Sparta

The ancient historian Thucydides wrote, "I suppose if Sparta were to become desolate, and the temples and the foundations of the public buildings were left, that as time went on there would be a strong disposition with posterity to refuse to accept her fame as a true exponent of her power . . . Still, as the city is neither built in a compact form nor adorned with magnificent temples and public edifices . . . there would be an impression of inadequacy. Whereas, if Athens were to suffer the same misfortune, I suppose that any inference from the appearance presented to the eye would make her power to have been twice as great as it is." (1.10.2)

He couldn't have been closer to the truth. There is hardly anything left of ancient Sparta, and what does remain is Roman in date. The Spartans didn't spend much time building monumental architecture or walls around their city. The citizens spent their time preparing for war so that they could maintain control over their enormous helot population. For the most part, all that remains is the stories . . . and that seemed like enough to me.





This is Sparta's Acropolis. It's covered with olive trees and is a quiet place, pretty much devoid of any signs of its ancient inhabitants. There are no city walls or monumental temples. Just dirt, trees, and some stray dogs.










This is the Temple of Bronze-house Athena on the Spartan Acropolis. It's the only structure on the acropolis (that has yet been discovered) that dates from Classical Sparta. As you can see, there's not much left.

The great Messenian hero Aristomenes snuck into Sparta one night and dedicated a Spartan shield he had taken in battle from to Athena - this would be like dedicating an Alex Smith jersey in Cougar Stadium - and the Spartans couldn't remove it without angering Athena. I really like the boldness of this move, although it didn't work out so well for Aristomenes in the end.


This is the altar in the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia. Originally, Spartan boys (probably) had a ritualized cheese-stealing contest, where some boys protected wheels of cheese with whips while others tried to steal it from the altar. Later, the Spartans re-invented this ritual as a whipping ordeal, where Spartan boys on the verge of manhood were whipped on the altar. The one who lasted the longest without crying out or dying won and was awarded the privilege of erecting a sickle or statue monument.




This is a sickle victor's monument from the Endurance contest at Artemis Orthia. If you look carefully, you Hellenists out there, you'll see the first word of the inscription is to "Orthia" (by the way, 'Orthia' means upright or straight - as in 'standing Artemis'). This monument is particularly nice because it still has its metal sickle. Most of the sickles were looted for the metal at some point over the past 1800 years or so.












This is part of a late archaic/early classical sculpture (group?) found at Sparta, sculpted probably around 470 BC. It has been affectionately named the "Leonidas sculpture" but there's no evidence that this represents the Spartan king. We do know that there was a statue of Leonidas somewhere on the Spartan acropolis, but there's no evidence either way.

One of the features about the 'severe' style of sculpture is the so-called 'archaic smile.' It doesn't necessarily mean the person being represented is happy; it's just the convention. So, here's the big, tough, Spartan king smiling for the camera. So silly.








This is a modern statue (based on sculpture above) dedicated to Leonidas which sits outside of Sparta's soccer stadium. Leonidas was the Spartan king/general who fought and died with 300 Spartans at Thermopylae in 480 BC. Vastly outnumbered by the Persian army, the Spartans would not retreat and held off the army for several days before finally being surrounded and wiped out.

The quotation on the pedestal, "molon labe" is Leonidas' reported response to the Persian king when asked to surrender his weapons. Xerxes was impressed with Spartan courage and ability and thought it a shame to kill such brave men. He offered them their lives if they would only give up their weapons. Leonidas' reply - a succinct two words - basically translates to "Come. Take."

We get our word 'laconic' from Spartan style of speaking. ('Laconia' is the region of Greece Sparta is located in.) Believing it best to express one's thoughts in the fewest possible words, the Spartan penchant for reticence was legendary. Indeed, a story circulated that after the Spartan admiral Lysander had defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War, he sent word to the Ephors (council) at Sparta: "Athens is taken." They supposedly wrote back, " 'Taken' is enough."