Spartan Women and the Downfall

Spartan Women and the Downfall Of The Spartan Empire Of all the cultures of ancient Greece, none has garnered more interest and debate than that of the Spartans, one of many city-states or polis set within the geographical boundaries of Greece and governed through a political system known as an oligarchy or "rule by the few" which made it possible for Sparta and its people to devote themselves almost entirely to military readiness, particularly against the city-state of Athens, their greatest and most powerful military enemy. Thus, as Thomas R.

Martin points out, "the Spartan way of life became famous for its discipline" 1 which was demonstrated in the lives of not only its brave men but also its women whose devotion permitted the Spartan family to be "economically self-reliant and allowed husbands to participate in the public life of the polis." However, it has been argued that these devoted Spartan women were ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Spartan empire following the devastation wrought by the Peloponnesian Wars when the Spartans were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 B.C.E.

And by the Thebans at the Battle of Mantinea in the Peloponnese in 362 B.C.E.

3 One of the most ancient voices in defense of this idea is Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.), the brilliant follower of Plato and one of the central figures in the history of Western science and philosophy, who firmly believed that women "were by nature inferior to men" and were "less courageous than their male counterparts." 4 Aristotle's basic argument for his prosecution against Spartan women can be found in Politics, Book Two, written circa 350 B.C.E. which contains numerous tirades against not only Spartan women but women in general.

Therefore, after closely consulting what Aristotle has to say about the Spartan women, it is clear that his argument is valid, meaning that the Spartan women, rather than the Athenians, the Thebans, or some other internal/external force, were ultimately responsible for the collapse of Spartan culture and society. Before examining Aristotle's tirades against the Spartan women, it would be wise to look at how they lived, worked and prospered in ancient Sparta.

First of all, Spartan women were renowned throughout the Greek world for their relative freedom, considering that they lived in a culture controlled and designed by men, known as a patriarchal society.

Most Greeks outside of Sparta regarded this freedom as "scandalous, partly due to the fact that girls exercised with boys and did so wearing minimal clothing." 5 Generally, the women of Sparta used this freedom provided by the helot system to keep themselves physically fit to bear healthy children and to raise them to be strict upholders of Spartan values and strong warriors on the battlefield. In addition, Spartan women, unlike their female counterparts in Athens and elsewhere in mainland Greece, could own private land.

Daughters probably inherited portions of land and property "equal to one-half of what their brothers inherited" but they received this portion much earlier in their lives through marriage. Thus, more and more land came into the hands of the Spartan women, due to a decline in the male population via losses in war, especially during the Peloponnesian Wars and during the Classical Period.

6 Not surprisingly, while their husbands were busy fighting on the battlefield, the Spartan women were in complete control of their households, and as a result, they exercised more power than did women elsewhere in Greece. One other area related to the household was sex.

For example, a married woman with a husband who could not father children was allowed by Spartan law to have other lovers, due to "the need to procreate healthy male offspring in the strictly-ordered Spartan society" and for "the production of manpower for the Spartan army," made up entirely of men.

By the Classical Period, the on-going problems of producing enough children to keep the Spartan population from shrinking "had grown very acute," so much in fact that men were legally required to marry and bachelors often faced severe fines, public ridicule and even imprisonment.

7 Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the Spartan women, especially those of child-bearing age, held a good share of power at the domestic level; some even held more power when they were seen as prophetesses or seers who could foretell the future, much like the female oracles so often found in Greek mythology. But in the view of Aristotle, the Spartan women, perhaps because of the feminine power they wielded in Spartan society, lived by their own laws.

Oddly, Aristotle declares that in a state "in which the condition of women is bad, half the city may be regarded as having no laws." 8 Exactly what Aristotle means by this is not clear, yet he seems to be inferring that the Spartan women were "bad" in relation to their "relative freedom," rather than living under conditions of poverty and want. And so, Aristotle understands that "this is what.

actually happened at Sparta" where the women were "neglected" by the state and were allowed to live "in every sort of intemperance and luxury" or in other words, lived like Spartan queens with servants and maids constantly at their sides, providing food, drink and various sorts of companionship.

Therefore, under such an environment, personal wealth became highly-valued and powerful, especially when the men found themselves "under the dominion of their wives," 9 perhaps as mere household slaves ready and willing to respond to every single whim and fancy of their "liberal" wives. Aristotle continues by pointing out that the Lacedaemonian women were "most mischievous" and demonstrated their evil side by doing absolutely nothing during the Theban invasion, something which came as no surprise to Greeks outside of Sparta.

In effect, the Spartan women were "utterly useless and caused more confusion than the enemy." 10 Why they were "utterly useless" may be related either to indifference or to their inability or refusal to pick up arms and fight alongside their husbands. In addition, the Spartan women appear to have been very stubborn and arrogant, for when Lycurgus tried to bring them under control, "he gave up the attempt" 11 when they resisted more than he had bargained.

Thus, Aristotle clearly believed that the Spartan women, besides being useless, were outwardly self-centered and greedy and cared only for their own satisfaction and pleasure. Aristotle then discusses the Spartan situation regarding "the inequality of property," a reference to the Spartan women often possessing more landed estates than their male counterparts. "Nearly two-fifths of the whole country," he says, "are held by women," 12 due to the large number who end up as heirs to their husband's estate and property after perhaps dying on the battlefield.

Aristotle also mentions the huge dowries given by the Spartan women to the families of their husbands, a custom which dates much further back in time than the Spartans. As a result, when the husband died, the widow received his estate and the dowry which she provided before her marriage, therefore increasing her net worth, power and influence.

Lastly, Aristotle sums up his argument by asserting that because of the huge decrease in the population of Spartan men, particularly through an entire myriad of military-related campaigns against a hosts of enemies over a very long period of time, the "faulty nature" of Spartan laws and customs related to property caused the city of Sparta.