EXPLORE AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
Sparta.
Beyond the legend.
People. Power. Culture. A world worth discovering.
ARTICLES
THE LIBRARY
Your discoveries
Agesilaus II
A long-reigning Eurypontid king whose campaigns span Spartan supremacy, its collapse at Leuctra, and the search for resources abroad.
3 min read · Reigned c. 400–360/359 BCE
Agis IV
The young Eurypontid king whose attempt to cancel debts and redistribute land ended in political defeat and execution in 241 BCE.
3 min read · Reigned c. 244–241 BCE
Brasidas
A resourceful Spartan commander whose northern campaign challenged Athenian power through negotiation, surprise, and promises of autonomy.
3 min read · Died 422 BCE
Cleomenes III
A Hellenistic king who combined land reform and citizen expansion with a violent concentration of power and an ambitious war in the Peloponnese.
3 min read · Reigned c. 235–222 BCE; died 219 BCE
Cynisca
A Spartan royal woman credited with Olympic chariot victories in 396 and 392 BCE, whose achievements reveal both opportunity and privilege.
3 min read · Olympic victories 396 and 392 BCE
Gorgo
A Spartan royal woman known chiefly through Herodotus' stories of political judgment, rather than a continuous account of her life.
3 min read · Late sixth–early fifth century BCE
Leonidas I
The Agiad king killed at Thermopylae in 480 BCE, remembered through a much larger Greek coalition and a long tradition of commemoration.
3 min read · Reigned c. 490–480 BCE
Lycurgus
Sparta's remembered lawgiver, whose uncertain biography became the organizing story of an entire constitution.
3 min read · Legendary Archaic past
Lysander
The naval commander who helped defeat Athens and built a controversial network of Spartan influence across the Aegean.
3 min read · Active late fifth century–395 BCE
Pausanias the regent
The commander at Plataea whose subsequent career exposed the tensions between Spartan authority, overseas leadership, and accusations of betrayal.
3 min read · Active 480s–c. 470 BCE
WATCH & DISCOVER · ARCHAEOLOGY
Sparta beneath the surface.
Join John Wilkes and Susan Walker for the British School at Athens lecture on Sparta’s Roman stoa and theatre.
Watch at the British School at AthensVideo plays through YouTube. The source page is available if playback is unavailable.
A LETTER FROM SPARTA
Another story, every week.
A short illustrated letter, with a new history to explore. Free to read.
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MOVE THROUGH TIME
History has a trajectory.
Explore the moments that changed Sparta.
EXPLORE THE ATLAS
Put the stories in place.
Twelve locations. A wider perspective.