A Companion to Sparta, 2 Volume Set

A Companion to Sparta brings together scholars to examine Spartan history, society and culture across two substantial volumes. Edited by Anton Powell, it ranges beyond the familiar Spartan warrior to consider political institutions, helot labour, religion, gender, material culture and Sparta’s relationships with the wider Greek world.

The essays question how much of Sparta’s reputation rests on ancient testimony and how much on later retelling. Alongside studies of Laconian archaeology, communal messes, kingship and Spartan women, the collection follows changes in Sparta’s fortunes after the Classical period and traces the uses of its image in modern Europe and North America. Warfare matters here, but so do the people whose work and status made the military society possible—and the difficulties of reconstructing their lives from often partial or hostile sources.