РефератыИностранный языкSpSparta Essay Research Paper The early expansion

Sparta Essay Research Paper The early expansion

Sparta Essay, Research Paper


The early expansion of Sparta


Sparta is a town located south of the Arcadian


highlands in Greece. One of a number of townships that


arose on the Laconia plain was Sparta, which consisted of


Pitane, Mesoa, Limnae, and Conoura, all small villages.


Sparta then conquered other nearby villages and took over


the plain of Laconia. Sparta , which may mean ?scattered,?


was made up of homes and estates spread around an area


centering on a small hill that came to be named Acropolis.


Sparta was unwalled, unlike other ancient cities, until after


200 B.C.


The Messenian Wars


The continuing expansion led Sparta to Northeast of Mt.


Parnon to defeat the plain of Thyrea, but the Argives


defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Hysiae. Sparta lost


interest in that area for more than 100 years. The expansion


led toward the west into Messenia a plain which was settled


by the Dorians. A nineteen year war began and the


Spartans won. Then Messenia gave Sparta their extensive


land, and when Messenia combined with Laconia, the area


was appropriately called Lacedaemon.


EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPARTA:


page 1


Boys Trained as Fighters


Sparta was run like an army camp, life was very


competitive, and the people lived like savages. This way of


living was extremely different than the lives of the people


that lived in other Greek communities because they feared


that the helots, or their slaves, would revolt as well as other


enemies. Spartans were tough people who raised their


children to be tough as well. The boys had to walk around


barefoot, and in cold weather they were allowed to wear


only one cloak. They were starved and told to steal food,


but if they got caught they were beaten. This was to teach


them to steal more efficiently in the future. The whip was


part of the upbringing in Sparta, and it was used on younger


boys by the older ones during stealing competitions.


Helots were slaves that greatly outnumbered the


Spartans, and the teaching the children to received was


teach the boys to hunt runaway helots. This involves staying


in the countryside undetected for days and stealing food to


survive. Strength and courage are necessary traits for the


boys to possess in battles against enemies from other


states. They learn to fear authority and do what they are


told so that when they are in battle they will not argue


commands. In other Greek cities, the elderly were not given


as much power and respect as in Sparta.


page 2


Spartan girls also trained in athletics. They were


involved in running, jumping, wrestling, and throwing the


discus and the javelin. This was so that they could raise


strong healthy children.


Why Spartans despised Family Life


Boys do not always g

o home to their families at night,


and young married couples were not allowed to be seen


with one another in public. Wife and husband were not


meant to become close. Men of all ages ate in military


messes and woman were not around. That was because the


differences created from being raised in separate families


can make people dislike one another. Families tend to be


loyal to themselves, and this can lead to fighting with other


families. If that happened, Sparta would become


vulnerable to the helots and their other enemies.


Encouraging Bravery by Scorning Weakness


Spartans were banned from heavy drinking because


this would allow the helots a chance to revolt. All other


Greek cities had relaxed and happy times because they did


not have the Spartan?s worries, and they had religious


festivals with mass drunkenness.


page 3


Humiliation was a common practice to teach younger


citizens. A man who failed to go into battle and fight bravely


was made to shave only one side of his face and grow a


beard on the other so he could be laughed at and scorned.


The Peloponnesian War


Athens wanted to create one state of all the city-states


and make Athens the capital of all of Greece. Their navy


started to attack cities to force them to join Athenian


empire. Sparta refused to join the Delian League, and


Sparta, with the help of other supporters, formed the


Peloponnesian League. The Peloponnesian War lasted for


twenty-seven years. Finally, a Spartan general, Lysander,


defeated the Athenian fleet by a surprise attack in the


harbor at Aegospotami on the Hellespont. Lysander then


sailed to Piraeus, a place where strong city walls linked the


city with the harbor, and his ships stopped food from getting


to Athens. The starvation caused by this action forced


Athens to surrender in 404 B.C. When the war was over, the


city-states were happy to be free of the harsh rule of the


Athenian empire, until they realized that they were in a far


worse situation then before. Spartan were harsh rulers who


were not believers in democracy. The city-states rebelled


and the powerful Spartans were defeated for the very first


time by a smaller army in the year 371 B.C.


page 4


The Three Classes of the Spartan State


The three classes were the Spartiatai, or true Spartans,


the perioikoi, made up of the inhabitants of federated towns


that surrounded the city of Sparta, and the Helots. Only the


Spartiatai had voting privileges and a say in the


government. The perioikoi carried on the necessary trade


and industry of the country. They were not involved in the


government , but did have certain rights. The Helots carried


on all the daily work and Sparta was able to concentrate on


military training.


BY: Krystal


page 5

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