Evening star., 1934-11-10
SPARTA WAS BUILT
F0RSELF-DEFENSE
Ancient Metropolis Not Be-
Iieved to Have Been
Ideal City.
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.


Just century ago the site of ancient
Sparta, capital of Laconia, was scene
Of busy activity. The Greek War Of
independence was over and patriotic
souls were stimulated by the emotions
of victory to dream of a resurrected
city in the Peloponnesus. Baron
Jochmus was enlisted to prepare de-
signs, and a glorious metropolis was
anticipated. But the enterprise was
destined to meet with but little success.
Today Sparta is only small town, the
capital of nothing but prefecture and
the post Office address Of no more than
seven or eight thousand people.
But Americans, on tour in Southern
ject of pilgrimage in the hope of
adding their personal impressions Of
the location to their store of memories
of the mighty events which happened
there and with which they are ac-
quainted by grace of the pages of
Herodotus, Plutarch and Pausanias.
Ruins are Uncovered.
Nor is the journey disappointing, for
the beautiful hills have not greatly
changed in a millennium and archeo-
logists, laboring since 1906. have dis
closed the ruins Of some OF the most
notable of the architectural landmarks
Of antiquity.
It is not difficult to imagine what
once was if one may see what still Is.
Sparta, however, probably at no
time was an ideal city. Its builders
were motivated by an expedient
philosophy of Self-defense. 1t was
raised on the northern end of the CEN
tral Laconian plain, on the right bank
of the Eurotas, to command the only
land routes into the South from Ar
cadia; and situated 81 miles from the
sea. it was invulnerable from marine
attack.
Tradition tells that the town was
designed by Laceiaemon, son OF Zeus
and Taygete: but its neighbor cities
Amyclae and Therapne-were OF older
foundation and, for while, OF greater
importance Eight decades before the
Trojan War a Dorian expedition led
by Aristodemus gained control OF the
neighborhood, but even then progress
was not remarkably rapid. Sparta
was weak and relatively inconse-
uuental until the lawgiver Lycurgus
arose to dictate a code Of discipline
and aggrandizement. He it was who
framed the policy which elevated the
Laconian capital to military grandeur
If not to civic majesty.
Marcus N. Tod Of oxford University
has written: Nowhere else was the
individual so thoroughly subordinated
to the interest of the state. The whole
education of the Spartan was designed
to make him an efficient soldier.
Obedience, endurance, military sue
cess-these were the aims constantly
kept in view, and all other ends took
a secondary place" In city gov
erned by such a doctrine, the gentle
art of architecture. necessarily, was
not highly regarded. The state had
charge of all construction, and prag-
matte utility was the principal OBJ
jective of every structure. Spartan
ideals of beauty were defective. and
the Spartan race produced no artists
truly worthy of the name.
The key to the topography OF the
ruined capital is the remains OF an
ancient bridge over the Eurotas. From
the spot the range upon which the an
cient city stood rises against the sky,
a hollow way leading through the hills
to a plain on the southwestern side OF
which was the theater with two wings
framed Of massive quadrangular stones.
The stadium, nearby, occupied horse
shoe valley and was incloSed with
p-ollc of corth Sti11 frQraQhlp
Site of Public Buildings.
To the east was the Agora, "a spa
cious place, surrounded with colon
nades, from which the streets issued
to the different quarters Of the city.
Here were the public buildings of the
magistrates-the council house of the
Gerusia and senate; and the offices
of the Ephori. Nomophylaces and
Bidiaei. The most splendid building
was the Persian stoa, which had been
frequently repaired and enlarged, and
was still perfect when Pausanias visited
the city" A subdivision was an area
called Chorus. because the Spartan
youths mere danced in honor Of Apollo
at the festival of the Gymnopaedia. !"
The place was adorned with statues
of the Pythian deities, and a colossal
statue representing "the people of
Sparta" was feature of an adjacent
section Of the Agora. Temples of
Earth, zeus Agoraeus, Athena Agoraea,
Apollo, Poseidon Asphaleus, Hera and
Of the Fates, the old Ephorea or courts
of justice, and the tombs of Orestes,
Epimenides the Cretan and Aphareus
the Aeolian king were other monumen-
tai edifices in the Agoran quarter-all
vanished in repeated storms Of war
and revolution.
The Acropolis northeast, had for its
chief building the so-called Brazen