A Companion to Sparta
1st Edition
Published on 18. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
776 pages
978-1-119-09896-6 (ISBN)
Description
The two-volume A Companion to Sparta presents the first comprehensive, multi-authored series of essays to address all aspects of Spartan history and society from its origins in the Greek Dark Ages to the late Roman Empire.
* Offers a lucid, comprehensive introduction to all aspects of Sparta, a community recognised by contemporary cities as the greatest power in classical Greece
* Features in-depth coverage of Sparta history and culture contributed by an international cast including almost every noted specialist and scholar in the field
* Provides over a dozen images of Spartan art that reveal the evolution of everyday life in Sparta
* Sheds new light on a modern controversy relating to changes in Spartan society from the Archaic to Classical periods
* Offers a lucid, comprehensive introduction to all aspects of Sparta, a community recognised by contemporary cities as the greatest power in classical Greece
* Features in-depth coverage of Sparta history and culture contributed by an international cast including almost every noted specialist and scholar in the field
* Provides over a dozen images of Spartan art that reveal the evolution of everyday life in Sparta
* Sheds new light on a modern controversy relating to changes in Spartan society from the Archaic to Classical periods
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
12/2017
Wiley
€323.50
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Person
Anton Powell is Director of the Classical Press of Wales, and an internationally recognized authority on Sparta, Athens, and the Roman Revolution. He founded the International Sparta Seminar, and co-edited a succession of collective volumes which have contributed to the revival and reshaping of Spartan studies. Powell is the author of Athens and Sparta, Third Edition, and editor of Classical Sparta, Sparta at War, and Sparta: The Body Politic, among others.
Content
Notes on Contributors ix
Foreword by Paul Cartledge xii
Preface xvii
PART I Reconstructing Sparta: General 1
1 Sparta: Reconstructing History from Secrecy, Lies and Myth 3
Anton Powell
2 Sparta: An Exceptional Domination of State over Society? 29
Stephen Hodkinson
PART II Origins: From Pre-Classical to Classical Culture 59
3 An Archaeology of Ancient Sparta with Reference to Laconia and Messenia 61
William Cavanagh
4 Lykourgos the Spartan "Lawgiver": Ancient Beliefs and Modern Scholarship 93
Massimo Nafissi
5 Laconian Pottery 124
Maria Pipili
6 Laconian Art 154
Francise Prost (Translated by James Roy)
7 Pre?]Classical Sparta as Song Culture 177
Claude Calame (Translated by James Roy)
8 Luxury, Austerity and Equality in Sparta 202
Hans van Wees
9 The Common Messes 236
Hans van Wees
PART III Political and Military History: The Classical Period and Beyond 269
10 Sparta and the Persian Wars, 499-478 271
Marcello Lupi
11 Sparta's Foreign - and Internal - History 478-403 291
Anton Powell
12 The Empire of the Spartans (404-371) 320
Françoise Ruzé(Translated by Anton Powell)
13 Sparta and the Peloponnese from the Archaic Period to 362 bc 354
James Roy
14 From Leuktra to Nabis, 371-192 374
Daniel Stewart
15 Sparta in the Roman Period 403
Yves Lafond(Translated by Anton Powell)
Notes on Contributors ix
PART IV Culture, Society and Economy: The Classical Period and Beyond 423
16 Spartan Religion 425
Michael A. Flower
17 Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans' 'Divine' Dyarchy 452
Ellen G. Millender
18 Equality and Distinction within the Spartiate Community 480
Philip Davies
19 Spartan Women 500
Ellen G. Millender
20 Spartan Education in the Classical Period 525
Nicolas Richer (Translated by Anton Powell)
21 Sparta and Athletics 543
Paul Christesen
22 Helotage and the Spartan Economy 565
Thomas Figueira
23 The Perioikoi 596
Jean Ducat(Translated by Anton Powell)
24 Roads and Quarries in Laconia 615
Jacqueline Christien (Translated by Christopher Annandale and Anton Powell)
25 Spartan Cultural Memory in the Roman Period 643
Nigel M. Kennell
PART V Reception of Sparta in Recent Centuries 663
26 The Literary Reception of Sparta in France 665
Haydn Mason
27 Reception of Sparta in Germany and German?]Speaking Europe 685
Stefan Rebenich
28 Reception of Sparta in North America: Eighteenth to Twenty?]First Centuries 704
Sean R. Jensen
29 Sparta and the Imperial Schools of Britain: Comparisons 723
Anton Powell
Bibliography 760
Index
Foreword by Paul Cartledge xii
Preface xvii
PART I Reconstructing Sparta: General 1
1 Sparta: Reconstructing History from Secrecy, Lies and Myth 3
Anton Powell
2 Sparta: An Exceptional Domination of State over Society? 29
Stephen Hodkinson
PART II Origins: From Pre-Classical to Classical Culture 59
3 An Archaeology of Ancient Sparta with Reference to Laconia and Messenia 61
William Cavanagh
4 Lykourgos the Spartan "Lawgiver": Ancient Beliefs and Modern Scholarship 93
Massimo Nafissi
5 Laconian Pottery 124
Maria Pipili
6 Laconian Art 154
Francise Prost (Translated by James Roy)
7 Pre?]Classical Sparta as Song Culture 177
Claude Calame (Translated by James Roy)
8 Luxury, Austerity and Equality in Sparta 202
Hans van Wees
9 The Common Messes 236
Hans van Wees
PART III Political and Military History: The Classical Period and Beyond 269
10 Sparta and the Persian Wars, 499-478 271
Marcello Lupi
11 Sparta's Foreign - and Internal - History 478-403 291
Anton Powell
12 The Empire of the Spartans (404-371) 320
Françoise Ruzé(Translated by Anton Powell)
13 Sparta and the Peloponnese from the Archaic Period to 362 bc 354
James Roy
14 From Leuktra to Nabis, 371-192 374
Daniel Stewart
15 Sparta in the Roman Period 403
Yves Lafond(Translated by Anton Powell)
Notes on Contributors ix
PART IV Culture, Society and Economy: The Classical Period and Beyond 423
16 Spartan Religion 425
Michael A. Flower
17 Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans' 'Divine' Dyarchy 452
Ellen G. Millender
18 Equality and Distinction within the Spartiate Community 480
Philip Davies
19 Spartan Women 500
Ellen G. Millender
20 Spartan Education in the Classical Period 525
Nicolas Richer (Translated by Anton Powell)
21 Sparta and Athletics 543
Paul Christesen
22 Helotage and the Spartan Economy 565
Thomas Figueira
23 The Perioikoi 596
Jean Ducat(Translated by Anton Powell)
24 Roads and Quarries in Laconia 615
Jacqueline Christien (Translated by Christopher Annandale and Anton Powell)
25 Spartan Cultural Memory in the Roman Period 643
Nigel M. Kennell
PART V Reception of Sparta in Recent Centuries 663
26 The Literary Reception of Sparta in France 665
Haydn Mason
27 Reception of Sparta in Germany and German?]Speaking Europe 685
Stefan Rebenich
28 Reception of Sparta in North America: Eighteenth to Twenty?]First Centuries 704
Sean R. Jensen
29 Sparta and the Imperial Schools of Britain: Comparisons 723
Anton Powell
Bibliography 760
Index