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History Custom Essays samples
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|  Sparta |
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| Sparta was an ancient city in Greece, the capital of Laconia and the most powerful state of the Peloponnesus. Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who called the city after his wife, the daughter of Eurotas. But Amyclae and Therapne (Therapnae) seem to have been in early times of greater importance than Sparta, the former a Minoan foundation a few miles to the south of Sparta, the latter probably the Achaean capital of Laconia and the seat of Menelaus, Agamemnon's younger brother. Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to the traditional chronology, the Dorian migration took place. A band of Dorians united with a body of Aetolians to cross the Corinthian Gulf and invade the Peloponnese from the northwest.
Sparta was the main power in ancient Greece before the rise of Athens after the Persian Wars. Initially, Sparta and Athens were reluctant allies, but soon became rivals. The second and third conflicts between the two states, which resulted in the dismantling of the Athenian Empire, is generally known as the Peloponnesian War. Spartan attempts to take over the Athenian role of 'guardian of Hellenism' ended in failure, and the first ever defeat of a Spartan hoplite army at full strength at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. By the time of the rise of Alexander the Great, Sparta was a shadow of its former self, and was eventually forced into the Achaean League.
Spartans continued their way of life even after the Roman conquest of Greece. The city became something of a "tourist trap" for the Roman elite who came to observe the "unusual" Spartan people. Following the disaster that befell the Roman Imperial Army at the Battle of Adrianople, Spartan phalanges met and defeated a force of raiding Visigoths in battle. This is considered the last noteworthy deed of the Spartans. |
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