The Spartans and the Battle of Leuktra

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the Battle of Leuktra and the Spartan state. It looks at some of the many battles and wars between the Spartans and the Athenians for control of Greece that raged in the central Mediterranean area, along the Asia Minor coastline and of course in mainland Greece. The paper focuses on the final defeat of Leuktra and its implications for the Spartans.

From the Paper:

"If the lure of wealth is what keeps them at home, it also allows them the opportunity to pay for someone else to protect them, or to find and conquer new territories. Many times those that are sent in a Spartan's stead would be men from other cultures or countries. Their incentive in accomplishing any objective would be to become a free citizen of Sparta, and that is a lot of incentive. However, would it be enough incentive to fight to the death, as most Spartiates had been raised to believe was the most honorable event in one's life? Probably not, and decidedly not if we are to believe that the battle of Leuctra was fought by only 1000 Spartiates, with the rest of the army comprised of citizens from other cultures."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cawkwell, G.L. (1983) The Decline of Sparta, Classical Quarterly, Vol. 33, Issue ii, pp. 385 - 400
• Hind, A. (2006) Weaponry: It took a humiliating major defeat to convince the Spartans to adopt the bow and arrow, Military History, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pp. 12 - 14
• Jackson, M.W., (2007) Cracking the Thucydides code, Antioch Review, Vol. 65, Number 1, pp. 173 - 184
• Walker, M., (2001) Bush's Choice: Athens or Sparta, World Policy, Vol. 18, Number 2, pp. 1 - 9

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