Was Sparta a good ally?

Topic 8: Spartan foreign policy, other states' attitudes and the chronology of Spartan conflicts

Enquiry question: Was Sparta a good ally?

The Peloponnesian League

• Name: a modern term. The ancient name was "the Lacedaemonians and their allies".
• Origins: formed in the 6th century, after the alliance with Tegea (c. 550).
• Structure:
  • Members had separate treaties with Sparta, swearing to have the same friends and enemies and to follow wherever Sparta led.
  • League congresses: Sparta summoned allies, and each state had one vote. For example, in 432 the allies voted for war after the Spartan assembly's decision (Thuc. 1.119, 1.125).
  • Sparta needed the allies' consent: in c. 506 the Corinthians withdrew from Cleomenes' invasion of Attica (Hdt. 5.75). After this, Sparta consulted allies before major wars.
• Members:
  • Corinth: the most important; it had a navy.
  • Tegea, Elis and Mantinea.
  • Megara (until c. 460, and again after 446).
  • Boeotia (in the Peloponnesian War).
• Importance for Sparta:
  • It provided a buffer against Argos and against helot revolts.
  • It provided manpower and (through Corinth) ships.
  • It brought prestige as hegemon.
  • Sparta tended to support oligarchies among its allies (Thuc. 1.19).

Xenophobia and isolation

• Xenelasia: periodic expulsion of foreigners.
  • Pericles refers to Spartan expulsions of foreigners (Thuc. 1.144 and 2.39).
  • Xenophon (Lak. Pol. 14) laments that in his own time Spartans went abroad and sought wealth, unlike in the past.
• Reluctance to fight abroad and distrust of foreigners:
  • the dismissal of the Athenians at Ithome (Thuc. 1.102);
  • fear that commanders abroad would be corrupted, e.g. Pausanias (Thuc. 1.95, 1.128–135) and Leotychidas (bribed in Thessaly).

Chronology of Spartan conflicts (key dates)

Date (BC)	Event
8th–7th centuries	Messenian Wars: conquest of Messenia; helots
c. 550	Alliance with Tegea; beginning of the League
c. 546	"Battle of the Champions" with Argos over Thyreatis
510	Cleomenes expels the tyrant Hippias from Athens
c. 506	Failed invasion of Attica; rule that only one king leads an army (Hdt. 5.75)
c. 499	Cleomenes refuses to help the Ionian Revolt (Hdt. 5.49–51)
494	Battle of Sepeia: Cleomenes crushes Argos
491	Persian heralds demanding earth and water are killed at Sparta and Athens (Hdt. 7.133)
490	Spartans arrive too late for Marathon (Hdt. 6.106, 6.120)
481	Hellenic League formed under Spartan leadership
480	Thermopylae; Artemisium; Salamis (under the Spartan Eurybiades)
479	Plataea (Pausanias); Mycale (Leotychidas)
478/7	Pausanias recalled; allies turn to Athens; Delian League founded
c. 475	Hetoemaridas persuades Sparta not to challenge Athens at sea (Diodorus 11.50)
c. 465/4	Earthquake; helot revolt; siege of Ithome
462	Athenians dismissed from Ithome; Athens allies with Argos
461–446	First Peloponnesian War (Tanagra, 457)
446/5	Pleistoanax invades Attica and withdraws; Thirty Years' Peace
432	Spartan assembly votes for war (Thuc. 1.87)
431–404	The Peloponnesian War (Archidamian War 431–421; Peace of Nicias 421; Mantinea 418; Sicily 415–413; Decelea 413; the Ionian War; Aegospotami 405; Athens surrenders 404)

Attitudes of other states towards Sparta

• The Corinthians at Sparta (432) (Thuc. 1.68–71, paraphrased):
  • The Spartans are slow, cautious and old-fashioned.
  • They defend themselves by delaying rather than acting.
  • By contrast, the Athenians are innovative, quick to plan and act, and never at rest.
  • The Corinthians threaten to seek another alliance if Sparta does not act.
  • Evaluation: a speech written by Thucydides with a persuasive purpose. It is an exaggerated contrast, but it reflects real frustration.
• The Athenian envoys (Thuc. 1.75–77) defend Athens' empire and warn Sparta. Archidamus (1.80–85) recognises Athenian strengths.
• Thucydides 8.96 (paraphrased): in 411, the Spartans proved the most convenient enemies the Athenians could have had, because of their slowness and lack of enterprise, especially at sea.
• Herodotus 9.6–11: before Plataea, the Athenians had to threaten to come to terms with Persia before Sparta, which was busy with a festival (the Hyacinthia), finally marched out.
• Brasidas: attitudes changed under him. Thucydides (4.81) says his conduct won Sparta a good name and made other cities hope all Spartans were like him.
• Lysander's decarchies after 404 made Spartan rule hated, preparing the ground for the Corinthian War (beyond our period).

Debate: Was Sparta a good ally?

• Yes:
  • It led the Greeks in 480–479 (Thermopylae, Plataea).
  • It "liberated" Greece from Athenian "tyranny" in 404. Its war propaganda was freedom for the Greeks (Thuc. 2.8).
  • Sparta was generally respected; its allies largely stayed loyal for centuries.
  • It protected allied oligarchies.
• No:
  • It was slow and self-interested: late for Marathon; reluctant to defend Attica in 480–479.
  • It abandoned allies: e.g. it did not help the Ionians, Samos or Mytilene effectively.
  • It put helot security first.
  • It made deals with Persia, handing the Ionian Greeks back to the King in the treaties of 412–411 (Thuc. 8.18, 8.37, 8.58).
  • Its post-404 rule was harsh.
• Judgement: it was a dependable leader in a crisis on land, but cautious and self-interested, constrained by its system:
  • the helots;
  • oliganthropia;
  • slowness;
  • reluctance to send Spartiates abroad.
  • This matches the OCR list of "constraints".

Glossary

Term	Definition
Polis	A city-state.
Peloponnesian League	(Modern term) Sparta's alliance system in the Peloponnese.
Xenophobia / xenelasia	Fear of foreigners / Spartan expulsion of foreigners.
Hegemon / hegemony	The leading state / leadership over other states.
Medism	Collaborating with or siding with Persia.
Decarchy	A board of ten pro-Spartan oligarchs installed by Lysander.

Self-test

Q1: How did the Corinthians characterise the Spartans in 432 (Thuc. 1.68–71)? A: As slow, cautious and conservative, delaying rather than acting, in contrast to the restless, innovative Athenians.

Q2: Give two examples of Spartan slowness to help allies. A: Arriving after Marathon (490) because of a religious festival, and delaying the march to Plataea (479) during the Hyacinthia until the Athenians threatened to come to terms with Persia (Hdt. 9.6–11).

Q3: What was the significance of the Corinthian withdrawal in c. 506? A: Cleomenes' invasion of Attica collapsed. It showed that Sparta needed allied consent, leading to League congresses, and it led to the rule that only one king should lead an army.

Assessment checkpoint: 36-mark essay on Sparta and other Greek states (timed in class).

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