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Spartan Society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC

Role of the Spartan Army

Jeffrey Lumb

Blacktown Girls High School

Outcomes

H1.1	describe and assess the significance of key people, groups, events, institutions, societies and sites within the historical context
H4.1	use historical terms and concepts appropriately
H3.3	analyse and evaluate sources for their usefulness and reliability

Principal Focus:

The investigation of key features of Spartan society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC, through a range of archaeological and written sources and relevant historiographical issues.

Students learn about:

Social structure and political organisation:
- role of the Spartan Army
- educational system:agoge
The economy:
- technology: weapons, armour

This tutorial assists students to:

describe significant features of the army in ancient Sparta
understand the role and influence of the army in ancient Sparta
make deductions and draw conclusions about the significance of the army in Spartan society
understand the relevant archaeological or written evidence (primary and secondary) for the army in ancient Sparta.

The Leonidaion-Sanctuary of King Leonidas

Hero of the Battle of Thermopylae

Thermopylae was a prime example of the self-sacrificing
patriotism that was demanded of the Spartan hoplite

The Spartan army

Reproduced with the permission of Martijn Moerbeek
http://monolith.student.utwente.nl/~marsares/warfare/army/s_hoplit.html

The reputation of the Spartan hoplite was well established. Their equipment was excellent, especially compared to that of non-Greeks. They had willpower and no fear of dying on the battlefield; to die in this way was the greatest honour a Spartan could hope for. At the back of every Spartan's mind, as he prepared for battle, lay the words of Spartan women ...that a Spartan hoplite should return home carrying his hoplon or being carried on it! When retreating, a hoplite discarded his hoplon (shield) as it was very cumbersome when attempting to run. To retreat was, for a Spartan, unthinkable. Hence the loss of a shield was considered cowardice. If a Spartan was killed in battle, his comrades carried his body on his hoplon back from battle for burial.

The educational system: agoge and the Spartan Army

Comradeship in the Spartan army was extremely strong. According to Spartan tradition, Lycurgus had been most particular in fostering it. The agoge (Spartan system of education) had comradeship and belonging as one of its cornerstones. Young boys were drilled in packs. As a youth of 20 a Spartan male sought membership to one of the dining clubs. This syssition, as it was called, comprised some 15 members who spent considerable time with one another, even when not in training. When in battle, the syssition was the hoplite's "tent".

In a recent publication by Stephen Hodkinson and Anton Powell (Sparta: New Perspectives), H.W. Singor looks at the syssition's composition in detail. Singor emphasised the close bond that developed between members. This bond continued into old age and had implications in the formation of chains of patronage down through the different age groups.

The structure of the Spartan Army

Thucydides, a Greek historian and soldier, gives us a detailed overview of the structure of the Spartan army around 400 B.C.

He says that the organisation was based in a row eight men deep. Four of these rows formed an enomotia or platoon; four enomotiai formed in their turn a pentekostis or company which was commanded by a pentekonter; four pentekosteis formed a lochos or battalion under the leadership of a lochagos. The average army had about seven of these lochois, giving a total of 3,548 men excluding commanders.

Xenophon, who had also been an officer, tells us about a different structure.

Now the average row was twelve men deep, while only two of these rows were needed to form an enomotia. Two enomotiai formed a pentekostis, two pentekosteis formed a lochos, while four lochois formed a mora, or regiment, under the command of a ptolemarch (or polemarch). An army consisted of six morae. The reduction of the Spartan population did decrease the total strength of the Spartan army, but not the strength of a mora, which consisted of some 500, 600, or 900 men. The number varied as it depended on the age of the hoplites who were used.

Regardless of the precise composition of the phalanx, in battle the drill was the same. The enomotiai marched behind each other in a large row. Before the battle the last troops of each enemotia positioned themselves on the left behind their leader to form a phalanx of four columns, in total 16 rows wide, and 8 rows deep. A space of two metres was maintained between the columns, but on the order "close ranks" the last troops walked to the left front to close gaps in the front row. The phalanx was in a closed formation and ready for the battle.

Whatever structure the Spartans might have used, it did not decrease their effective communication system. The king gave his orders directly to the ptolemarchs, who passed them on through the troops via the lower officers.

The biggest problem lay in the fact that each soldier was trained so well that the Spartan army practically consisted only of trained men (without an officer). Yet, the average soldier was so well drilled and trained that he knew as much about warfare as an officer! Such an organisation does not always give the best results on the battlefield. An example of this is the Battle of Plataea (479 B.C.) where the Spartan commander refused to follow the order of the Spartan king, Pausanias, to retreat. At the Battle of Mantineia (362 B.C.), the ptolemarchs at the right wing ignored the orders of the king as they wanted to win the battle in their own way. Later, these ptolemarchs were sued and banished from Sparta.

Orders were hard to understand in the uproar of a battle, and the Corinthian helmet (see illustration below) also reduced the hearing of the soldiers. This is the reason horn signals and hand signals were often used. However, they were sometimes misunderstood, as was the case in an incident at Amphipolis, where the unprotected right side of the Spartan phalanx was exposed to an Athenian attack, with dramatic results.

Spartan helmet in the Corinthian style

Drawing of a Spartan helmet in the Corinthian style

The Spartan hoplite - weapons and armour

The panoply of the Spartan hoplite (consisting of helmet, corselet, greaves, round hoplon, short sword and thrusting spear) was not very different from an Athenian hoplite. The most noticeable differences were the Spartan symbol on the hoplon, and the red cape (which was not worn during a battle). Long hair was common on Spartan men. Plutarch attributes this fashion to a saying of Lycurgus: "In times of battles the officers relaxed the harshest aspects of their discipline and did not stop the men from beautifying their hair and their armour and their clothing, glad to see them like horses prancing and neighing before races. For this reason they took care over their hair from the time when they were youths, especially seeing to it in times of trouble so that it appeared sleek and well-combed...... it makes the handsome better-looking and the ugly more frightening."

A Spartan hoplite prepared for battle

Spartan hoplite illustration used with the permission of Martijn Moerbeek

		Long thrusting spear (about 3 metres in length)
Helmet in the Corinthian style, while protecting the head, made hearing and vision difficult
		Distinctive red cape
Protective corselet covering the upper body worn over a cloth tunic
		A short stabbing sword was worn on the right side attached to a belt around the waist
Greaves protected the lower legs of the hoplite		Hoplon (shield) bearing the Greek letter "L"

Revision

Click on the links for help in completing your answers

Who was King Leonidas?
Click here for help.
Why would the example of Leonidas stand as a model for other Spartans?
Why did the Spartans view the loss of the hoplon in battle as evidence of cowardice?
What role did the Spartan education system play in the development of the Spartan army?
Using the information above and your own knowledge of the upbringing of Spartan males, describe the role played by women in the military spirit of Sparta.
Examine the illustration of the Spartan hoplite.
Describe each of items that comprised his panoply.
How well was he equipped for battle?

Looking further

All of these books are easily obtainable:

Bradley, P.Ancient Greece Using Evidence, p. 67
Hennessy, D. (ed.)Studies in Ancient Greece, pp 57-78
Hurley, T. (et al)Antiquity 2, pp 63-66
Lawless, J (ed.)Societies from the Past - Part 4 Sparta, pp 184-187

The following Internet sites are excellent sources on many aspects of Ancient Sparta:

Sourcebook of materials on ancient Sparta: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-sparta.html
A collection of materials on ancient Sparta: http://www.laconia.org/gen_info_literature/Web_sites%20all.htm
Another collection of materials for the study of Ancient Sparta: http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/sparta.html
A detailed bibliography on ancient Sparta: http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/spartbib.html

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