Sparta Archive
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Shorn Hair and Boys’ Garb: Defeminization of Spartan Women
Posted on January 28, 2013 | No CommentsSpartan traditions and laws regarding women attempted to masculinize them both actively and passively. -
Was Classical Sparta a military society?
Posted on January 6, 2013 | No CommentsTe potency of the military image of Sparta during the twentieth century, supported by powerful modern political analogies, helps to explain why this has been one of the few notions that has remained untransformed by the significant reassessments of the ?hara?ter o? Spartan so?iety produ?ed ?y the last generation o? s?holarly resear?h. -
The Date of the ‘Oath of the Peloponnesian League’
Posted on December 23, 2012 | No CommentsBefore i begin my consideration of the oath, it must be noted that the exact nature of the Peloponnesian league, especially its constitution and the nature of the obligations its allies had towards one another, is unclear and much debated in the scholarship. -
The Menelaion: A Local Manifestation of a Pan-Hellenic Phenomenon
Posted on December 11, 2012 | No CommentsSparta, the mythological birthplace and home of the Homeric heroine, was alleged to have worshiped her at two sites, at a shrine within the polis and at a shrine several kilometers outside the polis.8 We know very little about the former shrine, but the latter has been archaeologically attested; the partial walls and foundations of a fifth-century BCE monument to Helen of Sparta and her husband Menelaos, known as the Menelaion, have been recovered on a ridge near the west bank of the Eurotas. -
Spartacus Mythistoricus: Winning Spartacus into the Mythical
Posted on December 11, 2012 | No CommentsThe Spartacus represented in these media is not the same Spartacus that the ancient sources wrote about. The representation of Spartacus' history has changed dramatically over the course of time and has, in fact, -
Intrigue, Blood, and Naked Breasts: Strategies of the Epic Series on Premium Cable
Posted on November 27, 2012 | No CommentsThe epic, in particular the sword- -
Acclamation Voting in Sparta: An Early Use of Approval Voting
Posted on November 5, 2012 | No CommentsAn early form of approval voting was arguably used in Ancient Greece, as is described in Plutarch -
The end of the Olympic Games in the Ancient World: Abolishment or Vanishing? Observations
Posted on September 28, 2012 | No CommentsThe importance of sport in the Greek world, as an expression of panhellenic unity over the city particularism and as model of a perfect and complex organi- zation, is stated by the institution of the four big games and by other less impor- tant feasts, but significant ones like the Panatheneans. -
Krypteia: A Form of Ancient Guerrilla Warfare
Posted on August 29, 2012 | No CommentsModern scholars have debated the exact nature of the Spartan krypteia (????????), a group of young men who roamed the countryside killing helots. Some have seen it as a form of education, others as a form of suppression. However, not many scholars have pointed out that the krypteia was a form of guerrilla warfare against the helot population. -
The Battle of Leuktra: Organizational Revolution in Military Affairs in the Classical World
Posted on August 26, 2012 | No CommentsThe ancient Greeks offer an example of how changes to organization, and novel use of resources can lead to victory without advanced weapons and technology.
