Summary of Philip Matyszak's Sparta

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The city-state of Sparta was known for its powerful military, but was actually very small in size. It was noted by the Greeks that Sparta was unremarkable.

#2 The geography of the Peloponnese had a profound effect on the history and psychology of the Spartans. The dew-claw of this dragon-like peninsula is the Argolid peninsula in the north-east, and above it lies the land of Achaea and Corinth. The Spartans controlled an empire that stretched 49 miles east to west and 35 miles north to south.

#3 The same obstacles that made it difficult for Sparta to break out of Laconia made it difficult for anyone else to get in. With isolation, Sparta developed an insular, parochial outlook.

#4 The first settlers in the Peloponnese were huntergatherers who came through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and formed isolated communities in the sheltered valleys between mountain ranges. The first agricultural settlements were created around 8,000 years ago.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822532236

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Insights on Philip Matyszak's Sparta

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The city-state of Sparta was known for its powerful military, but was actually very small in size. It was noted by the Greeks that Sparta was unremarkable.

#2

The geography of the Peloponnese had a profound effect on the history and psychology of the Spartans. The dew-claw of this dragon-like peninsula is the Argolid peninsula in the north-east, and above it lies the land of Achaea and Corinth. The Spartans controlled an empire that stretched 49 miles east to west and 35 miles north to south.

#3

The same obstacles that made it difficult for Sparta to break out of Laconia made it difficult for anyone else to get in. With isolation, Sparta developed an insular, parochial outlook.

#4

The first settlers in the Peloponnese were huntergatherers who came through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and formed isolated communities in the sheltered valleys between mountain ranges. The first agricultural settlements were created around 8,000 years ago.

#5

The earliest evidence of permanent settlement in Sparta dates back to the Bronze Age, around 3000 BC. The Menelaion was a religious center in prehistoric times, and became an important center in classical Sparta.

#6

The Bronze Age was ended by a major volcanic eruption in the eastern Mediterranean. The Hittite empire in Anatolia fell, and Syria collapsed into ruin. The once-magnificent Minoan civilization on Crete vanished almost completely. Even Egypt, where civilization had been established for thousands of years, was not immune.

#7

The Dorians were a people from the north who invaded Greece around 1000 BC. They overthrew their masters and took over, and by the end of the Dark Age, they were masters of the Peloponnese, including Laconia.

#8

The Greek city of Sparta was one of the first