Thucydides And Sparta’s Path To Empire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4151/07197969-Vol.12-Iss.3-Art.612Abstract
Scholars have long agreed on the programmatic nature of Thucydides’ archaeology (1.1-23), the author’s exposition of the defining features of Greek history before the beginning of the Atheno-Peloponnesian war. As such, the account of the ancient, first beginnings of Greece is also an analysis of the forces that long operated in Greek history and that are still evident in the great war that the author chose for his subject. Thucydides claims that the war he writes about is the greatest and most memorable of all wars, because both sides were at the full height of their power (1.1.1 y 1.21.2). He argues that the acquisition of wealth and naval supremacy were the primary routes to power in Greek history, which clearly explains, for instance, Athens’ rise to international preeminence. Sparta, however, did not follow that path at all. In fact, Thucydides never associates these changes with Sparta’s historical development. In this paper, I argue that Sparta’s unusual path to supremacy represents an alternative way to the acquisition of power, an avenue often unexplored in studies on Thucydides’ History. Although presented in a more subtle and incidental way, I seek to show that political continuity and stability over time, of which Sparta is the best example, allow, in Thucydides’ view, another viable way into imperial supremacy.
Keywords: Thucydides, Sparta, imperialism, political theory, historiography.
References
Allison, Graham. Destined for war: Can America and China escape Thucydides's trap? Boston y Nueva York, Mariner Books, 2017.
Balot, Ryan; Forsdyke, Sara y Foster, Edith (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides. New York, Oxford University Press, 2017.
Bayliss, Andrew. The Spartans. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020.
Cartledge, Paul y Debnar, Paula “Sparta and the Spartans in Thucydides”. Rengakos, Antonios y Tsakmakis, Antonis (eds.). Brill’s Companion to Thucydides. Boston y Leiden, Brill, 2006, pp. 559-587.
Cartledge, Paul y Powell, Anton (eds.). The Geek superpower: Sparta in the self-definitions of Athenians. Swansea, The Classical Press of Wales, 2018.
Cloché, Paul. “Thucydide et Lacédémone”. Les Études Classiques, Nº12, 1943, pp. 81-113.
Connor, Robert. Thucydides. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1984.
Debnar, Paula. “Sparta in Pericles’ Funeral Oration”. Cartledge, Paul y Powell, Anton (eds.). The Greek superpower: Sparta in the self-definitions of Athenians. Swansea, The Classical Press of Wales, 2018, pp. 1-32.
Ducat, Jean. “The Presence of Sparta in the Funeral Oration of Perikles”. Powell, Anton y Debnar, Paula (eds.). Thucydides and Sparta. Swansea, The Classical Press of Wales, 2021, pp. 55-84.
Early, Benjamin. The Thucydidean turn: (Re)interpreting Thucydides’ political thought before, during and after the Great War. Londres y Nueva York, Bloomsbury, 2020.
Ellis, John R. “The structure and argument of Thucydides’ archaeology”. Classical Antiquity, Nº10, 1991, pp. 344-376.
Fornis, César. Esparta. La historia, el cosmos y la leyenda de los antiguos espartanos. Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla, 2016.
Fornis, César “Tucídides y el kósmos espartano”. Fornis, César; Hermosa, Antonio y Fernández Muñoz, Jesús (coord.). Tucídides y el poder de la historia. Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla, 2019, pp. 139-160.
Greenwood, Emily. “Thucydides’ general attitude to Sparta”. Powell, Anton y Debnar, Paula (eds.). Thucydides and Sparta. Swansea, The Classical Press of Wales, 2021, pp. 1-22.
Hodkinson, Stephen. Property and wealth in classical Sparta. Londres, Duckworth y The Classical Press of Wales, 2000.
Hornblower, Simon. Thucydides. Baltimore, The John Hopkins University Press, 1987.
Hornblower, Simon. A Commentary on Thucydides. Books I-III. Vol. 1. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1991.
Hornblower, Simon. A Commentary on Thucydides. Books 5.25-8.109. Vol. 3. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Iglesias-Zoido, Juan Carlos. “Pericles y la definición de democracia (Thuc. 2.37.1): Estado de la cuestión e interpretaciones antiguas de una pasaje clave del epitafio”. Fortunatae, Nº32, 2020, pp. 259-281.
Jaffe, Seth. Thucydides on the outbreak of war. Character and contest. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017.
Kallet-Marx, Lisa. Money, expense, and naval power in Thucydides' History 1-5.24. Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford, University of California Press, 1993.
Leppin, Hartmut. Thukydides und die Verfassung der Polis. Ein Beitrag zur politischen Ideengeschichte des 5 Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 1999.
Luraghi, Nino. “Thucydides and Spartan Power in the Archaeology and beyond”. Pothou, Vassiliki y Rechenauer, Georg (eds.). Thucydides. A violent teacher? History and its representations. Göttingen, V&R Unipress, 2011, pp. 185-197.
Momigliano, Arnaldo. “Sea-power in Greek thought”. The Classical Review, Nº58, 1944, pp. 1-7.
Ollier, François. Le mirage spartiate: étude sur l’idéalisation de Sparte dans l’antiquité grecque de l’origine jusqu’aux cyniques. Paris, De Boccard, 1933.
Orwin, Clifford. The humanity of Thucydides. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1994.
Powell, Anton y Debnar, Paula (eds.). Thucydides and Sparta. Swansea, The Classical Press of Wales, 2021.
Romilly, Jaqueline de. Histoire et raison chez Thucydide. Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1956.
Sierra Martín, César. Tucídides Archaiologikós. Grecia antes de la Guerra del Peloponeso. Zaragoza, Libros Pórtico, 2017.
Starr, Chester. The influence of sea power on Ancient History. Nueva York y Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989.
Thauer, Christian y Wendt, Christian (eds.). Thucydides and political order: Concepts of order and the History of the Peloponnesian War. Nueva York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Van Wees, Hans. “Thucydides on early Greek history”. Balot, Ryan; Forsdyke, Sara y Foster, Edith (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides. New York, Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 29-62.
