Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower, by Andrew Bayliss

Two thousand five hundred years later, Sparta is still emblematic of courage under fire. The soldiers of this Greek city state, 300 of them, held off an invading Persian army of many tens of thousands long enough to secure the eventual Greek (and world-changing) victory. The Spartan stand was celebrated in poetry by Lord Byron; the U.S. Marine Corps studies their tactics; and the Spartans have found their way into Hollywood movies and action video games. Sports teams from Michigan to the Czech Republic call themselves Spartans.

Historian Andrew Bayliss (University of Birmingham) tells their full story in Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower, even if the “Superpower” subtitle is less factual than hyperbole. Although feared across Greece, Sparta was more a regional force, perhaps the biggest neighborhood bully. Their accomplishments include founding what might have been the first army in standardized uniforms and the first compulsory state-run education system for all its citizens. Of course, few of Sparta’s inhabitants were citizens. Most were enslaved in an especially cruel system. The men shared wives as breeding stock for soldiers. Babies born weak or disabled were killed. Sparta was more an army with a country than a country with an army.

Bayliss uses his slender sources well (most ancient writings have not survived) to produce a picture of decidedly mixed messages. Sparta’s story, he writes, shows “why we should be careful when we chose our heroes.”

Get The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower on Amazon here.

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