Constitution of the Lacedaemonians

Polity of the Lacedaemonians
AuthorXenophon
Original titleΛακεδαιμονίων Πολιτεία
LanguageAncient Greek
GenreTreatise
Publication date
early 4th century BC
Publication placeGreece

The Lacedaemonion Politeia (‹See Tfd›Greek: Λακεδαιμονίων Πολιτεία), known in English as the Polity, Constitution, or Republic of the Lacedaemonians, or the Spartan Constitution,[1][2][3] is a treatise attributed to the ancient Greek historian Xenophon, describing the institutions, customs, and practices of the ancient Spartans.[4][5] The work examines the reasons for Sparta's power and renown, despite the city state's sparse population. There are fifteen chapters: the first thirteen enumerate the practices and institutions that made Sparta great; the last two describe Sparta's decline and the survival of its monarchy. The Polity dates to the period between 387 and 375 BC, and is the only contemporary account of the Spartan political system which survives.[3] Together with Plutarch's "Life of Lycurgus", it provides the most detailed surviving description of the Spartan state,[1] and is considered the best source of information about Spartan women during classical antiquity.[6]

  1. ^ a b Hall 204.
  2. ^ Marincola 349.
  3. ^ a b Lipka 9: "Both arguments carry all the more weight since the SC is the only surviving Spartan constitution".
  4. ^ Proietti 44–58.
  5. ^ Xenophon, Hellenica 73–74.
  6. ^ Vincent Azoulay (2004). Xenophon and His World: Papers from a Conference Held in Liverpool in July 1999. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 201. ISBN 978-3-515-08392-8.