The Growth of Spartan Policy

Abstract

The relation of Sparta to the other Greek states in the early days of Greek history has been little examined and less understood. As a result two erroneous hypotheses have found their way into the stock-in-trade of the ancient historian. The first of these is that the development of Sparta was quite exceptional and unique among the Greek states; the second is that the foreign policy of Sparta was wholly opportunist, or, so far as a guiding principle can be traced, was mainly influenced by the domestic question of the helots. It is the object of this article to prove:— (1) That down to 550 Sparta underwent a political development closely analogous to that of the rest of Greece.