The image of Sparta has long been of an egalitarian, military society. Yet property and wealth played a critical role in her history. The success of Sparta's classical society rested upon a compromise between rich and poor citizens. Privilege and display were combined with ingenious techniques of outward uniformity and of sharing between rich and poor. Later, increasing inequality led to plutocracy and the decline of Spartan power. Using a combination of historical, archaeological and sociological methods, Stephen Hodkinson challenges traditional views of Spartan separateness from general Greek culture.

The standard image of Sparta is of an egalitarian, military society which disdained material possessions. Yet property and wealth played a critical role in her history. Classical Sparta's success rested upon a compromise between rich and poor citizens. Economic differences were masked by a uniform lifestyle and a communal sharing of resources. Over time, however, increasing inequalities led to a plutocratic society and to the decline of Spartan power. Using an innovative combination of historical, archaeological and sociological methods, Stephen Hodkinson challenges traditional views of Sparta's isolation from general Greek culture. This volume is the first major monograph-length discussion of a subject on which the author is recognised as the leading international authority.

Features in-depth coverage of Spartan history and culture

In this book, Sarah Pomeroy seeks to reconstruct the lives and the world of Sparta's women--including how their legal status changed over time and how they held on to their surprising autonomy. Written by one of the leading authorities on women in antiquity, this is the first full-length study of Spartan women.

The history of Sparta is increasingly seen as important, not only for its own sake but also for understanding Athenian literature and the political history of numerous Greek states. Traditional approaches to Sparta are now being supplemented by contributions from archaeology and the social sciences. The renewed interest in Sparta is international. The volume includes, for the first time, original contributions from most of the world's leading authorities on Spartan history.

Ten new essays from a distinguished international cast treat Sparta's most famous area of activity. The results are challenging. Among the contributors, Thomas Figueira explores the paradox that Sparta's cavalry was an undistinguished institution. Jean Ducat conducts the most thorough study to date of Sparta's official cowards, the 'tremblers'. Anton Powell asks why Sparta chose not to destroy Athens after the Peloponnesian War. And Stephen Hodkinson argues that the image of Spartan society as militaristic may after all be a?mirage. This is the sixth volume from the International Sparta Seminar, founded by Powell and Hodkinson in 1988. The series has established itself as the main forum for the study of Spartan history.

This is the first book-length examination of Spartan women, covering over a thousand years in the history of women from both the elite and lower classes. Classicist Sarah B. Pomeroy comprehensively analyzes ancient texts and archaeological evidence to construct the world of these elusive though much noticed females. Sparta has always posed a challenge to ancient historians because information about the society is relatively scarce. Most existing scholarship on Sparta concerns the military history of the city and its heavily male-dominated social structure--almost as if there were no women in Sparta. Yet perhaps the most famous of mythic Greek women, Menelaus' wife Helen, the cause of the Trojan War, was herself a Spartan. Written by one of the leading authorities on women in antiquity, Spartan Women reconstructs the lives and the world of Sparta's women, including how their status changed over time and how they held on to their surprising autonomy. Proceeding through the archaic, classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, Spartan Women includes discussions of education, family life, reproduction, religion, and athletics.

This is the fifth volume from the International Sparta Seminar, in the series founded by Anton Powell and Stephen Hodkinson. Thomas J. Figueira is here the editor of sixteen papers; fifteen are new, the other is newly translated from the French. Among the authors are most of the world's leading authorities on the history of Sparta. There are particular concentrations of papers on Spartan women; the economy of Sparta; helots and Messenians; Xenophon and Sparta; and the modern reception of Sparta.

Images of ancient Sparta have had a major impact on Western thought. From the Renaissance to the French Revolution she was invoked by radical thinkers as a model for the creation of a republican political and social order. Since the 19th century she has typically been viewed as the opposite of advanced liberal and industrial democracies: a forerunner of 20th-century totalitarian and militaristic regimes such as the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Yet positive images of Sparta remain embedded in contemporary popular media and culture. This is the first book in over 40 years to examine this important subject. Eleven ancient historians and experts in the history of ideas discuss Sparta's changing role in Western thought from medieval Europe to the 21st century, with a special focus on Enlightenment France, Nazi Germany and the USA. Images of ancient Sparta have had a major impact on Western thought. From the Renaissance to the French Revolution she was invoked by radical thinkers as a model for the creation of a republican political and social order. Since the 19th century she has typically been viewed as the opposite of advanced liberal and industrial democracies: a forerunner of 20th-century totalitarian and militaristic regimes such as the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Yet positive images of Sparta remain embedded in contemporary popular media and culture. This is the first book in over 40 years to examine this important subject. Eleven ancient historians and experts in the history of ideas discuss Sparta's changing role in Western thought from medieval Europe to the 21st century, with a special focus on Enlightenment France, Nazi Germany and the USA.

An eclectic Marxist approach reveals the centrality of conflict and ideological struggle in the socio-political and cultural changes in Archaic Greece.