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Sparta [1] was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaímōn), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in the Eurotas valley of Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. [2]
Eurotas River. According to myth, the first king of the region later to be called Laconia, but then called Lelegia was the eponymous King Lelex.He was followed, according to tradition, by a series of kings allegorizing several traits of later-to-be Sparta and Laconia, such as the Kings Myles, Eurotas, Lacedaemon and Amyclas of Sparta.
Athens' parallel rise as a significant power in Greece led to friction between herself with Sparta and two large-scale conflicts (the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars), which devastated Greece. Sparta suffered several defeats during these wars, including, for the first time, the surrender of an entire Spartan unit at Sphacteria in 425 BC ...
The Spartan Constitution (or Spartan politeia) are the government and laws of the classical Greek city-state of Sparta.All classical Greek city-states had a politeia; the politeia of Sparta however, was noted by many classical authors for its unique features, which supported a rigidly layered social system and a strong hoplite army.
For most of its history, the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnese was ruled by kings. Sparta was unusual among the Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age. It was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, who were called the archagetai, [1] [n 1] coming from two separate lines.
Meeting between Spartan king Agesilaus (left) and Pharnabazus II (right).. Agesilaus II was one of the two kings of Sparta during Sparta's hegemony. Plutarch later wrote that Agesilaus was a king of the traditional Spartan ideals, often seen wearing his traditional cloak which was threadbare. [3]
Sparta was forced to dedicate a garrison to controlling this activity; this was the first of the ἐπιτειχισμοί / epiteikhismoí ("ramparts"), outposts planted by the Athenians in enemy territory. The second such outpost was at Kythera. This time, the Athenians set their sights on the helots of Laconia.
Similar to other places in ancient Greece, in Sparta far more is known about the elites than the lower classes, and ancient sources do not discuss gender in relation to the non-citizens who lived in Sparta. [3] Various groups of free non-Spartiates lived in Sparta, as did helots and, at least later in Spartan history, personal slaves.