348 



SPARRY IRON SPARTA. 



short-winged hawk which destroys many pigeons 

 and partridges. 



SPARRY IRON. See Iron, Ores of. 



SPARTA, OR LACED^EMON, one of the most 

 powerful states of ancient Greece, called also La- 

 conia, lay to the east of Messenia in the Pelopon- 

 nesus. The Eurotas here empties into the gulf of 

 Laconia. tin- western shore which terminates in cape 

 Taenarus (Matapan). Here, near the town of 

 TiiMiarus was pointed out a cave, which was said 

 to be the entrance to the regions of Pluto. At 

 Amy cite, near Sparta, stood one of the most cele- 

 brated temples of Apollo. According to fable, 

 Lacedaemon, son of Jupiter, and of the nymph Tay- 

 geta, married Sparta, daughter of Eurotas, king of 

 the Leleges, succeeded his father-in-law on the 

 throne, and gave the country his own name, calling 

 the city by that of his wife. He was probably a 

 Hellenic prince, and one of the leaders of the Ach- 

 aean colony, which Archander and Architeles led 

 into Laconia, after their expulsion from Phthiotis. 

 Here Lacedaemon, having persuaded the natives to 

 receive the colony, gave his own name to the united 

 people. Among the most celebrated of the early 

 kings was Tyndarus, with whose sons Castor and 

 Pollux the male line of Lacedaemon became extinct. 

 Menelaus, between whom and Lacedasmon five 

 kings had reigned, married Helen the daughter of 

 Tyndarus, and thus acquired the throne. Orestes, 

 son of Agamemnon, who had married Hermione, the 

 daughter of Menelaus, united Argos and Mycenae 

 with Lacedasmon. In the reign of his son and suc- 

 cessor Tisamenes, it was conquered by the Hera- 

 clidae about 1080, who established a dyarchy or 

 double dynasty of two kings in Sparta. For, as 

 neither the mother nor the Delphic oracle could 

 decide which of the twin sons of Aristcttemus, 

 Eurysthenes and Procles, was first born, the pro- 

 vince of Laconia was assigned to them in common ; 

 and it was determined that the descendants of both 

 should succeed them. The Lacedaemonians, how- 

 ever, had little cause to rejoice at the arrival of the 

 foreigners, whose fierce disputes, under seven rulers 

 of both houses, distracted the country with civil 

 feuds, while it was, at the same time, involved in 

 constant wars with its neighbours, particularly the 

 Argives. The royal authority was continually be- 

 coming feebler, and the popular power was increased 

 by these divisions, until the government ended in 

 an ochlocracy. At this time, Lycurgus was born, 

 for the healing of the troubles. He was the only 

 man in whom all parties confided ; and, under the aus- 

 pices of the gods whose oracle he consulted, he estab- 

 lished a new constitution of government in Sparta 

 (about 880 B. C.) and thus became the saviour of his 

 country. (See Lycurgus.} Lacedaemon now acquired 

 new vigour, which was manifested in her wars against 

 her neighbours, particularly in the two long Mes- 

 senian wars, which resulted, in the subjugation of 

 the Messenians (B. C. 668). The battle of Ther- 

 mopylae (B. C. 480), in which the Spartan king 

 Leonidas, successfully resisted the Persian forces 

 at the head of a small body of his countrymen, gave 

 Sparta so much distinction among the Grecian 

 states, that even Athens consented to yield the 

 command of the confederated forces, by land and 

 sea, to the Spartans. Pausanias, guardian of the 

 infant son of Leonidas, gained the celebrated victory 

 of Plataeae over the Persians (B. C. 479), at the bead 

 of the allies. On the same day, the Grecian army 

 and fleet, under the command of the Spartan king 

 I-eotychides, and the Athenian general Xanthippus, 



defeated the Persians, by land and sea, near Mycale. 

 With the rise of the political importance of Sparta, 

 the soci:il organization of the nation was developed. 

 The power of the kings was gradually limited, 

 while that of the ephori was increased. After the 

 Persians had been victoriously repelled, the Grecian 

 states, having acquired warlike habits, carried on 

 hostilities against each other. The jealousy of 

 Sparta towards Athens rose to such a height that 

 the Lacedaemonians, under pretence that the Per- 

 sians, in case of a renewal of the war, would find a 

 tenable position in Athens, opposed the rebuilding 

 of -its walls, and the fortification of the Piraeus. 

 Themistocles, discerning the real grounds of this 

 proceeding, banned the designs of Sparta by a 

 stratagem, and thus contributed to increase the ill 

 will of that state towards Athens. The tyrannical 

 conduct of Pausanias alienated the other allies from 

 Sparta; and most of them submitted to the com- 

 mand of Athens. But, while Sparta was learning 

 moderation, Athens became so arrogant towards the 

 confederates, that they again attached themselves 

 to the former power, which now began to make 

 preparations in secret for a new struggle. The 

 Athenians, however, formally renounced the friend- 

 ship of Sparta, and began hostilities (B. C. 431). 

 This war, the Peloponnesian, ended in the ascen- 

 dency of Sparta, and the entire humiliation of her 

 rival (405). The rivalry of the Spartan general 

 Lysander and the king Pausanias soon after pro- 

 duced a revolution, which delivered the Athenians 

 from the Spartan yoke. The Spartans next became 

 involved in a war with Persia, by joining Cyrus 

 the Younger in his rebellion against his brother 

 Artaxerxes Mnemon. The Persian throne was 

 shaken by the victories of Agesilaus; but Athens, 

 Thebes, Corinth, and some of the Peloponne- 

 sian states, were instigated by Persian gold to 

 declare war against the Lacedaemonians, who found 

 it necessary to recall Agesilaus. The latter de- 

 feated the Thebans at Coronaea; but, on the other 

 hand, the Athenian commander, Conon, gained a 

 victory over the Spartan fleet at Cnidus, and took 

 fifty galleys. This war, known as the Boeotian or 

 Corinthian war, lasted eight years, and increased 

 the reputation and power of Athens, by the suc- 

 cesses of her admiral, Conon, and her fortunate 

 expeditions against the Spartan coasts and the 

 islands of the JEgean. The arrogance of Athens 

 again involved her in hostilities with Persia; and 

 Antalcidas (B. C. 388) concluded the peace which 

 bears his name, and which, though highly advan- 

 tageous to Persia, delivered Sparta from her 

 enemies. The ambitious designs of Sparta in con- 

 cluding this peace soon became apparent: she con- 

 tinued to oppress her allies, and to sow dissensions 

 in every quarter, that she might have an oppor- 

 tunity of acting as umpire. Besides other outrages, 

 she occupied, without provocation, the city of 

 Thebes, and introduced an aristocratical constitu- 

 tion there. Pelopidas delivered Thebes, and the 

 celebrated Theban war followed, in which Athens 

 took part, at first against Sparta, but afterwards in 

 her favour. The latter was so much enfeebled by 

 the war, that she thenceforward ceased to act a 

 distinguished part in Greece. No state was strong 

 enough to take the lead, and the Macedonian king 

 Philip at last made himself master of all Greece. 

 Agis, king of Sparta, one of the bravest and noblest 

 of its princes, ventured to maintain a struggle for 

 the liberties of Greece; but he lost his life in the 

 battle of Megalopolis against Antipater. Archi- 



