Archaeology

Sparta

Lakedaimon, Lacedemon, Spartai, Spartae, Lacedaemon

Place description

In the 10th century BC, Sparta was settled by Doric-Greek speaking Spartan, who subsequently conquered the south and took Amyklai by 750BC. The city controlled the rest of the Spartan plain and reduced the subjected population to helots and state serfs. Between the 6th and 4th century BC, Sparta became the strongest land power in Greece and amongst the Peloponnesus alliance. Its status even shortly rose above that of Athens, after the Spartan victory of the Peloponnesus War in 404BC. Defeated by Thebes in 371BC, Sparta decreased in terms of its status. Reformation took place under Nabis in the 3rd century BC. The mid-Roman Republic also favoured Sparta as a free city and admired its ritual of Lykourgan custom which continued until the 4th century AD. Sparta did not have magnificent architecture. Public buildings were of modest scale. The acropolis was at the heart of the ancient city. The 6th century BC Sanctuary of Athena Chalkiokos, named for the lost cladding reliefs on the temple, was built at the acropolis. A nearby theatre was built at around 20BC with a movable stage at its earliest period. In AD78, a fixed stage with a Corinthian façade was sponsored by Vespasian. The theatre was used for theatrical events, ball contexts and probably also political meetings. A three-aisled basilica was built near the theatre between the 5th and 7th century AD. Roman baths were built in early 2nd century AD and were probably a part of a gymnasium. A 2nd century AD brick-faced stoa was built near a gate joined with the late-Roman fortification wall. The sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in the northeast of the modern town was once joined with a theatre. The position of a stage-building was replaced by the temple façade. A well-preserved statue base was located at the entrance of the theatre-temple. It was dedicated to a local official for his champion of the customs of Lykourgos. Sparta seemed to have been safe during an attack by the Herulian Goths in AD268. A new inner-city wall was built in response to the attack by Alaric in AD396. The city had a bishop by AD457 and a major church by the AD600s.