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Sparta: The Fall of the EmpireMHQ | 9 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
Spartan society has often been idealized, in large part because of its long record of military success. The Enlightenment social philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau took Sparta as his model for his influential book The Social Contract. American revolutionaries in 1776 and French revolutionaries in 1789 looked to Sparta as an idealized ‘republic of virtue.’ Since then, innumerable local sports teams have been nicknamed ‘Spartans,’ and some American towns boast the name ‘Sparta.’ But it is important to remember that the real, original Sparta broke with a sharp snap because it could not bend. The Spartans failed to rebound after Leuctra because they could not find a way to deviate from entrenched habits of rigid hierarchy, state terrorism, and social conformity. Leuctra was Sparta’s fate because those habits led the Spartans to surround themselves by enemies abroad, while simultaneously feeding the angry hunger of those restive internal subjects who would happily have eaten the few remaining Similars raw.
This article was written by Josiah Ober and originally published in the Summer 1998 edition of MHQ.
For more great articles, subscribe to MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History today! Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts
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9 Comments to “Sparta: The Fall of the Empire”
Why did the movie 300 show a Army of 10,000 spartans ready to fight and tell of a fall of spartan’s behalf?
By Dan on Oct 2, 2008 at 8:37 pm
only 300 were spartans; the others were allied states. The commander of the operation told them to flee, because defeat was inevitable, but had the
spartans remain to do the job as long as the could.
By bob on Nov 13, 2008 at 6:04 pm
No at the end of the movie the spartan army numbered 10,000 because it was the Battle Of Plataea and was when the Greeks defeated the Persian army
By Michael on Jan 10, 2009 at 4:41 am
how did the marching spartan army remain in step?
By ella on Jan 10, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Well, I would say that if your society was militaristic there would be no problem getting your military to funciton, esecially if all your warriors would gladly die for there state.
By Jacob on Feb 24, 2009 at 2:17 am
true that, they were the best, I bet the even samuri couldn’t take the Spartans. If they wanted to they could have done what Alexander the Great did, but I guess they didn’t think the world was worth ruling.
By John on Mar 23, 2009 at 1:04 pm
dan, bob, and mike – it was a movie…how old are you, man? hollywood NEVER portrays military history accurately…like…ever. stop basing historical facts and/or questions from stuff made by directors who probably have never even fired a gun.
ella – these days, if you look at marching bands, you’ll notice a beat in the drum – depending on the operating procedure of the band, at the beat, they all will make sure their left / right foot hits the ground everytime that beat hits. that’s why during these days, there was a battledrum of some sort – if not, cadence callers, or something to that effect.
john – depends on how you see the picture. spartan might depended on the strength of their phalanx with 3 objectives – fix, flank, and finish. if you pay attention to the strategies of japanese warriors during the day of their samurai, i’d have to contest and say that samurai tactics would win. if spartans marched into the dense forests of east asia, the samurai would ensure he would put spoiling attacks and full-scale ambush lines in place to breakup the unison of the phalanx.
By JimmyJames on Apr 23, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Spartans were really Hoplite soldiers that were highly praised for their combat
By Renick on May 14, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I agree with john. The spartans were the best at what they did for the time. But as time went on better stratigies developed. There is a reason why later armies gave up on the phalanx. A phalanx- even a spartan phalanx would be trashed any army that new how to counter it. It could not move over difficult terain and cannot effectivley defend its flanks.
By John Greystoke on Jun 2, 2009 at 12:16 pm