Editing Sparta (section)

===Classical Sparta===
In the [[Second Messenian War]], Sparta established itself as a local power in the Peloponnesus and the rest of Greece. During the following centuries, Sparta's reputation as a land-fighting force was unequalled.<ref>"A Historical Commentary on Thucydides". David Cartwright, p. 176</ref> At its peak around 500 BC, Sparta had some 20,000–35,000 citizens, plus numerous helots and perioikoi. The likely total of 40,000–50,000 made Sparta one of the larger Greek city-states;<ref>{{citation|last=Morris|first=Ian|title=The growth of Greek cities in the first millennium BC. v.1|date=December 2005|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/pdfs/morris/120509.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/pdfs/morris/120509.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|series=Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oafCBYBbMRgC&pg=PA22|title=Once Again: Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis|last=Nielsen|first=Thomas Heine|date=29 December 2017|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag|via=Google Books|isbn=9783515084383}}</ref> however, according to Thucydides, the population of Athens in 431 BC was 360,000–610,000, making it much larger.{{refn|group=n|According to Thucydides, the Athenian citizens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) numbered 40,000, making a total of 140,000 people when including their families. The metics, i.e. those who did not have citizen rights and paid for the right to reside in Athens, numbered a further 70,000, while slaves were estimated at between 150,000 to 400,000.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia Of Ancient Greece|editor-first=Nigel Guy|editor-last=Wilson|publisher=Routledge (UK)|year=2006|isbn=0-415-97334-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofan0000unse_a6l6/page/214 214–15]|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofan0000unse_a6l6/page/214}}</ref>}}

In 480 BC, a small force led by King [[Leonidas I|Leonidas]] (about 300 full Spartiates, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans, although these numbers were lessened by earlier casualties<ref>Herodotus, 7.202, 7.228</ref>) made a legendary [[last stand]] at the [[Battle of Thermopylae]] against the massive Persian army, led by [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]].{{sfn|Green|1998|p=10}} The Spartans received advance warning of the Persian invasion from their deposed king [[Demaratus]], which prompted them to consult the Delphic oracle. According to Herodotus, the [[Pythia]] proclaimed that either one of the kings of Sparta had to die or Sparta would be destroyed.<ref>Herodotus, 7.220–7.225</ref> This prophecy was fulfilled after king Leonidas died in the battle. The superior weaponry, strategy, and [[bronze]] armour of the Greek [[hoplite]]s and their [[Phalanx formation|phalanx]] fighting formation again proved their worth one year later when Sparta assembled its full strength and led a Greek alliance against the Persians at the [[Battle of Plataea]] in 479 BC.

[[File:Ancient Sparta.jpg|thumb|Ancient Sparta.]]
The decisive Greek victory at Plataea put an end to the [[Greco-Persian War]] along with Persian ambitions to expand into Europe. Even though this war was won by a pan-Greek army, credit was given to Sparta, who besides providing the leading forces at Thermopylae and Plataea, had been the de facto leader of the entire Greek expedition.<ref>Britannica ed. 2006, "Sparta"</ref>

In 464 BC, a violent [[464 BC Sparta earthquake|earthquake]] occurred along the Sparta faultline destroying much of what was Sparta and many other city-states in ancient Greece. This earthquake is marked by scholars as one of the key events that led to the [[First Peloponnesian War]].

In later Classical times, Sparta along with [[Athens]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and [[Persia]] were the main powers fighting for supremacy in the northeastern Mediterranean. In the course of the [[Peloponnesian War]], Sparta, a traditional land power, acquired a navy which managed to overpower the previously dominant flotilla of Athens, ending the [[Athenian Empire]]. At the peak of its power in the early 4th century BC, Sparta had subdued many of the main Greek states and even invaded the Persian provinces in Anatolia (modern day Turkey), a period known as the [[Spartan hegemony]].

During the [[Corinthian War]], Sparta faced a coalition of the leading Greek states: [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], [[Athens]], [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]. The alliance was initially backed by Persia, which feared further Spartan expansion into Asia.<ref>"Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare". Matthew Bennett, p. 86</ref> Sparta achieved a series of land victories, but many of her ships were destroyed at the [[Battle of Cnidus]] by a Greek-Phoenician mercenary fleet that Persia had provided to Athens. The event severely damaged Sparta's naval power but did not end its aspirations of invading further into Persia, until [[Conon]] the Athenian ravaged the Spartan coastline and provoked the old Spartan fear of a [[helot]] revolt.<ref name=boardman>"The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World" p. 141, John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray</ref>

After a few more years of fighting, in 387 BC the [[Peace of Antalcidas]] was established, according to which all Greek cities of [[Ionia]] would return to Persian control, and Persia's Asian border would be free of the Spartan threat.<ref name=boardman/> The effects of the war were to reaffirm Persia's ability to interfere successfully in Greek politics and to affirm Sparta's weakened hegemonic position in the Greek political system.<ref>Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 556–59</ref> Sparta entered its long-term decline after a severe military defeat to [[Epaminondas]] of Thebes at the [[Battle of Leuctra]]. This was the first time that a full strength [[Spartan Army|Spartan army]] lost a land battle.

As Spartan citizenship was inherited by blood, Sparta increasingly faced a helot population that vastly outnumbered its citizens. The alarming decline of Spartan citizens was commented on by [[Aristotle]].