Comparing Sparta's Political Prowess To The Greeks

Introduction: o Document: Lakedaimoniōn Politeia, or, Polity of the Spartans written between 430–355 B.C.E. (Gish and Ambler 2009, 181) by Xenophons is a historical account of the Spartan culture, particularly around the time of Lycurgus. o Audience: The audience for this work is the literate elite. The purpose of this work is to educate Spartans on Spartan history and showcase Sparta’s political prowess to the Greeks. (Unsure about this) o “Sparta was recognized as the leader of Greece at the end of the Peleoponnesian War” (Proietti 1987, x). o Thesis: It was the combination of individual humility and national pride that allowed Sparta to gain a strong military presence in the Mediterranean.
Body Paragraph #1 (Document): o “…obedience to the magistrates and the laws is found in the highest degree in Sparta” (X.Lac.chapter8.section#3). This quote demonstrates the authoritarian nature of the Spartan culture.
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Body Paragraph #2 (Author):
• Xenophon was an Athenian citizen (Gish and Ambler 2009, 181). Given the tension between Sparta and Athens, and the Athenian preference for Democracy, one would expect the bias to tilt towards Xenophon’s native polis of Athens. On the contrary, Xenophon writes quite a favourable account of Spartan daily and political life.
• Xenophon also wrote about Sparta in his accounts of the Peloponnesian Wars, through which he lived (Lazenby 2004,