The Greek Superpower

Even Greeks – in later times – saw Athens as 'the Hellas of Hellas', the moral standard-bearer of Greek civilisation. But in the classical period many Athenians thought otherwise: Athens might be a school of Hellas, but the school of Hellas was Sparta. Spartan soldiers dominated the Greek mainland and beyond, and in 404 bc Sparta enforced the total military surrender of Athens. The cause of this supremacy was seen as the uniquely harmonious subordination of Sparta's citizens to their city's interest. This book explores Athenians' thinking about Sparta's military and moral ascendancy. In nine new studies from a distinguished international cast, the works of Athenian politicians, writers and artists are examined so as to reveal mentalities in the wider city which, at the extreme, might cause Athenians to revere Sparta even as they fought her. Such respect culminated not only in Plato's literary creation of fantasy cities (in the Republic and Laws) which imitated Spartan methods, but even in a short-lived claim by ruling Athenian politicians that Athens, after its military surrender, was to be remodelled as itself a New Sparta.