Sparta: History, State and Society

A comprehensive introduction to the Greek superpower of the fifth and fourth century BC. Part I: the Spartan political institutions, mechanisms of governance, social structure, family, education, lifestyle, organization of the army and military life. Part II: the history of the polis at the peak of its influence. Epilogue: the Spartan legend.

SHS-Award for the best book in Ancient History in 2022 of the Polish Society for Ancient Studies. Richly illustrated with citations from ancient authors, the book Sparta introduces the reader to the universe of a polis which in the fifth and fourth century BC was a Greek superpower. Part I describes Sparta's political institutions and mechanisms of governance, the structure of its society, the family, education, lifestyle and, naturally, the organization of the Spartan army and military life. Part II is an outline of the history of Sparta, and Greece, in the two centuries when the polis was at the peak of its influence, extending also into the period of its waning. The book closes with an analysis of 'imaginary Sparta' and the ways the Spartan legend has been employed in the shaping of various identities from the early modern era to the present.

Autorentext

Ryszard Kulesza is Professor in the Institute of History at the University of Warsaw, Poland. His primary research interests center on the studies of Classical Greece.

Inhalt

Sparta in the Fifth and Fourth Century BC - State and Society. The social system of Sparta. The political system of Sparta. Spartan Family. Spartan education. Spartan style of life. Spartan army. Spartan legend.