The People Of Lakonia

The People Of Lakonia

The people of Laconia
( Sparta -the city state that became' like no other')
Sparta was the ruling city of the area of Laconia [pic] in the southern Peloponnese.
Sparta lay in the valley of the river Eurotas. Of the people in the towns and villages which she controlled, some were free and were known as perioekoi or "neighbours", although they were inferior in status to the Spartans themselves.
Others, because they were felt to be a greater threat, were kept in a state of slavery as publicly owned agricultural labourers. These were called helots. Helots were a fundamental part of Sparta's way of life. Around the end of the eighth century B.C., when other Greek states were obtaining the extra land which they needed by sending out colonies, Sparta took over the adjacent area of Messenia and made the conquered Messenians helots as well. Not long afterwards the Messenians revolted, and it is clear the Spartans only just managed to retain their control.
Though following the First Messenian War (735 B.C.-716 B.C. according to tradition) a colony in Tarentum (Taras) in Southern Italy was taken (c.705 B.C.) by the descendants of Spartan mothers and helot fathers, who, by virtue of their background, would have no share in the land that came from the conquest of Messenia. Following the conflict with Argos and the 17-year-long Second Messenian War (c.650 B.C.) Sparta's military weakness and vulnerability were revealed.
This conflict demonstrated Sparta's need for enough military strength to ensure internal security.Pheidon of Argos had used most successfully the hoplite formation at the Battle of Hysiae. This showed Sparta the form that military reform should take.
So, Sparta deliberately chose, during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., to develop into a city-state very unlike others. Scholars have suggested a number of reasons for Sparta's social revolution.
A rather simplistic view explaining why Sparta embarked on such a radical transformation of her society has...