The
Spartans: The World of the Warrior Heroes of
Ancient Greece
by Paul Cartledge
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Description
The Spartans is a compelling narrative that
explores the culture and civilization of the
most famous "warrior people": the
Spartans of ancient Greece, by the world's leading
expert in the field. Sparta has often been described
as the original Utopia--a remarkably evolved
society whose warrior heroes were forbidden
any other trade, profession, or business. As
a people, the Spartans were the living exemplars
of such core values as duty, discipline, the
nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for,
sacrificing the individual for the greater good
of the community (illustrated by their role
in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph
of will over seemingly insuperable obstacles--qualities
that today are frequently believed to signify
the ultimate heroism. Paul Cartledge is the
distinguished scholar and historian who has
long been seen as the leading international
authority on ancient Sparta. He traces the evolution
of Spartan society--the culture and the people,
as well as the tremendous influence they had
on their world and even ours. He details throughout
the narrative the lives of such illustrious
and myth-making figures as Lycurgus, King Leonidas,
Helen of Troy (and Sparta), and Lysander, and
explains how the Spartans, although they placed
a high value on masculine ideals, nevertheless
allowed women an unusually dominant and powerful
role--unlike Athenian culture with which the
Spartans are so often compared. In resurrecting
the ancient culture and society of the Spartans,
Cartledge delves deep into ancient texts and
archeological sources and complements his text
with illustrations that depict original Spartan
artifacts and drawings, as well as examples
of representational paintings from the Renaissance
onwards--including J.L. David's famously brooding
"Leonidas." This illuminating volume
that ties in with the PBS television series
of the same name, airing in the summer of 2003.
Booklist called Cartledge's The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, a companion
to the PBS series, "superb," while
The International History Review called Cartledge's
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece"an original and insightful work."
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Reviews From
Publishers Weekly
Legendary for their ferocious combat skills,
the Spartans built a warrior culture in
ancient Greece unsurpassed for  its courage
and military prowess. Eminent historian
Cartledge (Spartan Reflections) provides
a remarkable chronicle of Sparta's rise
and fall, from its likely origins around
1100 B.C. to the height of its fame and
glory in the battle of Thermopylae in
480 B.C. and its fall in the fourth century
B.C. The Spartans built their society
through conquest and subjugation, ruling
over their subject peoples with an iron
hand and putting down revolts with devastating
might. Between 490 and 479, Sparta joined
Athens in fighting the Persians in three
key wars-Thermopylae, Plataea and Mycale-that
contributed to the demise of Persian power
and the rise of Hellenistic power on the
Mediterranean. Cartledge punctuates his
absorbing tale with brief, engaging biographies
of the city-state's kings from Lycurgus,
the earliest Spartan leader, who brought
constitutional law to the city, to Leonidas,
who led the Spartans at Thermopylae. According
to Cartledge, the Spartans' legacy to
Western culture includes devotion to duty,
discipline, the willingness to sacrifice
individual life for the greater good of
the community and the nobility of arms
in a cause worth dying for. Cartledge's
crystalline prose, his vivacious storytelling
and his lucid historical insights combine
here to provide a first-rate history of
the Spartans, their significance to ancient
Greece and their influence on our culture.
It ties in to a PBS series to air this
summer. 27 b&w illus., 3 maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information,
Inc.
From
Booklist
To project civic-mindedness or combativeness,
American towns and school teams have appropriated
the name of Sparta--so who were the Spartans
and why do we care? So asks Cartledge,
a Cambridge University scholar whose engaging
narrative tries to discern the authenticity
of events and personalities known only
through fragmentary written or archaeological
evidence, which can be mythical, partisan,
or propagandistic. Cartledge spans Sparta's
entire existence but concentrates on the
century from the Persian invasions to
its collapse following its triumph over
Athens in 404 B.C.E. Presenting Sparta's
military and diplomatic policies, the
author studs his account with lively sketches
of Spartan leaders, above all Leonidas.
As embodiments of Sparta's warrior caste
at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.E.),
Leonidas and his 300 hoplites have redounded
down the millennia, most recently in the
historical novel Gates of Fire by Steven
Pressfield (1998), which will soon be
made into a movie. In his panorama of
the real Sparta, Cartledge cloaks his
erudition with an ease and enthusiasm
that will excite readers from page one.
Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association.
All rights reserved
About
the Author
Paul Cartledge is widely acknowledged
to be the world's leading expert on the
subject of Sparta and the Spartans. He
is Professor of Greek History and Chairman
of the Classics Faculty at Cambridge University.
Among the many articles and books he has
written and edited are Spartan Reflections,
Sparta and Lakonia, Hellenistic and Roman
Sparta, and The Greeks: A Portrait of
Self and Others. He is academic consultant
to the BBC and PBS for the series The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization.
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