I know that everyone says that Sparta is the only polis that receives an ethnographic digression, but is it really that different to other poleis (city-states)? Aren’t other cities equally unique?

Answer by Stephanie Dennie

The question of Spartan exceptionalism is one that has been the center of much scholarly debate over the past 30 or so years. Generally speaking, Sparta isn’t really that different from other Greek poleis (city-states), changing in response to, and in concert with, the unique demographic and environmental circumstances around it, as all Greek poleis did. In addition, Sparta shared common practices with the rest of the Greek world, such as participating in athletics and worship at Olympia, seeking advice and support from the Delphic oracle, and worshipping the gods and heroes who at Sparta – as anywhere – had their own peculiar features.

Considering this, the degree to which Sparta was unique from other Greek poleis remains a question of debate. Paul Cartledge has emphasised the particularities of Sparta’s education system and governing structures, while Stephen Hodkinson has highlighted the many ways in which the image of an egalitarian, austere Sparta is a myth that contrasts with the many ways in which Sparta was similar to other Greek poleis. The debate roars on, but over the past decade or so scholars have become increasingly interested in questions of localism and diversity, without undermining the polis’ shared sense of Greekness.

Within this debate, Herodotus is often mentioned for providing ethnographic details on Sparta that prompt us to consider the city’s Greekness in interesting ways. For example, Herodotus discusses the privileges of the Spartan basileis (kings) in book 6 (6.56-59), explicitly contrasting the Spartan regal costumes with the Persian (6.59) and Egyptian ones (6.60). Herodotus does provide ethnographic information about other Greek poleis though, including Athens (1.56-58), so I think we can definitively say that Herodotus’ treatment of Sparta is not entirely exceptional. Yet it is true that Sparta plays an important role in Herodotus’ narrative: when reading the Histories in their entirety, it is clear that there is an embedded Sparta-narrative in the work that begins in book 1 (1.65), pops up again in books 5 and 6, and then in book 7 before the famous Thermopylae episode and later again with the depiction of Pausanias at the battle of Plataea in book 8. The treatment of Sparta in the first five books is centered around Sparta’s dyarchy (double kingship), a distinctive feature of the Spartan political system. In the later books, instead, the representation of Pausanias emphasizes the Greekness of Sparta, in contrast with the ‘othering’ representation of the Persians.

For some scholarship on the topic, I’d recommend reading Cartledge’s 2002 reprint of Sparta and Lakonia in-step with Hodkinson’s Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta (2000) and Kennell’s the Spartans: A New History (2011), in addition to the 2-volume Companion to Sparta (2018) edited by Anton Powell (Blackwell).