groin and throat were among the favorite targets. According to Plutarch when a Spartan was asked why his sword was so short he replied, "So that we may get close to the enemy."^[45] In another, a Spartan complained to his mother that the sword was short, to which she simply told him to step closer to the enemy. As an alternative to the xiphos, some Spartans selected the kopis as their secondary weapon. Unlike the xiphos, which was a thrusting weapon, the kopis was a hacking weapon in the form of a thick, curved iron sword. The Spartans retained the traditional hoplite phalanx until the reforms of Cleomenes III when they were re-equipped with the Macedonian sarissa and trained in the phalanx style.

Hellenistic period

During the

peltasts became a much more common sight on the Greek battlefield, and themselves became more heavily armed. In response to Iphicrates' victory over Sparta in 392 BC, Spartan hoplites started abandoning body armour. Eventually, they wore almost no armour apart from a shield, leg greaves, bracelets, helmet and a robe. Spartans did start to readopt armour in later periods, but on a much lesser scale than during the Archaic period. Finally, during 227 BC, Cleomenes' reforms introduced updated equipment to Sparta, including the Macedonian sarissa

(pike). However, pike-men armed with the sarissa never outnumbered troops equipped in the hoplite style. It was also at that time Sparta adopted its own cavalry and archers.

Education and the Spartan code

Further information: Laconic phrase

U.S. House of Representatives

Spartan education

The Spartan public education system, the

public education for girls and boys, and consequently, the literacy rate was higher in Sparta than in other Greek city-states.^[47] In education, the Spartans gave sports the most emphasis.^[47]

Self-discipline, not

kadavergehorsam (mindless obedience), was the goal of Spartan education. Sparta placed the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity at the center of their ethical system. These values applied to every full Spartan citizen, immigrant, merchant, and even to the helots, but not the dishonored. Helots are unique in the history of slavery in that, unlike traditional slaves, they were allowed to keep and gain wealth. For example, they could keep half of their agricultural produce and presumably could also accumulate wealth by selling them. There are known to have been occasions that a helot with enough money could purchase their freedom from the state.^[48]

Spartan code of honor

The Spartan

Aristodemus.^[49] Spartans regarded those who fight, while still wishing to live, as more valorous than those who don't care if they die.^[49] They believed that a warrior must not fight with raging anger but with calm determination.^[50] Spartans must walk without any noise and speak only with few words by the laconic way of life.^[47] Other ways for Spartans to be dishonored include dropping the shield (rhipsaspia), failing to complete the training, and deserting in battles. Dishonored Spartans were labelled as outcasts and would be forced to wear different clothing for public humiliation.^[47] In battles, the Spartans told stories of valor to inspire the troops and, before a major confrontation, they sang soft songs to calm the nerves.^[51]

Spartan navy

Throughout their history, the Spartans were a land-based force par excellence. During the Persian Wars, they contributed a small navy of 20 triremes and provided the overall fleet commander. Nevertheless, they largely relied on their allies, primarily the Corinthians, for naval power. This fact meant that, when the Peloponnesian War broke out, the Spartans were supreme on land, but the Athenians excelled at sea. The Spartans repeatedly ravaged Attica, but the Athenians who were kept supplied by sea, were able to stage raids of their own around the Peloponnese with their navy. Eventually, it was the creation of a navy that enabled Sparta to overcome Athens. With Persian gold, Lysander, appointed navarch in 407 BC, was able to master a strong navy and successfully challenged and destroyed Athenian predominance in the Aegean Sea.^[8] However, the Spartan engagement with the sea would be short-lived, and did not survive the turmoils of the Corinthian War. In the Battle of Cnidus of 394 BC, the Spartan navy was decisively defeated by a joint Athenian-Persian fleet, marking the end of Sparta's brief naval supremacy. The final blow would be given 20 years later, at the Battle of Naxos in 376 BC. The Spartans periodically maintained a small fleet after that, but its effectiveness was limited. The last revival of the Spartan naval power was under Nabis, who created a fleet to control the Laconian coastline with aid from his Cretan allies.

The fleet was commanded by navarchs, who were appointed for a strictly one-year term, and apparently could not be reappointed. The admirals were subordinated to the vice-admiral, called epistoleus. This position was seemingly independent of the one-year term clause because it was used in 405 BC to give Lysander command of the fleet after he was already an admiral for a couple years. ^{[citation needed]}

Wars and battles

Messenian Wars

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
743 BC – 724 BC	First Messenian War	Sparta	Messenia	Spartan Victory
685 BC – 668 BC	Second Messenian War	Sparta	Messenia	Spartan Victory

Wars with Argos

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
669 BC – 668 BC	First Battle of Hysiae	Sparta	Argos	Spartan Defeat
494 BC	Battle of Sepeia	Sparta	Argos	Spartan Victory

Persian Wars

• Thermopylae
• Artemisium
• Salamis
• Plataea
• Mycale
• Marathon

Peloponnesian War

• Sybota
• Potidaea
• Chalcis
• Rhium
• Naupactus
• Mytilene
• Tanagra
• Olpae
• Pylos
• Sphacteria
• Amphipolis
• First Mantinea
• Sicilian Expedition
• Syme
• Cynossema
• Abydos
• Cyzicus
• Notium
• Arginusae
• Aegospotami

The Corinthian War

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
395 BC	Battle of Haliartus	Sparta	Thebes	Spartan Defeat
394 BC	Battle of Nemea	Sparta	Argos Athens Corinth Thebes	Spartan Victory
394 BC	Battle of Cnidus	Sparta	Athens Achaemenid Empire	Spartan Defeat
394 BC	Battle of Coronea	Sparta Orchomenus	Argos Thebes	Spartan Victory
390 BC	Battle of Lechaeum	Sparta	Athens	Spartan Defeat

The Boeotian War

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
376 BC	Battle of Naxos	Sparta	Athens	Spartan Defeat
July 6, 371 BC	Battle of Leuctra	Sparta	Boeotian League (Thebes)	Spartan Defeat
July 4, 362 BC	Second Battle of Mantinea	Sparta Mantineia League	Arcadia Boeotian League Thebes	Spartan Defeat

Chremonidean War

The Cleomenean War

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
227 BC	Battle of Mount Lycaeum	Sparta	Achaean League	Spartan Victory
227 BC	Battle of Ladoceia	Sparta	Achaean League	Spartan Victory
226 BC	Battle of Dyme	Sparta	Achaean League	Spartan Victory
222 BC	Battle of Sellasia	Sparta	Macedon	Spartan Defeat

War against Nabis

Dates	Battle	Allies	Opponents	Outcome
195 BC	Battle of Gythium	Sparta	Macedon Pergamon Rhodes Rome	Spartan Defeat

In popular culture

Atlanta

in 2022

Main article:

Sparta in popular culture

See also

• List of Spartan kings
• Scytale
• Cryptia
• Clearchus of Sparta
• Xanthippus of Carthage
• Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Connolly (2006), p. 38
2. ^ Plutarch, The Life of Lycurgus (written 75, trans. John Dryden 9999), The Internet Classics Archive
3. ^ Hodkinson, Stephen (1996). "Agoge". In Hornblower, Simon (ed.). Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. ^ Compare: Oxford Dictionary: "Showing or characterized by austerity or a lack of comfort or luxury".
5. ^ Warry (2004), pp. 14–15.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Sekunda (1998), p. 4.
7. ^ Sekunda (1998), pp. 6–7
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Sekunda (1998), p. 7.
9. ^ ^{a b} Connolly (2006), p. 11.
10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-307-27948-4
    .
11. ^ ^{a b c} Connolly (2006), p. 39
12. ISBN 0-465-02496-3
    .
13. ^ Sekunda (1998), pp. 16–17
14. ^ Connolly (2006), pp. 38–39
15. ^ ^{a b} Sekunda (1998), p. 13.
16. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 14
17. ^ ^{a b} Connolly (2006), p. 41.
18. ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.68.2
19. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 15.
20. ^ Until the late 5th century, however, each file seems to have had a depth of only 8 men. Connolly (2006), p. 40
21. ^ ^{a b} Connolly (2006), p. 40.
22. ^ Herodotus, 7.228.1
23. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica 15th Edition
24. ^ Plutarch, The Life of Lycurgus, 18.1
25. ^ Sekunda (1998), pp. 10–11
26. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 12
27. ^ Plutarch, The Life of Lycurgus, 22.2
28. ^ Plutarch, Moralia, Sayings of Spartan Women 241.F
29. ISBN 978-0-674-00826-7
    .
30. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 19.
31. ^ "Spartan armor". Marvel Comics. July 16, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
32. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 17.
33. ^ Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaimonians, 11–13, trans. E. C. Marchant and G. W. Bowersock, Loeb Classical Library 183 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925).
34. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 18
35. ^ Connolly (2006), p. 44.
36. ^ Connolly (2006), pp. 46–47.
37. ^ Connolly (2006), p. 47.
38. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 20
39. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 24.
40. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 27; disputed by Campbell (2012)
41. ^ Spartan Quotes^[usurped]
42. ^ History of the Spartan Shield (ERRONEOUS LINK?)
43. ^ Sekunda (1986), pp.3 & 6.
44. ^ Sekunda (1998), p. 21.
45. ^ "Plutarch • Sayings of Spartans — Anonymous". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
46. ^ Plato, Protagoras, 343b:366.
47. ^ ^{a b c d e} Soriano (2005), p. 85.
48. ^ Cleomenes III in 223/2 BC allowed Helots to become free by paying 500 drachmas; 6000 helots paid.
49. ^ ^{a b} Schmitz vol 1. p304
50. ^ Soriano (2005), pp. 87–89
51. ^ Soriano (2005), pp. 90–91.

Sources

• ISBN 978-1-84908-700-1
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• ISBN 978-1-85367-303-0
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• Lazenby, John (1985). The Spartan Army. Aris & Phillips Ltd.
  ISBN 0-86516-115-1
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• ISBN 0-85045-686-X
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• ISBN 1-85532-659-0
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• Soriano, Celia (2005). Kayamanan III: History of the World (2005 Ed). Rex Bookstore, Inc.
  ISBN 971-23-4042-2
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• Warry, John (2004). Warfare in the Classical World. University of Oklahoma Press.
  ISBN 0-8061-2794-5
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