BASC70261 - History of Sparta
Course Description
Classical Greece is at the center of the Basic Program, and at the center of Classical Greece are Athens and Plato, at least, as far as the readings that make it into great books curriculums are concerned. But Classical Greece had other city-states than Athens, and Socrates had other students than Plato. To the ancient and early modern world, however, Sparta was as interesting a city as Athens; and Xenophon at least a small rival to Plato. By a happy coincidence, Xenophon is a preeminent source for understanding the constitution and culture of Sparta. Xenophon of Athens was a soldier, philosopher, and friend of Socrates. He composed his own Apology of Socrates and led a military retreat of 10,000 Greek mercenaries across Persia (recounted in the Anabasis). He was a confidant of the Spartan king Agesilaus II and analyzed the Spartan constitution in a work by the same name. He also wrote the Hellenica, which completed the history of the Peloponnesian War from where Thucydides concluded and the Cyropaidea, a fictionalized account of Cyrus the Great which blended the Spartan and Persian regimes in order to investigate the nature of rule and education (Machiavelli was a great admirer). This course will study the writings of Xenophon, especially in his treatment of Classical Greece’s other great city.
Notes
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