Essay Database

Sparta Sparta, one of the powerful city-states, retains this name for good reasons. The Spartans faced the problems of overpopulation and land hunger. Their solution was to conquest to gain more land. Almost defeated, the Messenian war cost Sparta a high price. A half-century of war, so hard fought, had ground the military life deep into Spartan consciousness. It seemed to them they never dare relax, especially when there were so few Spartans and so …

…deal of freedom. Most of the trade and commerce carried out in Sparta was performed by the perioeci. At the bottom, of course, were the helots. The Spartans enjoyed an outstanding reputation for personal morality, frugality, hardihood, and courage. They produced no historians; they were neurotically secretive; they were so frightened of rebellion that they allowed youths or magistrates to kill helots indiscriminately. But what outsiders admired was their professionalism, direct speech, and matchless discipline.