Extensive Notes on Spartan Society

Resource Description

1) The Geographical and Historical Context.
1.1) The Geographical Setting, Natural Features, and Resources.
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
○ Sparta well situated 200m above sea level at the northern end of the alluvial plain of
Lakonia.
○ Settlements isolated, overland travel was difficult.
○ About 20% of the land was used for agriculture.
○ Located in the southern part of the Peloponnesian Peninsula in the Eurotas River plain.
○ “Sparta not only monopolised the best land, but stood at the meeting of the main routes
that linked Lakonia to the rest of the world.” – FITZHARDINGE
NATURAL FEATURES
○ Mountain ranges surrounded Sparta’s west, east, and north. They formed a natural
barrier to Sparta and limited communication.
○ West – Taygetus. East – Parnon. North – Arcadian.
○ As a result, Sparta remained relatively isolated.
○ “…It was the distance of her enemies, not the valour of her soldiers, that allowed Sparta
to remain unwalled.” – FITZHARDINGE
○ Eurotas valley is fertile with the Eurotas river giving adequate water supply.
RESOURCES
○ Eurotas river was water supply. Mountains provided hunting grounds (hare and boar)
and timber.
○ Wool, dairy, and meat from sheep and goats.
○ Soils in valleys suitable for growing crops – barley, wheat, oats, grapes, olives.
○ Quarried marble from Mt. Taygetus.
○ Gytheum (their port) provided murex mollusc which was used as purple dye for
soldier’s cloaks.
○ “Hunting…consisted of wild goats, deer and hares.” – CARTLEDGE
○ “Sparta had simple but plentiful supplies of food.” – XENOPHON
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1.2) Significant sites: Sparta
○ ~ 8th century BC Sparta began as an amalgamation of 4 villages. Mid 700s Amyclae
was added.
○ However, more recent archaeological evidence suggests that there may have been a
collection of 9 villages around the Eurotas River that make up Sparta.
○ Not architecturally grand like Athens. Lack of architectural splendour.
○ “…Neither built with magnificent temples, public edifices, but composed of villages.”
– THUCYDIDES
○ Sparta was more like a network of rural townships than a city.
○ “…To the ordinary Greek, the town looked more like a cluster of rural townships than
a city.” – FITZHARDINGE
○ Thucydides stated that if only the temples and buildings of Sparta remained, it would
be difficult for future generations to believe the true extent of Sparta’s power.
2) Social Structure and Political Organisation
2.1) The Great Rhetra: The Issue of Lykurgus