Aldo Spano

Herodotus dedicates some significant passages to the political relationship between Sparta and Sa... more Herodotus dedicates some significant passages to the political relationship between Sparta and Samos in the Third book of the Histories. His focus is especially on the disastrous Spartan military expedition against the tyrant Polycrates in 525 BC; secondly, he shows interest in the Samian Meandrius’ arrival to Sparta in 519 BC who asks for help to the Spartan king Kleomenes I because of the Persian invasion. Starting from an analysis of the Herodotus’ passages regarding this important relationship between Sparta and Samos, the main aim of this paper is to understand the way the historian represents Sparta to his contemporary readers in the Third book of his work.

Aristotele, l'eforato e lo scontro politico a Sparta dopo Leuttra (Politica 1270B6-35)

Sicilia Antiqua, 2016

In his Politics 1270b6-35, Aristotle discusses the political flaws of the Spartan ephorate. In pa... more In his Politics 1270b6-35, Aristotle discusses the political flaws of the Spartan ephorate. In particular, he makes some critical statements, for instance that ephors derive from Spartan δῆμος, without distinction, are often venal (ὤνιοι) and absolutely poor people (σφόδρα πένητες), enjoy a tyrannical power (ἀρχή ἰσοτύραννος). According to Aristotle, the political influence of the ephors on Spartan affairs is so solid that kings are compelled to adulate them (δημαγωγεῖν αὐτοὺς). This study tries to understand this Aristotelian passage considering Sparta's historical milieu after the battle of Leuktra (371 B.C.), the event which exacerbated the endemic oliganthopia and altered the city's political equilibrium. Indeed, the rise of "homines novi" due to a drastic citizens decline and king Agesilaos' death in 360 B.C. triggered a significant transformation of political hierarchies and may have affected Aristotle's depiction of the ephorate. Politics 1270b6-35 appears thus to portray Sparta's jeopardized political situation after 360 B.C.

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Qualche osservazione sulla condizione della donna a Sparta. I casi di Agesistrata, Archidamia, Cratesiclea

Mediterraneo Antico, XVII, 1, pp. 217-234, 2014

This study deals with the role played by women in Spartan community life and aims to reevaluate t... more This study deals with the role played by women in Spartan community life and aims to reevaluate the significant position of Spartan andres in marriage practices and within the oikos. The first part of the paper provides some considerations on the main aspects regarding the issue of Spartan woman: the kyrieia, the gynaikokratia, the polyandry and the administration of the oikos. The second part focuses on three wealthy women living in Sparta in the second half of the 3rd century B.C.: Agesistrata, Archidamia, Kratesikleia, who were the protagonists of Plutarch's Lives of Agis and Kleomenes. The paper especially shows how Plutarch creatively exploits his sources, above all Phylarchus and Aristotle; indeed, an analysis of some passages of Lives of Agis and Kleomenes allows us to illustrate Plutarch's narrative strategies in portraying Spartan women who lived in the Hellenistic period.

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