Ancient sparta economy. Explain the main features of the Spartan Economy. This... 2022-10-31
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The economy of ancient Sparta was heavily centered on agriculture, as was common for many city-states in ancient Greece. Sparta's location in the fertile Eurotas Valley and its access to abundant water sources allowed for the cultivation of a variety of crops, including grains, vegetables, and fruit.
In addition to agriculture, Sparta also had a strong focus on military training and warfare. All male citizens were required to undergo rigorous physical and military training from a young age, and the city-state was known for its highly disciplined and well-trained military. This focus on military might allowed Sparta to exert a strong influence over its neighboring city-states and to become a dominant power in the region.
Sparta's economy also relied on trade and commerce. The city-state was located on the important trade route known as the "Golden Road," which connected the eastern and western Mediterranean. Sparta also had a strong naval presence, which allowed it to control trade in the region and to engage in overseas trade.
One unique aspect of Sparta's economy was the system of communal land ownership known as the "kleros." Under this system, land was owned collectively by the state and was allocated to individual families for cultivation. This allowed for a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources and helped to prevent the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
Sparta's economy was also supported by the labor of a large class of non-citizen inhabitants known as "helots." These helots were serfs who were tied to the land and were required to provide labor and a portion of their crops to their Spartiate masters. This labor allowed Sparta to devote more of its resources to military training and expansion.
Overall, the economy of ancient Sparta was heavily centered on agriculture and military power, with trade and commerce also playing important roles. The unique system of communal land ownership and the reliance on helot labor helped to sustain and support this economy.
Ancient Sparta Economy
However, Sparta as a culture had a large distrust for outside society. The eisphorá εἰσφορά was a tax on the wealth of the very rich, but it was levied only when needed — usually in times of war. The Athenians lived a far more diverse life if compared to Sparta. However, in 431 BC this would begin to change drastically. At its height Sparta would attempt to invade modern Turkey to retake several lost Greek settlements.
Hodkinson also uses the issues of wealth and property to construct an analysis of classical Sparta that explains both its long-standing external success from c. Sparta was scared that contact with other city-states would lead to new ideas and weaken it's government. Sparta was famous for the sheer power and strength of its military. This criticism, however, is a small one, and its triviality clearly indicates how highly I regard this book. On the other hand, seeing traditional Greek social and political values that disdained the productive, impersonal, and industrial nature of modern market economies, the primitivists downplayed the existence of extensive trade and the use of money in the Ancient Greek Economics. The perioikoi were free men that would serve in the army when needed. Taxes were levied on houses, slaves, herds and flocks, wines, and hay, among other things.
Its most famous legacy is the Spartan military diet, which restricted the consumption of food and drink to allow for rigorous training. Each baby was sent to have the ten, ten, one test done on them as explained in the novel, The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. A painting by Jean Jacques Francois Le Barbier depicting a Spartan woman giving her son a shield. The Spartans finally regained their independence in 371 BC, but lost it again in Messenia in 371 BC. Agis 5 and which Hodkinson and others have effectively refuted as an unhistorical third-century invention.
The Ancient Spartan Economy: The 3 Sectors Of Ancient Sparta
These peoples were divided into two broad categories: the residents of other towns, who enjoyed a free but dependent status asperioikoi, and the peasants, who endured a far more restricted status ashelots. Civil and criminal cases were decided by a group of officials known as the damos, the collective body of Spartan citizenry, who would Royal prerogatives were curtailed over time. Helots and Perioikoi The helots were the slave class of Spartan society. Furthermore, as a result of their education and the fact that they moved freely in society engaging with their fellow male citizens, they were notorious for speaking their minds even in public. See also Paul Cartledge's discussion of property in Sparta in Sparta and Lakonia, pp. Sector 1: Farming Run By Helots The main economic sector of the Spartan economy was agriculture. In the end Sparta would triumph and begin to enact tributes from the other city-states around Greece.
However, because Spartan citizens were prohibited by their laws from engaging in any profession except that of arms, the perioikoi had a monopoly on trade and manufacturing throughout Lacedaemon. Cleomenes attempted to revive traditional Spartan institutions but understood the need to modernize the army, adopting Macedonian-style drill and equipment. Liturgies could consist of, for instance, the maintenance of a The eisphora was a progressive tax, as it was applied to only the wealthiest. Sparta's economy was highly dependent on slave labor. In spite of this however Sparta would develop a thriving trade sector in their economy. According to Brian Brennan, why was the land reform attributed to Lycurgus? The helots and kleros were however owned by the state.
But, from the agricultural production of the land, the Spartiates' stewarded, each Spartiate could pay the fees of their syssitia, and the training of the upcoming generations of children in the agoge. Figueira, "Population Patterns in Late Archaic and Classical Sparta", Transactions of the American Philological Association 1974-2014 , Vol. Capitalizing on the hitherto unexploited archaeological evidence from the major sanctuaries both in Sparta and abroad, Hodkinson focuses on bronze votive offerings, which survive in reasonable quantities. Sparta Envision a world where the people are ravenous and yearning for any remnant of food they could obtain, where the society is overrun and no one has a free say. Spartan achievements are largely associated with military accomplishments and victories. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them. Die Münzprägung der Lakedaimonier.
Spartan girls received an education known as mousikē. See also, Life of Demetrios, 1, 5; Constitution of the Lacedemonians 30; De Cohibenda Ira 6; De Commmunibus Notitiis 19. Sparta is thought to be the first city to practice athletic nudity, and some scholars claim that it was also the first to formalize pederasty. However, unlike slaves in other societies, the helots could earn money through their labor and even pay for their freedom. For instance, the famed Pottery in ancient Greece was most often the work of slaves. This war is known today as the Peloponnesian war.
Explain the main features of the Spartan Economy. This...
This style of fighting was optimal in rough terrain, tight spaces and narrow corridors of river valleys associated with Sparta geography. The perioikoi were not citizens of Sparta like the Spartiates, but they were also not slaves. Romans admired the ancient Spartan virtues of asceticism, toughness, and conservatism, and Sparta became a popular tourist destination. Chapter Six considers public limitations on private property ownership. Spartan Trading As previously mentioned, the military class of Sparta, the Spartiates were full-time soldiers and could not participate in trading. The second part of the chapter turns to a detailed consideration of the character, geographical location, and extent of Spartiate landholdings in Lakonia and Messenia. Methods of mistreatment could be far more extreme: Spartans were allowed to kill Helots for being too smart or too fit, among other reasons.
These reasons, along with various others, are why the Spartan army was able to succeed and become the dominant force in ancient Greece. The Basis of Ancient Greek economy The basis of the Greek economy was its maritime trade. Because most of the Spartan men spent their lives as warriors, Sparta used slaves to produce it's goods. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities. A very wealthy class of workshop owners grew, especially tannery owners like Cleon and Anytus and kleophon owning an Iyres producing factory. .
Ancient Greek Economy, Ancient Athens Economy and Trade, Greek Job
Chapter Eight reveals that this basic uniformity of lifestyle extended to Spartiate funerary and burial practices, which were normally austere and provided no opportunities for wealthy citizens to utilize or advertise their wealth. The city-state was ruled by a ruling class of aristocrats who used military might to maintain their power. Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition of the West, pp. In A Companion to Sparta, edited by Anton Powell, Vol. On the other hand, indirect taxes were quite important. This practice was also intended to demonstrate to young people how an adult Spartan should never act, as self-control was a prized trait. This is the type of society the ancient Spartans would have lived like unlike the ancient Athenians.
