ET CETERA ANTIQUA

📝 Classical Civilisation mini-essay, Year 11. Mark: 10/10. Teacher feedback: “6 full range of points, very good historical detail, mostly well explained — just a little bit of waffle. Intro is a bit of nothing — flag that you’re tackling the question and your take on it. Excellent, Millie!”

Sparta was a unique, landlocked polis situated in the south of Greece, with a lawgiver who introduced lots of civic reforms to strengthen the society.

One way Spartan laws made its citizens more devoted to fighting for Sparta is the land reform. This is when each citizen is allotted a piece of land, or kleros, at birth. This promoted equality because the kleros couldn’t be bought or sold, so each citizen was the same. The kleros land also meant that Spartan citizens were devoted to the army because if the citizen died or deserted the army, the land was given back to the state. This meant Spartan citizens wanted to fight, or they would lose the land for themselves and their families.

Another way Spartan laws did this is their unusual currency. Rather than using gold, silver or bronze coins, Lycurgus introduced iron bars, or pelanors, as currency. These iron bars were intrinsically worthless. This meant no other poleis were willing to trade with Sparta, as they would trade gold for iron. This made Sparta more self-reliant and isolated them from other city states. This made Spartan citizens more devoted to fighting because they only desired what their kleros could produce — additional luxuries and wealth were of no interest.

Another way Spartan laws did this was by isolating its citizens. Spartans were encouraged to stay in Sparta and not to travel abroad, as they might adopt foreign habits and become weak and undisciplined, as other city states didn’t train as much as Sparta. This made Spartan citizens more devoted to fighting because their whole lives were spent in Sparta, where the focus was war and fighting.

Another way Spartan laws did this was their rules on arts and crafts. Men couldn’t work in art because it was seen as weak and feminine. Spartans didn’t craft anything — the craftsmen class (the perioikoi) did this for them. This meant that Spartan citizens had lots of free time, as they also had helots to work the land. This meant that they were more devoted to fighting, because they were focused on fighting.

Finally, another way Spartan laws did this was their common mess halls, or syssitia. This required all Spartan men to sleep and eat in a syssition with other men, and not with their wives. This meant that the men bonded with each other. This made the men more devoted to fighting because they had something more to lose — they would want to fight with these men, with whom they had spent so long eating in the syssition. This brought the Spartan citizens together.