The Spartans by Paul Cartledge

What I find interesting about this book is how Cartledge, a leading scholar on Sparta, looks at Sparta with a very critical eye.  It's as if he's not a big fan.

He writes of the "myth" of Sparta in popular culture, largely derived from the story of Leonidas and the 300 who fought to the death against the invading Persian hordes at Thermopylae in 480BC.

But as incredible as that story may be, it represents the apogee of Spartan history and culture.  Less reported is how Sparta arrived at the Battle of Marathon just after the conclusion of fighting, only ten years prior to Thermopylae.

There is also the fact Spartan society was built on the backs of slavery, plain and simple.  It's total enslavement of the Helot population across Laconia and Messenia, fellow Greeks, provided the means for Sparta's military might.  With slaves providing 100% of their survival needs, the Spartan population was free to train and fight without distraction.

But dependence on slaves to do the real work limited the potential for Spartan society.  Sparta could never build a true empire because its military could never stray too far from Sparta itself, lest the Helots revolt.  After all, the slaves outnumbered Spartan citizens many times over.

And ultimately their treatment of the Helots proved Sparta's complete and final undoing.  When the Spartan army was beaten at the Battle of Leuctra in 371, the Theban army led by Epaminondas helped the Helots escape, overrun the Spartans and build their own fortress at New Messene.  Sparta is barely heard from again.

Perhaps their reliance on slavery and military might and their relative dearth of culture achievement is why ancient Sparta barely exists to this day, not even in ancient ruins.

Apparently what goes around comes around.