Early hellenistic Sparta: changing modes of interaction with the wider world? (Article) -- Ancient History Encyclopedia

Article

by D. Graham J. Shipley
published on 23 April 2012

Given the emphasis placed by modern and indeed ancient writers on the Spartan defeat at Leuktra in 371 BC, an its immediate consequences, one might be tempted to supposed that, in the years and decades that followed, the news would have been, almost without exception, bad for Sparta and good for the rest of the Peloponnese. A more nuanced picture must take account of Sparta’s internal dynamics, of its external interactions, and also – perhaps les obvious to some scholars – of changing relationships with Laconia: that is, between Sparta and its immediate neighbours, the “other Lakedaimonians.” Among questions to be addressed are the following: How absolute was Sparta’s loss of hegemonic power in the mid-fourth century? How weak was Sparta as a military force at the end of the Classical period and in early Hellenistic times? To the extent that it was weak, was this reflected in cultural, social, or economic changes within Sparta and within Laconia as a whole?

Athens-Sparta: Contributions to the Research on the History and Archaeology of the Two City-States, edited by N. Kaltsas (Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, 2009)

Written by D. Graham J. Shipley, linked by Jan van der Crabben, published 23 April 2012. Source URL: https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/9034/1/Shipley%20LRA.pdf.

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