Editing Sparta (section)

===Hellenistic and Roman Sparta===
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles - f 28v.png|thumb|Medieval depiction of Sparta from the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (1493)]]
Sparta never fully recovered from its losses at Leuctra in 371 BC and the subsequent [[Helots#Helot revolts|helot revolts]]. In 338, [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] invaded and devastated much of Laconia, turning the Spartans out, though he did not seize Sparta itself.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cartledge|2002|page=273}} "Philip laid Lakonia waste as far south as Gytheion and formally deprived Sparta of Dentheliatis (and apparently the territory on the Messenian Gulf as far as the Little Pamisos river), Belminatis, the territory of Karyai and the east Parnon foreland."</ref> Even during its decline, Sparta never forgot its claim to be the "defender of Hellenism" and its [[Laconic phrase|Laconic wit]]. An anecdote has it that when Philip II sent a message to Sparta saying "If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out.",<ref>{{cite web |author1=Plutarch |author2=W.C.Helmbold |author1-link=Plutarch |title=De Garrulitate |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0287%3Asection%3D17 |website=Perseus Digital Library |publisher=Tufts University |access-date=5 May 2021 |quote=ἂν ἐμβάλω εἰς τὴν Λακωνικήν, ἀναστάτους ὑμᾶς ποιήσω}}</ref> the Spartans responded with the single, terse reply: {{lang|grc|αἴκα}}, "if".{{sfn|Davies |1997|p=133}}<ref>{{harvnb|Plutarch|1874|loc=De garrulitate, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0288%3Asection%3D17 17]}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Plutarch|1891|loc=De garrulitate, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0286%3Asection%3D17 17]}}; in Greek.</ref> When Philip created the [[League of Corinth]] on the pretext of unifying Greece against Persia, the Spartans chose not to join, since they had no interest in joining a pan-Greek expedition unless it were under Spartan leadership. Thus, upon defeating the Persians at the [[Battle of the Granicus]], Alexander the Great sent to Athens 300 suits of Persian armour with the following inscription: "Alexander, son of Philip, and all the Greeks except the Spartans, give these offerings taken from the foreigners who live in Asia".

Sparta continued to be one of the Peloponesian powers until its eventual loss of independence in 192 BC. During Alexander's campaigns in the east, the Spartan king [[Agis III]] sent a force to Crete in 333 BC to secure the island for the Persian interest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/ag-ai/agis/agis_iii.html|title=Agis III – Livius|website=www.livius.org|access-date=26 March 2020|archive-date=8 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508045716/http://www.livius.org/ag-ai/agis/agis_iii.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cartledge |first1=Paul |last2=Spawforth |first2=Antony |title=Hellenistic and Roman Sparta : a tale of two cities |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0415262771 |page=21 |edition=2nd}}</ref> Agis next took command of allied Greek forces against Macedon, gaining early successes, before laying siege to [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]] in 331 BC. A large [[Ancient Macedonian army|Macedonian army]] under general [[Antipater]] marched to its relief and defeated the Spartan-led force in a pitched battle.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Agis III|first=E.|last=Badian|date=29 December 1967|journal=Hermes|volume=95|issue=2|pages=170–92|jstor = 4475455}}</ref> More than 5,300 of the Spartans and their allies were killed in battle, and 3,500 of Antipater's troops.<ref>Diodorus, ''World History''</ref> Agis, now wounded and unable to stand, ordered his men to leave him behind to face the advancing Macedonian army so that he could buy them time to retreat. On his knees, the Spartan king slew several enemy soldiers before being finally killed by a javelin.<ref>Diodorus, ''World History'', 17.62.1–63.4; tr. C.B. Welles</ref> Alexander was merciful, and he only forced the Spartans to join the League of Corinth, which they had previously refused.<ref>''Alexander the Great and his time''. By Agnes Savill. p. 44 {{ISBN|0-88029-591-0}}</ref>

During the [[Punic Wars]], Sparta was an ally of the [[Roman Republic]]. Spartan political independence was put to an end when it was eventually forced into the [[Achaean League]] after its defeat in the decisive [[War against Nabis|Laconian War]] by a coalition of other Greek city-states and Rome, and the resultant overthrow of its final king [[Nabis of Sparta|Nabis]], in 192 BC. Sparta played no active part in the [[Achaean War]] in 146 BC when the Achaean League was defeated by the Roman general [[Lucius Mummius Achaicus|Lucius Mummius]]. Subsequently, Sparta became a [[Free city (classical antiquity)|free city]] under Roman rule, some of the institutions of [[Lycurgus of Sparta|Lycurgus]] were restored,{{sfn|Cartledge|Spawforth|2001|p=82}} and the city became a tourist attraction for the Roman elite who came to observe exotic Spartan customs.{{refn|group=n|Especially the Diamastigosis at the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Limnai outside Sparta. There an amphitheatre was built in the 3rd century AD to observe the ritual whipping of Spartan youths.<ref>{{cite book|author=Cicero|author-link=Cicero|title=Tusculanae Disputationes|chapter=II.34|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0044%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D34|editor-first=M.|editor-last=Pohlenz|place=Leipzig|publisher=Teubner|year=1918|language=la |title-link=Tusculanae Disputationes}} At the Perseus Project.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sparta|first=Humfrey|last=Michell|page=175|year=1964|
publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> Visiting Romans came to see Sparta as having degraded to a disgusting cult of fetish brutality.<ref>Thomas J. Figueira, "Population Patterns in Late Archaic and Classical Sparta", ''Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974–2014)'', Volume 116 (1986), The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 165–213</ref><ref>Myke Cole, ''Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World'', Osprey Publishing, 2018</ref>}}

In 214 AD, [[Roman emperor]] [[Caracalla]], in his preparation for [[Parthian war of Caracalla|his campaign]] against [[Parthian Empire|Parthia]], recruited a 500-man Spartan [[Cohort (military unit)|cohort]] (''[[Lochos|lokhos]]''). [[Herodian]] described this unit as a ''[[phalanx]]'', implying it fought like the old Spartans as hoplites, or even as a [[Macedonian phalanx]]. Despite this, a gravestone of a fallen legionary named Marcus Aurelius Alexys shows him lightly armed, with a [[Pileus (hat)|pilos-like]] cap and a wooden club. The unit was presumably discharged in 217 after Caracalla was assassinated.{{sfn|Cartledge|Spawforth|2001|p=108}}

An exchange of letters in the [[deutero-canonical]] [[First Book of Maccabees]] expresses a [[Jews|Jewish]] claim to kinship with the Spartans:

{{cquote|Areus king of the Lacedemonians to [[Onias I|Onias]] the high priest, greeting: It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Jews are brethren, and that they are of the stock of [[Abraham]]: Now therefore, since this is come to our knowledge, ye shall do well to write unto us of your prosperity. We do write back again to you, that your cattle and goods are ours, and ours are yours.|author=Authorized King James Version [[1 Maccabees|1 Maccabees 12.20]]}}

The letters are reproduced in a variant form by [[Josephus]].<ref>Erich S. Gruen, ''Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition'', 1998, p. 254, {{ISBN|0-520-23506-1}} (2002)</ref> Jewish historian Uriel Rappaport notes that the relationship between the Jews and the Spartans expressed in this correspondence has "intrigued many scholars, and various explanations have been suggested for the problems raised ... including the historicity of the Jewish leader and [[High Priest of Israel|high priest]] [[Jonathan Apphus|Jonathan]]'s letter to the Spartans, the authenticity of the letter of Arius to Onias, cited in Jonathan's letter, and the supposed 'brotherhood' of the Jews and the Spartans." Rappaport is clear that "the authenticity of [the reply] letter of Arius is based on even less firm foundations than the letter of Jonathan".<ref>Rappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122193211/http://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |date=22 November 2017 }}, p. 729</ref>

Spartans long spurned the idea of building a [[defensive wall]] around their city, believing they made the city's men soft in terms of their warrior abilities. A wall was finally erected after 184 BCE, after the peak of the city-state's power had come and gone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/what-were-the-spartans-like-note-to-lego-masters-they-didnt-build-city-walls-159910|title=What were the Spartans like? Note to Lego Masters: they didn't build city walls|first=Duncan|last=Keenan-Jones|date=29 April 2021|website=The Conversation}}</ref>