SPARTA. 



SPILSBT. 



ia *hieh the 

 no. 4tt Ih* third 



i*alo* 

 wmr, whi 



defeated with great Ion (ac. 4S7). In 

 war WM concluded by the surrender of 

 and dietowit Between th two atate* led to the 

 wmr, which laud from B.O. 431 for 27 year*. Tho issue 

 -i mu linhiil in th* article AnM (roL i. col. 037). It ended 

 ia Ik* overthrow of Athene and the restoration of Sparta to the undis- 

 atd mpmnaey over th. rest of Grew, after Athena had divided it 

 vita h*r for 73 yean. On* of Sparta'* moat valuable allies in the 

 r part of the war wat the Persian Cyru*, and to show their grati- 

 to >'", the Spartan* furnished him with auxiliaries in hU 

 up* to dethrone hi* brother Artaxenet, the king of Persia. 

 Gyro* failed; and the Ionian cities which had favoured him refused to 

 about to the eatomp Tiawpherae*, the aoooeawr of Cyrni in hi* pro- 

 vine*. Being too weak to milt him, they applied to Sparta, who sent 

 a t-ir-" - * form to aid them in averting their independence. A 

 reinforcement wai afterward* (B.C. 886) sent out under the king 

 Ijeailiii*. with a view of anticipating a threatened invasion of Greece 

 by the Pcrsuns. Hi* raoceaw* againrt the Peniani were so great a* 

 to eaMOUfig* him to form the deiign of overthrowing the Persian 

 enpir*. Bat he wa* unexpectedly (topped in hi* preparation* for 

 thi* design. The aatrnp Tithrauitos, unable to cope with him in the 

 field, cent agent* with a ram of money into Greece, raited a confede- 

 racy against Sparta, which included amongst it* member* Thebes, 

 Arm, Corinth, and Athena, War first broke out between Thebes 

 and Sparta; and the Lacedemonians, having invaded Boootia, were 

 debated at Haliartus, ac. 395, with the loss of their general Lysander, 

 who wa* alain under the wall*. Agesilaus was summoned home. But 

 before he arrived another engagement was fought, " the great battle," 

 that of Corinth (ac. 894), in which the Lacedaemonians gained the 

 victory with a very trifling loss. This victory however was counter- 

 balanced by a naval defeat by the Athenians off Cnidus. An army of 

 the confederate* was again assembled on the plain of Coroneia, where 

 Ageailaus met them on hi* march homewards, and completely defeated 

 them. The Spartan* however were dispirited by the defeat of a 

 brigade of their heavy-armed infantry (the mora) by the light-armed 

 targeteen of Iphicratos, an Athenian general ; and harassed by the 

 descants on the Laoouiau coasts by Conon and Pharnabazus, they con- 

 tented to negotiate a peace in the eighth year of the war, under the 

 mediation of the Persian king. The convention was known by the 

 name of the peace of Antalcidas (D.C. 387) and was highly favourable 

 to Sparta. 



The first use Sparta made of the advantages she had gained was to 

 make an attack upon the people of Mantineia, a truce of thirty years 

 with that city having just expired. The city was taken, and the 

 inhabitant* distributed into four country towns, so as to be under the 

 influence of the aristocratic party, which was powerful and supported 

 by Sparta (B.C. 335). 



In ac. 382 Sparta sent forces to aid the cities of Acanthus and Apol- 

 lonia in Chalcidice against Olynthus, the ally of Thebes and Athens. 

 On* division of the forces, commanded by Phcobidas, marched by 

 Thebes, of which aided by the oligarchic party in the city, they seized 

 the Cedmeia, or citadel, and thus mode Thebes entirely dependent on 

 Sparta. The war against Olynthus lasted four years, and ended in the 

 capture of the city, ac. 379. 



The Spartans were now at their highest point of power. Olyn- 

 thu* wa* overthrown, Bccotia was dependent, Corinth friendly, Argos 

 reduced, and Athens without allies. But a change soon came upon 

 them. The Cadmeia was soon recovered by a band of exiles of 

 the democratic*! party, and the Lacedaemonians were entirely ex- 

 pelled from the city ; and shortly afterwards, Athens allied herself 

 with Thebes against Sparta (B.C. 879). Hostilities were carried 

 on for six or seven years, during which Sparta greatly distressed 

 Thebes by ravaging and plundering its territory, and the Athenians 

 were victorious at *ea under Cbabrios, off Naxos (B.C. 876). Athens 

 aoon after however concluded a separate treaty with Sparta (D.C. 37-1), 

 which, though soon broken on account of the restoration of the 

 Zakynthian exiles to their country by the Athenian admiral, was 

 re-riUblihed, B.C. 371, and Thebes and Sparta now met single-handed. 

 A Spartan army, then in 1'liocis, under Cleombrotus, was ordered to 

 invade Bccotia. The Spartans met the Theban forces, commanded by 

 Pelopida. and Epaminonda*, on the plain of Leuctra, and were utterly 

 defeated in a regular pitched battle, by inferior numbers, a circum- 

 stance unparalleled in the previous history of Sparta (ac. 371). The 

 battle was most decisive, and from it we may date the decline of the 

 Spartan power. The people of Mantineia again assembled in one 

 d city, which they called Megalopolis, and ertablished a 

 iMiuiiilli government Tho Tbebans invaded Laconia under 

 Kpaminondfts, and advanced into the immediate neighbourhood of 

 the unwalled capital, burning and pillaging. For the first time, 

 th* wotnro of Sparta saw fire* kindled by an enemy ; and but for tho 

 ricOanoe and energy of Agesilans, the city would have been taken. 

 The whole plain of the Eurotn., as far as the sea-coast, wa* devastated. 

 The Theban general collected together tho expatriated Mtssenians, 

 and mtored them to their fatherland, thus ratabliahlng a permanent 

 enemy does to Sparta (B.C. 367). In hi* last expedition into the 

 loponDeeui, Epaminondas nearly rarprised and took Sparta in tho 

 absence of AgesUaua, He then resolved on a general engagement, and 

 met the Spartans and their allies, amongst whom were the Athenians, 



at Uantinea. Hi* army wa* victorious, but he himself wa* alain. 

 (ac. 362.) 



From this time Sparta oeased to be one of the leading state* of 

 Greece. Another power aoon outlined tho control in Grecian affairs, 

 and when the Spartan* attempted to enforce their claim to Measenia, 

 Philip of Haoedon opposed their pretensions, and supported the inde- 

 pendence of that country. After the battle of Chicroneia (B.C. 833), 

 he invaded Laconia, and, according to Polybius (ix. 28), obliged her 

 to surrender several small districts to the Argives, Arcadians, and 

 Messenians. In the reign of Alexander, and while he was engaged in 

 his eastern conquests, the Spartans mode an attempt to overthrow the 

 Macedonian empire, but they were defeated by Antipater, Alexander** 

 lieutenant, and Agis, their king and commander, was slain, 11.0. 331. 

 In the contests which divided Greece after the death of Alexander, 

 Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, was at war with the Spartans, and 

 victorious over them in two engagement*. Their n*xt assailant was 

 Pyrrhus (B.C. 263), against whom they made a gallant defence, assisted 

 and animated by the women, whose spirit saved the city from capture. 

 At that time it was walled. After that event we hear little of Sparta 

 till the reigns of Agis III. and Cleomenes (ac. 240). The institutions 

 of Lycurgus, though existing in name, were then no longer of any 

 force at Sparta. The regulation by whjch every head of a family was 

 ensured the possession of a plot of land had been repealed. The 

 number of Spartan citizen* was considerably reduced, and a great 

 accumulation of property was vested in the hands of a few people, 

 many of whom were females. Agis and his friends wished to return 

 to the original constitution, and the mode of life of former times. Ho 

 perished in the attempt to carry out his views (B.c. 240), being mur- 

 dered in prison at the instigation of the ephors, who had now mono- 

 polised almost all authority in the state. In B.C. 236, Cleomenes III. 

 ascended the throne, and by stratagem and force succeeded in tho 

 attempt in which Agis had failed ; a general division and rc-diatribu- 

 tion of property took place ; some of the Pericoci were adopted amongst 

 tho Spartan citizens ; the old mode of education and the public meals 

 were resumed ; the ephors put to death, and their office aboi 

 Cleomenes also defeated the troops of the Acbsean league in several 

 engagements, and had conquered a great part of the Peloponnesus, 

 when Aratus, the general of the Achroans, summoned Antigonus Dosou 

 from Macedonia to oppose his progress. The Macedonians and 

 Spartans met at Sellasia, on the borders of Laconia, and after a hard- 

 fought and decisive battle Antigonus was victorious. He then 

 marched to Sparta, and restored the former state of things. Cleomenes 

 fled to Egypt 



Pausanias (iii. 6, 5) observes of him, that he was the last of the 

 Agidro, and shortly afterwards the sovereignty was sold by the ephors 

 to Lycurgus, who was not even a Heracleid. He waa succeeded by 

 Machanidos, who is called a tyrant, and was conquered and slain by 

 Philopcnmen, the general of the Achfoans. (Livy, xxviii. 5.) Nabis, 

 the last of these usurpers, resisted the Ach;eans and Romans, who had 

 now appeared in Greece. Nabis was assassinated, B.C. 192, and tho 

 Spartans were compelled soon after to join the Achaean league. After 

 the capture of Corinth (B.C. 146) all Greece was reduced to a Roman 

 province, but the inhabitants of Laconia enjoyed more freedom than 

 the other states, being treated not so much like subjects as allies. 

 The colonies of Sparta were but few ; the principal were the island of 

 Calliste or Thera, Cnidos, and Tarentum. 



SPEEN. [BEBKSHIKE.] 



SPENCER GULF. [Socrn ACSTBALIA.] 



SPERLUNGA. [LAVORO, TERRA Di.J 



SPETISBURY. [DORSETSHIRE.] 



8PEY, RIVER. [ELGINSHIRE.] 



SPEYER, or SPIRES, on ancient city in the kingdom of Bavaria, is 

 situated in 49 20' N. lat., 9 35' E. long., at the mouth of the Speyer- 

 bach, on the left bank of the Rhine, in a pleasant and fertile country, 

 43 miles by railway S. from Mayence, and has about 9000 inhabit- 

 ants. It is surrounded with walls and ditches, and has five pate:<. ( if 

 the churches 15 are Roman Catholic and 2 Lutheran. The most 

 remarkable is the venerable cathedral, which was founded by tho 

 emperor Conrad in 1030, and completed by Henry IV. in 1061. It 

 was very richly adorned, and contained the mortal remains of eight 

 emperors, three empresses, and two imperial princesses; but their 

 marble sepulchres, their statues, and silver coffins were desecrated and 

 plundered by the French in 1689, and their bones scattered by order 

 of Louvois. Some of the sepulchres have been restored. The diet 

 of the German empire was frequently held at Speyer. In the diet of 

 1529, a protest mode by the Reformers against certain proceedings of 

 the emperors procured them the name of Protestants. The city has 

 a gymnasium, a lyceum, an old towu-hall, an hospital, an orphan- 

 house, a botanic-garden, and a collection of antiquities. The prin- 

 cipal manufactures are snuff, sugar of lead, and wax ; there are like- 

 wise some vinegar-works, cattle- and corn-markets, and a good transit 

 trade in wine, corn, timber, &c,, on the Rhino. 



Sl'KXXIA. [GENOA.] 

 SPHACTERIA. [NAVABINO.] 

 SPIELBURG. [MORAVIA.] 



SPILSBY, Lincolnshire, a market-town, and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Spilsby, is situated in 53 10' N. lat., 5' E. 

 long., distant 30 miles E. by S. from Lincoln, and 129 miles N. by E. 



