Customer Reviews

A History of Sparta 950-192 B.C.

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This is a wonderful book for the person who has a passing interest in ancient Sparta, but is unwilling to spend a whole lot of time doing research on the subject. At just over 150 pages, W.G. Forrest offers a readable and informative text that gets you into Lacedamon, out of Lacedamon & on your way in almost no time at all.

What is surprising about this study is that the author does not hold the Spartans in particularly high regard. This is unusual in that normally, as a rule-of-thumb, historians either write extensively on people / social organizations that they are fervently in favor of, or utterly despise. It is evident that Forrest neither loves nor hates the Laconians; he merely writes about them.

Forrest covers the period of expansion, which is when Sparta exerted its hegemony (forcefully) over Messenia. It is little wonder that the Messenians despised the Spartans, but slaves throughout history have generally not been treated well. I am inclined to cringe at the tacit notion that the Spartans were the only culture in all of history that treated its slave workforce egregiously.

Forrest offers a nice summary of the influence of Lycurgus, but does not articulate very many of his revolutionary ideas. Forrest goes on to explain how the political machinery of Sparta worked, utilizing the Gerousia, ephors and 2 monarchs. For a people who craved simplicity, the political system of Sparta was quite cumbersome. Then again, it was likely that way by design, so that nothing would ever get done. At any rate, Forrest also discusses some different interpretations of the epoch of Lycurgus' life and the the dates of his reforms. Much of this, however, will be of only remote interest to the average reader.

The most gripping part of this book, sadly, is about the fall of the civilization. After their decisive defeat at the hands of the Thebans in 371 @ the battle of Leuctria, Sparta sent out a much smaller army to combat their enemy. However, realizing that the situation was hopeless and they were too outnumbered, the army turned around and returned to the homeland.

I have often been fixated on this about-face of a supposedly invincible Spartan army. It was at this juncture in time that group of warriors decided to turn their backs, not only on an empire, but on a way of life. Gone was the doctrine of Leonidas to "stand and fight to the last man, no matter what the circumstances, no matter the number of the enemy." Sparta would never be the same after 371, and it is with haunting detail and clarity that Forrest takes us thru that sad chapter in Greek history.

This book is highly recommended for those who wish to read of the rise and decline of group of brutal warriors who fielded the most fierce armies of the classical age. These were the men who created the boot camp which military forces still use (to varying extents) in the present day.

This is a short history with more emphasis on commentary than the story (istoria). Without a background of the politics and historical processes of ancient greece, the reader will be confused by the myriad of allusions to events, trnds and characters. But if one has somewhat of a background with the material, it ties together these themes in the hisotrical development of sparta

W.G. Forrest's short book is probably one of the best books on Spartan history available. Though the book is short it covers almost the entire history of Sparta including the Dorian history leading up to it and the decline as it became part of the Roman empire. The material is not covered in excessive depth, but there are extensive references to more detailed studies. The author often editorializes about Spartan society. In general he is very critical of the Spartan's lack of societal development. He overlooks some of the good qualities of Spartan society that are discussed in other books. This book is a great choice for anyone newly interested in Sparta. It is also a good review or guide to more experienced classics students.

This small book, while certainly dry, still serves as a solid reference book for those hoping to understand the large swath of Sparta and its contribution to history. While not overly concerned with those issues that modern works on the subject (namely, pederasty and proto-fascism; strange how those two things always seem to go together), the book does give a terse sound account of Spartan actions from the period of 750BCE to 100BCE.

That said, the book is only a primer. It is weak on historic details, political/sociological motivations, and detailed exposition. In other words, it is a chronological narrative. Nothing more.

For a detailed view of the Spartans, take a look at Bradford's Battle For the West (which focuses on their actions during the Persian Wars) and Donald Kagan's four volume work on the Peloponnesian War (or his single volume, abridged version.) The former is one of few good reads on the subject, and the latter is a detailed classic. One might also consider reading Stephen Pressfield's fictional works on the subject, such as Gates of Fire. Extremely populr, these books are also well-researched.

Unfortunately, there are few works on the Spartans that focus on their society before the Persian Wars (little is, in fact, known) or after their defeat to the Thebans (whence they went on to lead rather ill-equipped rebellions against the Macedonians and, later, the Romans.)

Modern texts seem more interested in presenting the Spartans as bisexual gladiators and ubermen then as the infinitely more complex and interesting society they were.

History of Sparta 950-182 B.C. is a quick but painless introduction to Spartan history. If you've been reading Plato or Xenophon and are wondering why so many ancient scholars revered Sparta, this will give you some of the answers. It also shows the limitations of studying Sparta. One of the greatest lines of the book (I'm paraphrasing here) is, "Trying to understand the first century of Sparta from what is available is like trying to understand the 20th century from part of John F. Kennedy's speech about going to the moon, a few lines of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and a few lines of "Honeysuckle Rose."

A few people might find it less than readable if they expect a dastardly vivid account of Spartan training and life. This book simply goes with the facts and doesn't speculate as much as Bertrand Russell does in History of Western Philosophy. If you're looking for stories of evil Spartans inciting helot revolts just to practice murdering people or of young soldiers-in-training being tortured, watch the History Channel. This book is a little more dignified.

Make it something else. This book is far too dry for the casual reader to enjoy. I read it with a few others, namely Ernle Bradfords Thermopylae: Battle for the West and The Greco-Persian Wars by Peter Green and it provided a good source of reference, but not much else.

Also of note by Peter Green is Alexander of Macedon and if your just looking for a "quick fix" I suggest Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield.

On the positive side, Forrest presents a decent survey on Spartan history.

On the negative side, his prose style is a bit awkward. He doesn't delve deeply enough into Spartan politics in the context of the Greco-Persian Wars. He briefly mentions the Spartan military tradition but doesn't spend enough time explaining it and talking about how it relates to Spartan life. He spends too much time talking about and commenting on the Lycurgan reforms. Lastly, the historical times, figures, and places just don't come alive when you read this book. Granted, this is a history book so we can't expect to be entertained, but we shouldn't be bored either.

I was looking for a general history book with some forrays into specific aspects of Sparta, but Forrest stays at the general level, and offers a fair amount of commentary. I would have preferred less commentary, less analysis and more information about Sparta.

I feel I ought to give a qualified endorsement of this work, given the tenor of some of the other reviews that have been posted. If your readings in general works on ancient Hellas or ancient Athens have prompted curiosity about the Spartans, this book is a fairly satisfying follow-up. A knowledge of the outline of Spartan history helps, since the narrative of this slim work is so compressed.
The most intriguing aspect of the book is where Forrest departs from the chronological narrative to write at greater length on two of the more vexing questions of Spartan history: 1) the true scope of the Lycurgan (or "Lykurgan," in Forrest's annoyingly pedantic spelling) constitution and 2) the number of Spartiates at various points in Spartan history. Forrest exhibits a healthy skepticism for the ancient sources (none of which, except for some fragments of poetry, can be said to have been written by the Spartans themselves), although he perhaps goes too far in attempting to deflate the myths surrounding the Spartans, which, whether true or not, exercised such a profound influence on ancient writers on republican government.

I chose to read this book for a Compartive World History class assignment because I generally enjoy learning about ancient Greece, but this book made me fall asleep each time I picked it up to read. The author offers a general and boring view on the exciting history of Sparta, and how great it once stood. It may be because I am a student, but this book spent way too much time analyzing theories and guesses of Spartan history, and I felt Forrest dwelled entirely too much on Lykourgo's and Gerousia. Perhaps when I'm older and wiser I will be able to read the book and actually understand what I'm reading.