A Companion to Sparta, 2 Volume Set (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World #93) (1ST ed.)
Biographical Note: 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...
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Biographical Note: 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. Jacket Description/Back: 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. Home to perhaps the most celebrated warrior elite the world has ever known, few societies have left a more enduring legacy than the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. A Companion to Sparta gives readers a unique and immersive look at this incredible society and its effect on the world. In this two-volume collection, authors combine cutting-edge research and innovative insights of their own with accessible surveys of recent scholarship on Sparta's archaeology and history--from its mist-shrouded origins in the Greek Dark Ages following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization to the waning days of the late Roman Empire. Along with coverage of the full evolutionary sweep of classical Sparta's politics and warfare, essays highlight cultural topics such as Sparta's distinctive systems of education and religion, athletics, music, plastic art, and vase-painting; as well as its influence on the modern world and reception in Europe and North America. Of particular note are chapters addressing such themes as the unique roles of women, state-owned Helots, and perioikoi (free, yet non-citizen inhabitants) in ancient Spartan society.
Unlike any book before it, A Companion to Sparta offers invaluable insights into an ancient warrior society that has fascinated and inspired the Western world for millennia, and will appeal to students and scholars of ancient history, ancient Greece, Classical Greece, and Archaic Greece. Table of Contents: 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 2 Sparta: An Exceptional Domination of State over Society? 29 PART II Origins: From Pre-Classical to Classical Culture 59 3 An Archaeology of Ancient Sparta with Reference to Laconia and Messenia 61 4 Lykourgos the Spartan "Lawgiver" Ancient Beliefs and Modern Scholarship 93 5 Laconian Pottery 124 6 Laconian Art 154 7 Pre ]Classical Sparta as Song Culture 177 8 Luxury, Austerity and Equality in Sparta 202 9 The Common Messes 236 PART III Political and Military History: The Classical Period and Beyond 269 10 Sparta and the Persian Wars, 499-478 271 11 Sparta's Foreign - and Internal - History 478-403 291 12 The Empire of the Spartans (404-371) 320 13 Sparta and the Peloponnese from the Archaic Period to 362 bc 354 14 From Leuktra to Nabis, 371-192 374 15 Sparta in the Roman Period 403 Notes on Contributors ix PART IV Culture, Society and Economy: The Classical Period and Beyond 423 16 Spartan Religion 425 17 Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans' 'Divine' Dyarchy 452 18 Equality and Distinction within the Spartiate Community 480 19 Spartan Women 500 20 Spartan Education in the Classical Period 525 21 Sparta and Athletics 543 22 Helotage and the Spartan Economy 565 23 The Perioikoi 596 24 Roads and Quarries in Laconia 615 25 Spartan Cultural Memory in the Roman Period 643 PART V Reception of Sparta in Recent Centuries 663 26 The Literary Reception of Sparta in France 665 27 Reception of Sparta in Germany and German ]Speaking Europe 685 28 Reception of Sparta in North America: Eighteenth to Twenty ]First Centuries 704 29 Sparta and the Imperial Schools of Britain: Comparisons 723 Bibliography 760 Index Review Citations:
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