full history of sparta

8/11/2019 Full History of Sparta

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History of Sparta

Of the early history of Sparta we rely on very few legends. It is said to havebeen founded by Lacedaemon, the son of Zeus and Taygete, who marriedSparta, the daughter of urotas.

!rom Homer we also "now that the #"oili Lacedaemon# $hollow Lacedaemon%,the territory between the mount Taygetos and &enelaos and Helen, '() *+,attic red gure amphora-arnon, had as "ing &enelaos, the younger brother of gamemnon and husband of Helen, which was abducted by -aris to Troy andthus starting the long and painful famous war.

round /()) *+, by the marriage of the daughter of &enelaos rmione withthe son of gamemnon Orestes, the "ingdoms of rgos and Sparta wereunited. The ndings from e0cavations testify that at this time, unli"e the laterSparta, a rich culture had developed here.

round //)) *+, the 1orians came and con2uered the territory $ rchaeologyfavors a date for 1orian settling around 3') *+%.

Tradition has it, that the Heraclidae brothers, descendants of the heroHercules, 4resphontes, Temenos and ristodemos tried to con2uer-eloponnese. ristodemos was hit by lighting and died at 5aupactos, leavingbehind his twin sons yresthenes and -ro"les. His brothers crossed the gulfand landed at chaia. There was a battle with the forces of the monarch of-eloponnese, Tisamenes, and they were victorious. 6hen the 1orian phalan0came in the territory of La"onia and &essene, it was guided by 4resphontes,who inhabited the rich plain of -amesos. There was a constant 2uarrelbetween the 1orian chiefs, 4resphontes and Theras, to share the territory.

Theras, the brother of ristodemos wife, who was guardian to her twinchildren after the death of her husband, wanted to ta"e the rich &essene, but4resphontes and his brother Temenos, who was ruling rgos, played a tric" onhim. They arranged to throw in the water two small tiles, with the names of4resphontes and Theras written on them and the one which would surface inthe water, would win &essene, the other the less rich Laconia.

4resphontes tile was ba"ed in the re, while Theras was left in the sun andwhen both were thrown into the water, Theras tile went to the bottom and4resphontes tile 7oated and thus he too" &essene.

1uring Sparta8s history, the habitation center in the urotas valley hadchanged many times, but the 1orian city which was comprised from vevillages, occupied the territory of today8s city of Sparta. 6e "now only thenames of the four, -itane, Limnai, &esoa, 4inosoura. The fth was probably


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the conglomeration of the villages, which Spartans con2uered later, -ilane,Selacia, igitida, -hari, mi"les.

Sparta in the 9th and :th century *+ was open to foreigners. She had goodrelations with Samos, which helped her in the war with &essenia, and also

with +yprus, ;hodes, +yrene, etc. She was a highly cultured city, with herown architects, who build the famous temple, the bra


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and showed them that the untrained dog was completely useless.

*ut if Ly"urgos succeeded to persuade the poor people, he did little for therich, who tried everything to oppose him. One of them, a youth namedl"ander, in the gora tried to hit him with his stu? and when Ly"urgos

turned his head, he was hit in the eye and lost it. Ly"urgos did not prosecutehim, but too" him as his servant, giving him the opportunity to discover hischaracter. Indeed l"ander became later a devoted disciple.

6hen his laws were accepted, he made Spartans swear that they would notbe changed until he returns and left again.

He never came bac", ma"ing sure that his laws would not change. He died at1elphi and according to some in +rete and it is said that before his death, heas"ed his body to be burned and the remains to be scattered in the wind.Ly"urgos thus did not permit even his dead body to return.

The +onstitution

The hard fought &essenian wars would not have been won, without thelegislation of Ly"urgos, which most of all targeted the discipline and inuring tohardships of the citi


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application of the laws%, but at the same time they had the seeds ofaggressiveness. In a period of few years after they came in use, Spartacon2uered almost all of Laconia. The important city of my"lai, after a longdesperate siege was captured around :') *+, but its people were treatedwell.

!irst &essenian 6ar

:>B D :(> *+

The causes of the &essenian wars were two incidents, as -ausanias tells us,although there is no doubt that the real reason was the rich and fertile plainsof &essenia, that Spartans wanted to con2uer.

The rst incident occurred in the borders of Laconia and &essene, wherethere was a temple of rtemis Limnatis, in which both Spartans and&essenians were celebrating. In the midst of the dance of Spartan virgins,&essenians rushed and too" the women. 4ing Tele"los of Sparta, who tried tohinder them, was "illed. It was said later that all the Spartan womencommitted suicide.

*ut according to the &essenian version, "ing Tele"los had dressed up youngmen as virgins, with concealed daggers. 6hen their plot was discovered,&essenians after a ght "illed Tele"los. nyway the war did not start

immediately after this event.

The second incident happened with the Spartan uphaenos and the&essenian -olychares, a distinguished citi *+. uphaenos, who had been trusted with the care of-olychares cows, sold them and later "illed his son who came to in2uire.-olychares, who was unable to nd Custice in Sparta, started to "ill everyLacedaemonian who passed the borders.

fter these incidents, Spartans demanded from &essenians to deliver-olychares, but in vain and so the war started.

l"amenes, the son of the "ing Tele"los of Sparta, in a dar" night surprisedthe &essenians and entered the city of mpheia, "illing everybody. !rommpheia, the Spartans were ma"ing constants raids, but they did notsucceed to con2uer any other cities.

The "ing of &essenia, uphaes, fought them with vigor, but for four years noprogress had been made, by either side. 1uring the fth year, a big battle


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too" place, which ended indecisive, but after this the &essenians retired tothe forti ed mountain of Ithome. In the meantime an epidemic fell in&essene, "illing many people and &essenians in their distress sent a citi


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thena. Spartans after this event went to the oracle of 1elphi, which gavethem the answer #to ta"e an thenian adviser#.

Spartans as"ed from the thenians a general and they sent them Tyrtaeos,who was poet and lame from the one leg. Tyrtaeos with his poems

encouraged Spartans and helped them to win the war.1uring the war the leader of &essenians, ristomenes, was made a greathero and many stories tal" about him.

ccording to the legend three times ristomenes sacri ced to Zeus Ithomatis,the soDcalled Hecatophonia, reserved only to the warrior who had "illed withhis own hands one hundred enemies. Three times he was captured by theSpartans but he managed to escape. His last capture occurred in a battlebetween him and many Spartans, in which he was wounded all over his body,but he was still ghting, until a stone found him on the head and fell. He wascaptured along with fty others and for punishment were thrown into thedeep pit 4aeadas, of the mount Taygetos. ll the others were "illed, butristomenes fell upon the wings of an eagle and survived. 6hen he reali


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who did not leave, became Helots and thus ended the second &essenian war.

rgos

The war of si0 hundred

round :() *+ the Spartan army under the "ing 5i"adros with the help oftownship sine, ravaged rgolis. rgives did not forget this and not muchlater too" revenge destroying totally sine.

In their turn the Spartans anne0ed 4ynouria, which formed part of thedominion of rgos.

In '>: *+, the rgives attempted to recover the territory, but instead of a fullcombat they agreed with the Lacedaemonians, to decide the outcome of thewar and the anne0ation of 4ynouria, with three hundred men each. Thecon7ict of the si0 hundred chosen soldiers was so erce, that only tworgives survived and one wounded Spartan. The two rgive hoplites,lcenor and +hromios, left to give the news of their victory, but the SpartanOthryades managed to spoil the dead bodies of the enemy and then "illedhimself, being ashamed to return to Sparta. *oth sides claimed the victoryand a full battle too" place not much later, in which the rgives weredefeated.

6ars with Tegea

Spartans attempted various e0peditions against rcadia and after a longstruggle managed to occupy the southern part of her. *ut they were totallyunsuccessful in the wars, with the city of Tegea. They were losing battle afterbattle and in the reign of the Spartan "ings Leon and gesi"les $'9) *+%, theycarried pompously chains in order to enslave the Tegeans. They met thoughwith disaster, losing totally the battle and their soldiers were putted in thevery chains, they had brought.

Spartans in their distress as"ed the help of the 1elphi oracle, which advisedthem to obtain the bones of Orestes $son of gamemnon%. The oracle evendirected them to nd the remains of the hero at Tegea and Spartans with as"illful stratagem succeeded to carry the holy remains home. 6hen thathappened the tide of the war turned. The proud Tegeans lost every battle andnally ac"nowledged the supremacy of Sparta, but they were never reduced


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to subCection and continued to be masters of their city, becoming onlydependant allies.

4leomenes I

4leomenes came to the throne of Sparta around '() *+. In a rivalry between4leisthenes of thens and Isagoras, he was called by Isagoras to help. Indeed4leomenes forced 4leisthenes and his family to leave the country, but whenhe e0pelled ve hundred more families and tried to revive the constitution,the thenians revolted and besieged 4leomenes in the cropolis, whoimmediately surrendered and left from ttica. He then assembled an armyfrom Sparta and with allies marched toward thens, without telling them thathe wanted to install Isagoras as tyrant in thens. *ut when the army came tottica, the +orinthians learned the purpose of the e0pedition and abandonedthe enterprise. The second "ing of Sparta, "ing 1emaratos, who had Coinedthe e0pedition refused also to go further and returned home and thus thee0pedition collapsed.

This gave the opportunity to thens to attac" the Thebans and +hal"idaeans,who were ravaging ttica and defeated them both.

In Sparta, after the "ings 2uarrel, a new law was passed that in the futureonly one "ing would command an e0pedition. They also summoned theLeague and proposed to restore Hippias in thens, who had been a friend ofSparta and had come from sia for the meeting. gain +orinthians and otherallies reCected the plan.

round ')' *+, a war between Sparta and rgos too" place, but the reasonsare un"nown.

In >33 *+, the Ionian leader ristagoras came to Sparta to as" help in theirrevolt against -ersia. 4leomenes refused and ordered him out of the city.

4leomenes advanced into rgolis, but he failed to ta"e rgos. He then as"edships from Si"yon and igina which unwillingly gave them and landed near

Tyrinth. There he found, at a place called Sepea, which was between rgosand the sea, the rgive army. *y gross carelessness of the rgives, hesurprised them and defeated them. The rgives then tried to nd refuge inthe sacred grove of the Hero rgos. 4leomenes surrounded them and in aunthin"able for the Aree" customs action, he set re to the grove. Si0thousand rgives lost their lives at that day, almost two thirds of the wholearmy $>3> *+%.


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Leonidas, "ing of SpartaOn the arrival of Eer0es at Thermopylae, he foundthat the place was defended by a body of three hundred Spartans and aboutseven thousand hoplites from other states, commanded by the Spartan "ingLeonidas.

Eer0es learning about the small number of Aree" forces and that severalSpartans outside the walls were e0ercising and combing their hairs, in hisperple0ity, immediately called 1emaratos to e0plain him the meaning of allthese. 1emaratos told him that the Spartans will defend the place to thedeath and it was custom to wash and dress their hairs with special care whenthey intended to put their lives in great danger. Eer0es who did not believe1emaratos, delayed his attac" for four days, thin"ing that the Aree"s as soonas they would reali


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There was no cavalry and the bow men were very few.

6hen &ardonios learned the approach of Lacedaemonians, he left ttica andby way of 1e"eleia crossed the mount -arnes and entered *oeotia. &archingtwo days along the sopos river, he encamped near the town of -lataea.

Aree" 6arrior The Aree"s after consulting the Aods with sacri ces at leusismarched over the ridge of 4ithairon mountain and descending from thenorthern side they saw the encamped -ersian army in the valley of sopos.4ing -ausanias who was waiting good omens from sacri ces held his troopsfrom the attac"s of the -ersian cavalry, near rythrae, where the ground isragged and uneven, but even this did not prevent the commander &asistiosto attac" the Aree"s. 6hen the &egarians were in great danger su?eringmany losses, three hundred thenian hoplites succeeded in repulsing the-ersians, "illing the tall and brave &asistios. His body was paraded intriumph, in a cart. This event encouraged -ausanias, who positioned the army

on the plain, in a line at the right ban" of sopos.

6hen &ardonios learned the change in the position of the Aree"s he orderedhis army to be placed opposite to them on the other side of sopos. Himselftoo" the post in the left wing, facing the Lacedaemonians. The rest of hisarmy consisting from &edi


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imnestos. 6hen &ardonios fell the -ersian army 7ed to their forti ed camp.*ut this did not save them, the Aree"s managed to enter and a greatmassacre too" place. Only three thousand -ersians who escaped, from thethree hundred thousand, survived. The Aree"s lost only one thousand andthree hundred men.

In >=> *+, during the night, a powerful earth2ua"e shoo" Sparta and the restof Lacedaemon. The earth opened and the summits of mount Taygetos weretorn. ll the houses of Sparta fell down e0cept ve. This catastrophecontinued for ve days. t least twenty thousand Lacedaemonians lost theirlives.

The -eloponnesian war I

>B/ D >(/ *+

The unavoidable clash between Sparta and thens came with an incident atthe friendly to thens city of -lataea. rchidamos invaded ttica in the springof >B/ *+ without opposition, since thens had ta"en the decision not toengage to a land battle with Sparta and thus started the -eloponnesian war,that lasted for (9 years. The rst ten years of the war $>B/ D >(/ *+% werenamed # rchidamios war# from the name of the able "ing of Sparta

rchidamos.

On the side of Lacedaemonians were all the -eloponnesian states with thee0ception of rgos and chaea which entered the war Coining Sparta later.

They were also the *oeotians, &egarians, Lo"rians, -ho"aeans, Leu"adians,mbra"iotes and na"torians. The coast states supplied ships, the *oeotians,Locrians and -ho"ians with cavarly.

On the side of thens were the -lataeans, +hians, Lesbians, &essenians,+or"yraeans, Za"ynthians, "arnanians as well as the towns of the coast ofsia and Thrace and all the isles of egean, e0cept &elos and Thera. The

thenian troops were (3,))) hoplites, /()) horsemen and /=)) archers andher navy was B)) triremes without counting those of her allies. The +hians,+or"yraeans and Lesbians supplied shipping.

rchidamos forces which entered ttica consisted from about =),))) to/)),))) men and at the beginning he tried unsuccessful attac"s upon thefortress of Oenoe, on mount 4ithairon, failing to ta"e it. He then marchedtowards leusis, where he arrived at the middle of @une >B/ *+. fter


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ravaging the Thracian plain he encamped at charnae, seven miles fromthens. In the meantime the thenians had collected the population withinthe walls and had sent all the animals to uboea. rchidamos evacuatedttica at the end of @uly and his army was dismantled immediately. pon hisdeparture the thenians at the end of September, attac"ed &egara which

they ravaged totally.

t the spring of >B) *+, rchidamos again invaded ttica, but in themeantime the plague had bro"en out in thens. The Lacedaemonians withgreater force ravaged all the neighborhood of thens marching as far as themines of Laurium. In their turn thenians, with /)) triremes under thecommand of 4nemos devastated the island of Za"ynthos.

t the third year of the war $>(3 *+% rchidamos marched towards the city of-lataea and demanded to hand him over the city and their land properties,promising that after the war everything would be restored to them. The

maCority of -lataeans were in favor of the proposal, but thenians e0hortedthem to hold out promising them assistance. fter their refusal, rchidamossurrounded the small city of -lataea and the famous siege started. !or threemonths Spartans tried everything to con2uer the city but without success.

They then decided to bloc"ade and starve the population. The double walls of -lataea build by the Spartans!or this they surrounded -lataea with a doublewall, but even this measure had no success. fter two years, when theprovisions of -lataea started to run short, (/( men escaped in a stormy1ecember night. The rest of the population surrendered in >(: *+. They wereput in trial before ve Spartan Cudges and e0ecuted. The town of -lataea wastransferred to Thebes, who after a few months destroyed all the privatehouses to the ground.

In the fourth and fth year of the war Spartans again invaded ttica. In thesi0th year of the war $>(= *+% the Spartans did not invade ttica. series ofsevere earth2ua"es and 7oods occurred in various parts of Areece. t thensthe pla2ue reappeared.

1uring the seventh year of the war the Lacedaemonian army under thecommand of gis invaded ttica, but only for the sort time of fteen days.gis was recalled and marched towards -ylos, because the thenians hadestablished a military post at -ylos in &essenia. The -eloponnesian 7eet thatwas in +or"yra under the command of Thrasymelidas, was also ordered tosail to -ylos. Thrasymelidas on arriving at -ylos with his 7eet, he occupied thesmall but densely wooded island of Sfacteria with four hundred and twentyhoplites and their helots. -art of these men, two hundred and ninetyDtwo,among them many belonging to chief families, were later captured by thethenian 4leon and brought to thens in chains, the rest had been "illed aftera severe con7ict on the islet. The event surprised the Hellenic world who


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"new that Spartans never surrendered. Sparta was now in a bad position. The&essenians from -ylos together with the runaway helots were able to plunderthe country, also Sparta could not invade ttica, "nowing that the capturedmen would put immediately to death.

The eighth year of the war $>(> *+% was disastrous for thens. They defeatedat the battle of 1elium, by the Thebans. They also lost Thrace. fter all thesethenians seriously considered the proposals for peace by Sparta.

t the same year one of the biggest crimes, committed in ancient Areece,occurred. Sparta pretending to give liberty to the most worthy Helots, whohad fought bravely, selected two thousand of the best men and afterhonoring them and crowning them with garlands at a ceremony, slain themby secret orders from the phors. The reason being, that Sparta feltthreatened from their increased power.

In the ninth year of the war $>(B *+% a truce was signed for a year, on whicha permanent peace would be prepared. *ut the negotiations were interruptedtwo days after the signing of the truce, when thenians learned that Scionehad revolted and was under the command of *rasidas. In ugust, an thenianforce by the command of 4leon was sent to Scione. t the battle thatfollowed, both 4leon and *rasidas were "illed and thus the obstacles forpermanent peace sei(/ *+, signed a peace treaty for fty years, the soDcalled peace of 5i"ias.

The Spartan prisoners were returned and thens was allowed to "eep the

cities of nactorium, Sollium and 5isae. 5ot everybody was satis ed by thepeace and the allies of Sparta, +orinth, Thebes, &egara and leans refused toratify it.

1uring the peace between Sparta and thens matters were far from beingsatisfactory. Her allies, *oeotians and +orinthians never accepted the peaceand thens refused to evacuate -ylos. l"ibiades of thens persuaded bothchaea and -atrae to ally with thens and helped rgos in the attac" uponpidauros, which they ravaged. Spartans could not accept all these andassembling a large army in which her allies were participating, invaded rgosand surrounded the rgive army. battle was ready to start when two rgiveoligarch leaders came to "ing gis of Sparta and persuaded him to sign atruce for four months. little later l"ibiades leading a force of one thousandhoplites and four hundred cavalry came to assist rgives and persuadedthem to attac" the city of Orchomenos in rcadia. fter they con2ueredOrchomenos they marched against Tegea. In the meantime "ing gis, whohad being blamed for the truce with the rgives, marched with a large forcein the territory of &antinea and positioned himself near the temple of


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Hercules. The rgives and their allies left the city of &antinea and in a wellchosen ground o?ered battle. 4ing gis was ready to attac" them at thisadvantageous for the rgives ground, but when the Spartans came close, anold Spartan warrior told him, that with his act was trying #to heal onemischief by another#. These words made him to withdraw his men. fter this,

the rgives too" position in the plain and tried to attac" them by surprise. The right section of the rgive army, which was consisted from the 7ower ofaristocracy, a permanent body of one thousand chosen soldiers drilled andmaintained by the city of rgos, were successful to route theLacedaemonians, but gis with the rest of his army which was moresuccessful, he managed to win the battle $@une >/9 *+%. thenians lost twohundred hoplites included the generals Laches and 5i"ostratos, the rgivesand their allies lost another nine hundred men. !rom the Lacedaemonianarmy only three hundred men lost. ven after all these, the peace of 5i"iastypically was still in e0istence.

-reparations before the battle

The -eloponnesian war II

>/' D >)> *+

In >/' *+, in the e0pedition of thenians in Syracuse, the Spartan generalAylippos with four ships came to the assistance of Syracuse. Though his forcewas small, he helped greatly Syracuse to win the war. He rstly captured thethenian fort at Labdalum, that made him master of pipolae and buildforti cations. He then constructed a counter wall to intersect the thenianlines at the north side. little later he was reinforced by the arrival of thirtytriremes. This small participation of Sparta in the war was of the outmostimportance.

fter the thenian disaster in Syracuse, the war between thens and Spartabecame maritime. Lacedaemonians gave a better attention on their navalpower. new o ce, that of 5avarchia, was risen. The 5avarchos $ dmiral%was even superior to the phors. In the beginning though Sparta had notmuch success.

In ugust of >// *+, the -eloponnesian 7eet commanded by &indaros lostthe naval battle at 4ynossema. The thenian 7eet though smaller in force, inthe straits of Sestos and bydos, gained a complete victory.


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In >/) *+, l"ibiades managed to capture the whole -eloponnesian 7eet at4y)= *+%. TheLacedaemonians lost seventy seven ships and the rest were retreated at+hios and -hocaea. 4allicratidas was thrown overboard, when his ship was hitby another and perished. The thenians lost only twenty ve ships.

Though it was illegal for an admiral to have a second term, Lysander, with thetitle of pistoleus $bearer of letters%, too" the command of the Spartan 7eet.

He immediately obtained large sums of money from 4yros, "ing of -ersia, torebuild the 7eet and made siege on Lampsacus.

The thenians, who came to help, arrived too late to save the city and too"post at egospotamoi $Aoat8s river% close to the city of Lampsacus. Lysanderwho systematically avoided a naval battle, since his ships were outnumbered,he managed to capture the enemy 7eet after treachery or negligence of thethenians. ll >))) thenian prisoners were put to death. This eventsubstantially mar"ed the end of thens.

0pedition in sia

fter the fall of thens, Sparta became the undisputed leader of Areece forB> years. Her rst move was to punish the leans, who along with rgos and&antinea had ta"en the arms against them, during the war with thens andalso for the insults they had received when they e0cluded them from the


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*attle of 4oronea

In ugust of B3> *+, "ing gesilaos returned from the e0pedition in sia andbrought his army in the valley 4oronea of *oeotia. !rom the other side

Thebans, thenians and their allies were ready for battle.

The two armies came silently close to each other. 6hen they reached adistance of two hundred meters, the Thebans raised their usual paeans andstarted to run towards the Spartan army, who moved only when the Thebanscame about one hundred meters close. Thebans 2uic"ly overpowered theopposite of them soldiers of Orchomenos, in the left wing, but gesilaos, whohad also success on the other side cut the Thebans from the rest of the army.5ow Thebans were forced to attac" the Spartans, in order to Coin with theirallies. It was such the force of the impact of the two armies, that the spearsbro"e. -ushing with shields each other, they only could use their daggers.*oth armies fought desperately but Thebans made their way through bra"ingthe Spartan lines. 4ing gesilaos, though many times wounded was at thefront ran"s and fought with valor. The outcome of the battle though indecisiveended with victory of Sparta.

few years later, the disgraceful peace of ntal"idas $B9: *+% too" place, inwhich Sparta was permitting the -ersians to interfere in the a?airs of Hellas.In the remar" of someone, who said that Spartans were &edi


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entered 4admeia, without any di culties.

Ismenias, the leader of the democratic party was tried and e0ecuted. Theoligarchs, with the help of the Spartan garrison, started con scating ande0ecuting the democrats. &any of them found refuge at thens. !rom there

they started thin"ing how to free their city.t rst, they tried to get help especially from thens, but soon they despairedand started designing various plots to liberate Thebes by themselves. mongthe e0iles they were many belonging to wealthy and noble families, such as-elopidas, 1amo"leidas, &elon and others. They were in constantcommunication with other members which were still in Thebes, the mostprominent of them being -hyllidas the secretary of the polemarch rchias and+haron.

pon arrival of -hyllidas in thens for o cial business it was arranged toprovide the opportunity for the e0iles to struc". +haron would provide shelterin his home. -hyllidas arranged a ban2uet for rchias and -hilippus andpromised them beautiful women for company.

In 1ecember of B:3 *+, -elopidas, &elon and ve companions left thensand disguised as rustics and hunters, entered the city of Thebes at night falland hid in +haron8s house. Together with other conspirators from Thebes,they totaled >9 persons. spy of rchias, reported to him that they wererumors that some of the e0iles were in town. rchias called +haron to givesome answers. +haron though worried, went 2uic"ly to him and from his2uestions understood that he had no facts but only suspicions. He promised

to loo" upon the matter and left.Soon after a messenger from thens came with a letter in which the fullconspiracy was revealed. rchias, who by now was drun", threw it aside,saying the famous words # rgent business for tomorrow#. Immediately after,the conspirators disguised as women entered the room and "illed rchias and-hilippus and everyone else who was there.

-hyllidas then sent -elopidas, 4ephisodorus and 1amo"leidas to Leontiadeshouse. There was a hard ght in which Leontiades, a strong man, mortallywounded in the throat 4ephisodorus. -elopidas, after a long struggle in the

narrow hall of his house, "illed Leontiades. 6ith the death of the two tyrants,the e0iles from thens returned.

pameinondas with some of the young men bro"e open the armorer8s shopsand called the citi


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Spartan army, though his troops were half in number. *eing informed that theSpartan garrison in Orchomenos were visiting Lo"ris, he marched with theSacred *and in order to give battle. He met them at Tegyra and than"s to hisencouragement in a narrow pass he defeated them, "illing both of theLacedaemonian commanders. The rest of the Spartan army dispersed and

7ed. This was a heroic achievement by -elopidas, ta"ing in consideration thesmaller number of his troops and the Spartan valor. It was this battle thatgave con dence to Thebans to meet Spartans four years later in Leuctra.

In B:( *+, ntal"idas dispatched again in -ersia as"ing them to intervene,when Thebes violated the peace by reDestablishing the *oeotianconfederation. thens too was dissatis ed with Thebes, who recently haddestroyed the city of -lataea. 5egotiations for peace between thens andSparta started and in the congress which too" place in B:/ *+, in the city ofSparta, Thebes was invited too.

The Thebans, who wanted to ta"e the oath for the treaty as head of theconfederacy, refused to ta"e it for their city alone and only the threat of warpersuade them to consent. fter that incident Sparta8s rst priority was towea"en Thebes, by brea"ing the Theban confederacy.

In the dissatis ed from the confederacy cities of Orchomenos and Thespiae,they installed a garrison.

To the city of &antinea, who had helped rgos in the war with Sparta, theysent a messenger demanding to ra


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engagement of Spartan and Theban cavalries, which ended 2uic"ly with thedefeat of Spartans. -elopidas leading the Sacred *and fell upon the Spartanswith irresistible force but the Spartans fought bravely and at rst werevictorious. It was only when leading Spartans fell that the Spartan linespushed and bro"e carrying away the rest of the army and driving them to the

camp. 4ing 4leombrotos of Sparta and many of his o cers were "illed. Therest of the army hardly had any serious ghting. !rom the :)) Spartans whotoo" part in the battle, only B)) survived. The whole Hellas was in soc" fromthe event, understanding that a new power had risen. t rgos, there was arevolution and the people put to death many of the upper class proDspartan.

fter the battle they sent heralds to thens proclaiming their victory over theSpartans, but thenians were not satis ed with the turn of events. 5ow theyhad a new superpower a few miles from thens. They also sent a herald to

@ason of -herae in Thessaly. @ason upon hearing the news said he would come2uic"ly in Thebes with triremes, but instead with great speed and passingthrough enemy territory he arrived in *oeotia. There the Theban leadersproposed him to attac" the encamped Spartans and her allies. @ason andpameinondas refused and managed to persuade them to let them go andthus saving Spartans from a bigger catastrophe. Spartans indeed soon leftand at igosthena they met with rchidamos who was marching to helpthem. !rom there they returned home.

6ith the battle of Leuctra, the Hegemony of Areece passed from Sparta to Thebes, but for the short time of ten years. It did no good and as that ofSparta it hurt Areece greatly. Thebes had no e0perienced and "nowledgeablemen, nor her economy could withstand this. It failed as Sparta did, to unitethe Aree" cities and stop the blood bath of Areece. There was turmoil all over-eloponnese. The inhabitants of &antinea in rcadia, which had been bro"enin several villages, too" bac" their capital and build new walls. In Tegea ofrcadia, the people formed an rcadian federation. In two years time apowerful confederation was born that was including e0cept the old alliances,-ho"is, Locris, itolia and uboea. fter the battle of Leuctra, Thebes madeagain peace with thens and wanted to destroy Orchomenos for being inalliance with the Spartans. The city was saved than"s to the great e?orts ofpameinondas, but not for long. few years later when pameinondas was atan e0pedition in *y


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In rcadia, an ally of Thebes, "ing gesilaos of Sparta was ravaging itsterritories. In reply to this, Thebes sent an army under pameinondas. 6hengesilaos heard the news, he evacuated rcadia and returned to Sparta, toprotect her.

pon pameinondas arrival in rcadia, he Coined forces with members of theconfederation from rcadia, rgos and lis. The total number of the armyforce was amounted to about fty thousand men. The confederation pressedstrongly pameinondas, to invade Laconia, e0plaining to him that there was ageneral discontent and by this time many -erioi"oi had revolted.

He was nally persuaded and in the autumn of B:) *+, invaded Laconia fromfour di?erent routes, marching towards Sparta.

Only the rcadians encountered serious resistance, by the Spartan Ischolaosat Ium, in the district S"iritis. Ischolaos and his divisions fell to the last man.

!inally, they all met at Sellasia, which they destroyed and burned and fromthere, they marched towards Sparta, which was saved from "ing gesilaos,who had ta"en a series of defenses to protect the unwalled city.

pameinondas who understood the danger of an attac" towards the city inhuman loss, abandoned any further attempts to con2uer the city. !rom there,burning and plundering villages, he marched towards the port and arsenal ofSparta, Aythium, which he attempted to con2uer for three days, withoutsuccess.

pameinondas then returned to rcadia and under his supervision a new citywas built at the ban"s of the river Helisson, as the capital of the rcadianconfederation and it was named &egalopolis $the big city%. In &egalopolis, asynod of deputies from all the towns of the confederation, was to meetperiodically, to manage their a?airs.

fter this pameinondas entered &essenia, in order to liberate her from theSpartans. In the mean time defection among the -erioi"oi and Helots hadalready started. pameinondas re founded &essene and in the hills of mountIthome built e0cellent forti cations stretched for four miles, which are stillpreserved today. ll of these had a devastating e?ect in the economy ofSparta, which lost half of its territory for ever and had no more the people toprovide for its military.

In the meantime, Sparta had as"ed help from thens. Iphicrates with anthenian army of twenty thousand men, marched to rcadia. pameinondashearing the news evacuated Laconia 2uic"ly and headed to rcadia. The twoarmies, though close, did not engage in full battle. Iphicrates, who decidedthat his mission had been accomplished, returned to thens.


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pameinondas too, returned to Thebes and he was put to a trial, because hee0tended the time of his e0pedition and also for being paci c and inactive.He defended himself successfully, increasing even more his popularity.

The accomplishments of his e0pedition were great. He wea"ened and

humiliated Sparta and at the same time he increased the reputation of hisarmy.

*ecause it was essential to communicate with her allies, in the spring of B=3*+, pameinondas again tried to invade -eloponnese, but this timethenians, Spartans and their allies were occupying the line of mount Oneanand 4enchreae, in order to prevent him to enter -eloponnese. pameinondasarrived and tried without success to ma"e them ght in battle, even thoughhis army was smaller. He encamped and a few hours before day brea"surprised them, by attac"ing and defeating the Spartan and -ellenian line. Hewas thus enabled to enter -eloponnese and Coin with his allies rcadians,

lians and rgians. Si"yon deserted Sparta, after a vote ta"en by its peopleand admitted an harmost and a Theban garrison into its cropolis. The samedid -ellene. fter the army ravaged the territories of pidauros and -hleious,he tried by surprise to ta"e the town of +orinth, but they defeated by thethenian general Aavrias, who resisted with great s"ill. fter thisunsuccessful attempt, the Theban army returned home.

1uring the year of B=9 *+, pameinondas did not underta"e any e0peditioninto -eloponnese, instead -elopidas with an army Theban force entered

Thessaly, to protect Larissa from "ing le0ander of &acedonia. -elopidasforced him to solicit peace, ta"ing among the fty hostages the future "ing of&acedonia, the son of myntas, -hilip, who stayed for some years at the cityof Thebes.

In B== *+, Thebes enlarged the confederation by including cities of the+orinthian gulf and chaia, but lost them again, when demanded that theiroligarchic government ought to be deposed. That was a great mista"e,showing the luc" of e0perienced men.

In B=> *+, after insistence of pameinondas, a large number of war shipswere constructed and sailing them towards Hellispond. pameinondassucceeded to win over *y


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In B=B *+, in a surprising move rcadians sei


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the -eloponnese, welcomed by all the cities but when he reached Sparta theyrefused him to enter. -hillip did not try to ta"e by force the city and left.Sparta was the only Aree" city that did not ta"e part in the League of +orinth,which was formed in BB: *+, under &acedonian control.

In BB/ *+, "ing gis, the grandson of gesilaos, raised a revolt against&acedonia, but he was defeated and "illed.

In the end of the >th century *+, Sparta build a wall for the rst time in herhistory, which was enclosing its four central villages and cropolis.

6hen in (9) *+, the +elts invaded from the north overrunning &acedon, "ingreus of Sparta, who had tried to unite the cities of -eloponnese, led an armyinto central Areece. 1uring his reign the rst coins of Sparta was issued,three hundred years later from the rest of Areece.

In (:( *+, "ing -yrros of peiros could easily have ta"en the city afterdefeating the Spartans. Sparta became a dependency of &acedon, regainedindependence under the tyrants &achanidas $(): *+% and 5abis $/3' D /3(*+%.

In (=' *+ again, having formed an alliance with thens, chaea and lis andsome rcadian cities, gave battle against &acedon but lost it and in hisretreat was "illed $+hremonidean war%.

The son of reus, "rotatos, in (=) *+ leading the Spartan army against&egalopolitans, he was defeated and himself "illed.

In (>> *+, gis I came to the throne and starting a series of changes. Heproposed all debts to be cancelled, and to redistribute all land, in parts of>')) citi


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several rcadian cities. In his turn 4leomenes captured and destroyed&egalopolis $((B *+%.

In ((( *+, at Sellacia, between Sparta and Tegea, a battle too" place. TheSpartan army was numbering /),))) and that of ntigonos and his allies

B),))). t this long and horrid battle, Spartans fought bravely. The wholeSpartan army fell, e0cept ()) men. 4ing 4leomenes 7ed to gypt.

The following years, a series of revolts started at Sparta, "ing8s ephors were"illed or e0iled.

In ()= *+, the tyrant 5abis, a descendant of 1emaratos, who had 7ed in-ersia in >3) *+, too" the throne. n able but ruthless man, he con scatedthe properties of the wealthy and gave them to the poor. *y setting freeslaves, he managed to ac2uire an army of /),))) men and he also e0tendedhis social reforms to rgos. It was 5abis who foreseeing the incomingdangers forti ed Sparta for the rst time in her history.

6hen the ;oman commander !lamininus invaded Laconia and laid siege toSparta, after a few days of ghting a non honorable truce was accepted bySparta, in which was losing all the -erioi"ic cities on the coasts and her 7eet.

Later with the pretence of helping Sparta, the itolians sent a thousandsoldiers to "ill 5abis and secure Sparta. They managed to "ill him but theyall were massacred from the Spartans. fter 5abis assassination, Sparta wasforced by -hilopoemen to become a member of the chaean league. Herwalls were ra 1.

Today the city of modern Sparta occupies the very same territory of theancient city.

full history of sparta

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