About spartan army

[SAJID]

sir,

is spartan army part of Roman army ?
what is different between spartan and roman ?

regards-sajid

[Vindex]

Very briefly and simply, the Spartan Army is Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartan_army) and historically hundreds of years before Rome and their formal army (Imperial etc).(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rome)

[Currahee Chris]

Both represented two different city states- The Spartans Sparta and the Romans - Rome (simplistically)

I had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of a City State. A City State is simply a City that was large or influential enough to wield power or influence,,much like a country is today. The Spartans and Romans fought against one another as Sparta was fading and Rome was growing in power.

[Creon01]

You sure about the Romans and Spartans fighting each other?

Let's not provide fuzzy information.

[Athena Areias]

Google "Battle of Gythium" - Rome + Greek Allies vs. Spartans = Spartans eventually capitulate.

[Creon01]

Google "Battle of Gythium" - Rome + Greek Allies vs. Spartans = Spartans eventually capitulate.

Hi Cheryl - Yeah, I knew someone would bring up that battle and the Nabis War.

Yes, the city of Sparta did indeed fight a war against Rome and some of her Greek Allies, but that Sparta was just a shadow of her former self and can hardly be called a "Spartan" state in the truest sense of the term. Almost every aspect of Spartan society that distinguished it as unique from the other Greek city states was gone by the time Nabis became the the leader at Sparta.

If we mean "Spartan" as someone who completed the traditional agoge established by Lycurgus, not the latter corrupted versions, then the last true Spartans disappeared many years before the Battle of Gythium.

If we mean any person living in Sparta is a "Spartan" then indeed the walled city of Sparta fought a war against Rome and her allies in 195 BC, and not surprisingly lost.

By the time of these events Sparta was well past its position as a major power in Greece and relied heavily of mercenaries, freed slaves and allies to fill its depleted ranks. After 371 BC in the aftermath of Leuctra, fully 176 years before Gythium, traditional Sparta, the Sparta of Thermopylae, Plataea and the Peloponnesian War was gone forever.

That's what I meant by fuzzy information.

[Athena Areias]

Thanks for the clarification (and typing all that :wink: ).

[Ovid]

It turned into a Roman Disneyland. http://www.civilisation.org.uk/greece-2/...an-sparta/