Welcome back from the holiday break, and welcome back to my regular episodes! This week the Unknown Soldiers Podcast is finally going to the ancient world. Today's episode is a major reassessment of the Spartan military legend. I find it, well, somewhat lacking.
I'm not the first or last person to point out a lot of the brutality and horror behind the Spartan system, or its deficiencies in a military setting. Sparta achieved a lot of its reputation by...just spinning their stories in a way that made them look good. Its society was unusually cruel even for the day, but also inflexible, rigid and ultimately self-destructive. The broken society produced a broken military. Far from being the unstoppable military machine of popular history, Sparta's soldiers had serious weaknesses derived from their traditions and inability to reform. Today, I examine all of these problems in what I hope is STYLE.
We're moving away from Western Europe and America for a while, everyone. But we'll be back eventually! We have places to go. Over January and February we'll be going to Greece, India, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea...all sorts of places. Stay tuned for further developments on the Unknown Soldiers Podcast!
Below I have some maps, a handy chart I did to assess Sparta's major battles (something I promised in the course of the episode) and finally my sources! Catch you guys next week!
SPARTAN LAND BATTLES, 480 BC-362 BC
BATTLE | DATE | OUTCOME | NOTES |
Thermopylae | 480 BC | Defeat | |
Plataea | 479 BC | Victory | As part of large Greek alliance |
Tegea | 474 BC | Victory | |
Tanagra | 457 BC | Victory | |
Siege of Plataea | 430-427 BC | Victory | like the only successful siege |
Olpae | 426 BC | Defeat | |
Pylos & Sphacteria | 425 BC | Defeat | Combined land/naval action, but mostly land |
Megara | 424 BC | Victory | |
Amphipolis | 422 BC | Victory | |
1st Mantinea | 418 BC | Victory | |
Phyle | 404 BC | Defeat | |
Haliartus | 395 BC | Defeat | |
Sardis | 395 BC | Victory | |
Nemea | 394 BC | Victory | |
Coronea | 394 BC | Victory | |
Lechaeum | 391 BC | Defeat | |
Abydos | 390? BC | Defeat | |
Olynthus | 382 BC | Defeat | |
Thespiae | 376 BC | Defeat | |
Tegyra | 375 BC | Defeat | |
Leuctra | 371 BC | Defeat | |
2nd Mantinea | 362 BC | Stalemate | (but basically a defeat) |
SPARTAN NAVAL BATTLES, 480 BC-362 BC
BATTLE | DATE | OUTCOME | NOTES |
Artemisium | 480 BC | Stalemate | Most ships and battle plan contributed by Athens |
Salamis | 480 BC | Victory | Most ships and battle plan contributed by Athens |
Mycale | 479 BC | Victory | Most ships and battle plan contributed by Athens, see a trend here? |
Rhium & Naupactus | 429 BC | Defeat | |
Syme | 411 BC | Victory | |
Cynossema | 411 BC | Defeat | |
Abydos | 411 BC | Defeat | |
Cyzicus | 410 BC | Defeat | Combined land/sea operation, mostly on sea |
Notium | 407 BC | Victory | |
Arginusae | 406 BC | Defeat | |
Aegospotami | 404 BC | Victory | |
Naxos | 376 BC | Defeat | |
Note: I will say that Bret Devereaux, cited below, spells out on his blog essentially what I spell out in this episode. Some insights came from him, others are mine.
SOURCES
Cartledge, Paul, The Spartans: the World of the Warrior Heroes of Ancient Greece. New York: Vintage, 2003.
Cole, Myke. The Bronze Lie: Shattering the Myth of Spartan Warrior Supremacy. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2021.
Devereaux, Bret. “A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry.” Blog. https://acoup.blog/
Kennell, Nigel M. Spartans: A New History. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Spartan Women. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Rahe, Paul A. The Spartan Regime: Its Character, Origins, and Grand Strategy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016.
Rusch, Scott M. Sparta at War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550-362 BC. London: Frontline, 2011.