Battle of Leuktra 371 BC

[PMBardunias]

We are largely of the same opinion on most things.

I am glad to see this, we simply come at it from different biases.

The Key to understanding Spartan policy, and thus Xenophon, is to remember that there were three Spartas. One that was the facade put up for consumption by other states, one that represented the official policy of the Spartan government, and the last that was the reality of the actions of spartans abroad, often at odds with the other two.

Xenophon often portrays the first, obfuscates on the second, he himself may not have always been sure (I'm not sure the spartan government was sure either!), and is capricious in the details of the last- depending on his relationship with the actors.

[quote]We differ with the use of my term “sell-outâ€