Between Epic Tradition and History: The Spartan Conquest of Messenia

Authors

  • César Fornis Departamento de Historia Antigua. Universidad de Sevilla

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i11.281

Keywords:

Sparta, Messenia, Messenian Wars, Tyrtaeus, epic tradition

Abstract

The two Messenian wars, culminating in the Spartan conquest of the fertile neighboring region of Messenia and the enslavement of its inhabitants, who became helots, remain largely unknown, mainly due to the lack of sources. Apart some verses of Tyrtaeus, the Spartan poet of the mid-seventh century BC, the literary sources are belated and gather suspicious and contaminated ancient traditions riddled with legendary elements and subjected to the ideological debate about the enslavement of Greek people (and as Dorian as their Spartan conquerors). This has caused sharp controversies in modern historiography, which affect both the chronology and the credibility (and even the historicity) of certain episodes. According to an hypercritical posture, the possibility of reaching a minimum reconstruction and understanding of the historical events has even been denied, in such a way that the need to obviate them has been postulated. From our point of view, the historian himself/herself can (and should) perform this task of analysis and interpretation, but while taking extreme caution with these sources and, whenever possible, approaching  the data provided by Archaeology; it is also essential to insert the two Messenian wars in structural problems and developments of the early Archaic Age, and not to isolate them, as has often been done. In this way, the conquest of Messenia emerges as an enterprise undertaken by the recently unified Lacedaemonian state as part of its process of territorial, identity and ideological definition. With the completion of the conquest, Sparta reaches the recognition as a model state for Greek political theorists because there is full identification between the political and military body, that is, between citizens and hoplites, who can devote themselves to the work deemed worthy (the management of public affairs and war) thanks to the existence of dependent masses who work the land owned by their masters.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Susan E. ALCOCK, «The Pseudo-History of Messenia Unplagged», Transactions of the American Philological Association, 129, 1999, pp. 133-141.

Anthony ANDREWES, «Eunomia», The Classical Quarterly, 32, 1938, pp. 89-102.

David ASHERI, «La diaspora e i retorni dei Messeni», en Emilio GABBA (a.c.), Tria Corda. Scritti in onore di A. Momigliano, Como, 1983, Edizioni New Press, pp. 27-42.

L. BOGINO, «In margine alla versione eforea sulla fondazione di Taranto», Miscellanea Greca e Romana, 18, 1994, pp. 1-13.

Dietrich BOSCHUNG, «Die archaischen Nekropolen von Tarent», en Enzo LIPOLLIS (a.c.), Catalogo del Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto III 1, Taranto. La necropoli. Aspetti e problemi della documentazione archeologica dal VII al I sec. a.C., Taranto, La Colomba, 1994, pp. 176-182.

Claude CALAME, Les choeurs de jeunes filles en Grèce archaïque, I. Morphologie, fonction religieuse et sociale, Roma, Edizione dell´Ateneo & Bizzarri, 1977.

Paul A. CARTLEDGE, Sparta and Lakonia. A Regional History 1300-362 B.C., London-Boston-Henley, Routledge & Keagan, 1979.

Marinella CORSANO, «Sparta et Tarente: le mythe de fondation d'une colonie», Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, 196, 1979, pp. 113-140.

Willem DEN BOER, Laconian Studies, Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing, 1954.

Adolfo Jerónimo DOMÍNGUEZ MONEDERO, «Los mesenios de la diáspora: de la sumisión a la resistencia», Studia Historica (Historia Antigua), 25, 2007, pp. 79-101.

Adolfo Jerónimo DOMÍNGUEZ MONEDERO, «Las guerras mesenias», Desperta Ferro, 14, 2012, pp. 10-15.

Thomas J. FIGUEIRA, «The Evolution of Messenian Identity», en

Stephen HODKINSON y Anton Powell (eds.), Sparta. New Perspectives, London, Duckworth-Classical Press of Wales,1999, pp. 211-244.

Moses I. FINLEY, «Esparta», en Id., Uso y abuso de la historia, Barcelona, Crítica, 1977 [orig. inglés de 1975], pp. 248-272.

Nick R.E. FISHER, «Sparta Re(de)valued: Some Athenian Public Attitudes to Sparta between Leuctra and the Lamian War», en Anton POWELL y Stephen HODKINSON (eds.), The Shadow of Sparta, London-New York, Routledge-Classical Press of Wales, 1994, pp. 347-400.

Julián Alejandro GALLEGO, «Convirtiéndose en griegos. La liberación de los mesenios», en Antonio GONZALES (ed.), La fin du statut servile? (Affranchissement, libération, abolition), Actes XXXe Colloque du GIREA (Besançon 15-17 décembre 2005), Besançon, Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté, 2008, pp. 409-417.

Mason HAMMOND, «A Famous Exemplum of Spartan Toughness», The Classical Journal, 75, 1979, pp. 97-109.

George Leonard HUXLEY, Early Sparta, London, Faber and Faber, 1962.

Thomas KELLY, «Did the Argives Defeat the Spartans at Hysiae in 669 B.C.?», American Journal of Philology, 91, 1970, pp. 31-42.

Franz KIECHLE, Messenische Studien. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Messenischen Kriege und der Auswanderung der Messenier, Kallmünz, Michael Lassleben, 1959.

Hans KLEES, «Zur Beurteilung der Helotie im historischen und politischen Denken der Griechen im 5. und 4. Jh. v. Chr.», Laverna, 2, 1991, pp. 27-52 y Laverna, 3, 1992, pp. 1-31.

Socrates KOURSOUMIS, «Revisiting Mount Taygetos: The Sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis», The Annual of the British School at Athens, 109, 2014, pp. 191-222.

José LASSO DE LA VEGA, «El guerrero tirteico», Emerita, 30, 1962, pp. 9-57.

Stephan LINK, «Eunomie im Schoss der Rhetra? Zum Verhältnis von Tyrt. frgm. 14 W und Plut. Lyk. 6. 2 und 8», Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft, 6, 2003, pp. 141-150.

Edmond LÉVY, Sparte. Histoire politique et sociale jusqu´à la conquête romaine, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 2003.

Enzo LIPPOLIS, Salvatore GARRAFFO y Massimo NAFISSI, Taranto, Culti Greci in Occidente 1, Taranto, Istituto per la Storia e l´Archeologia della Magna Grecia, 1995.

Nicole LORAUX, «La `belle morte´ spartiate», Ktèma, 2, 1977, pp. 105-120.

Volker, LOSEMANN, «Sparta in the Third Reich», en Nikos BIRGALIAS, Kostas BURASELIS y Paul CARTLEDGE (eds.), The Contribution of Ancient Sparta to Political Thought and Practice, Athens, Alexandria Publications, 2007, pp. 449-462.

Marcello LUPI, «Le origini di Sparta e il Peloponneso arcaico», en Maurizio GIANGIULIO (ed.), Storia d´Europa e del Mediterraneo. Il mondo antico, II.3: Grecia e Mediterraneo dall´ VIII secolo a.C. all´età delle guerre persiane, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2007, pp. 363-393.

Nino LURAGHI, The Ancient Messenians. Constructions of Ethnicity and Memory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Andreas LUTHER, Könige und Ephoren. Untersuchungen zur spartanischen Verfassungsgeschichte, Frankfurt, Verlag Antike, 2004.

Irad MALKIN, «Categories of Early Greek Colonization: the Case of the Dorian Aegean», en Claudia ANTONETTI (a.c.), Il dinamismo della colonizzazione greca, Napoli, Loffredo, 1997, pp. 25-38.

Mischa MEIER, Aristokraten und Damoden. Untersuchungen zur inneren Entwicklung Spartas im 7. Jahrhunder v. Chr. und zur politischen Funktion der Dichtung des Tyrtaios, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998.

Mischa MEIER, «Tyrtaios fr. 1b G/P bzw. fr. º14 G/P (= fr. 4 W) und die grosse Rhetra–kein Zusammenhang?», Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft, 5, 2002, pp. 65-87.

Luisa MOSCATI CASTELNUOVO, «Iloti e fondazione di Taranto», Latomus, 50, 1991, pp. 64-79.

Massimo NAFISSI, La nascità del Kosmos. Studi sulla storia e società di Sparta, Napoli, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1991.

Massimo NAFISSI, «The Great Rhetra (Plu. Lyc. 6): A Retrospective and Intentional Construction?», en L. Foxhall, H.J. Gehrke y N. Luraghi (eds.), Intentionale Geschichte. Spinning Time in Ancient Greece, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2010, pp. 89-119.

Cornelis W. NEEFT, «Tarantine Graves Containing Corinthian Pottery», en Enzo LIPOLLIS (a.c.), Catalogo del Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto III 1, Taranto. La necropoli. Aspetti e problemi della documentazione archeologica dal VII al I sec. a.C., Taranto, La Colomba, 1994, pp. 184-237.

Daniel OGDEN, Aristomenes of Messene. Legends of Sparta´s Nemesis, Swansea, Classical Press of Wales, 2004.

Annalisa PARADISO, «Gli epeunatti spartani», Index, 12, 1983-84, pp. 355-365.

Annalisa PARADISO, Forme di dipendenza nel mondo greco. Ricerche sul VI libro de Ateneo, Bari, Edipuglia, 1991.

Victor PARKER, «The Dates of the Messenian Wars», Chiron, 21, 1991, pp. 25-47.

Lionel PEARSON, 1962: «The Pseudo-History of Messenia and its Authors», Historia, 11, 1962, pp. 397-426.

S.G. PEMBROKE, «Locres et Tarente: le rôle des femmes dans la fondation de deux colonies grecques», Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 25, 1970, pp. 1240-1267.

Luana QUATTROCELLI, «Tirteo: poesia e ἀνδρεία a Sparta arcaica», en Massimo VETTA y Carmine CATENACCI (a.c.), I luoghi e la poesia nella Grecia antica, Alessandria, Edizioni dell´Orso, pp. 133-144.

Luana QUATTROCELLI, «Tirteo e la retorica dell´"elite"», AION, 30, 2008, pp. 7-23.

James REDFIELD, «The Women of Sparta», The Classical Journal, 73, 1977-78, pp. 146-161.

Nicolas RICHER, Les éphores. Études sur l'histoire et sur l'image de Sparte (VIIIe-IIIe siècles avant J.-C.), Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1998.

Mª del Mar RODRÍGUEZ ALCOCER, «Los cultos de Ártemis Limnatis y Ártemis Cariatis en las guerras mesenias de época arcaica», ARYS: Antigüedad, Religión y Sociedades, 11, 2011, pp. 125-144.

Pamela Jean SHAW, «Olympiad Cronography and `Early´ Spartan History», en Stephen HODKINSON y Anton POWELL (eds.), Sparta. New Perspectives, London, Duckworth-Classical Press of Wales, 1999, pp. 273-309.

Pamela Jean SHAW, Discrepancies in Olympiad Dating and Chronological Problems of Archaic Peloponnesian History, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003.

L.R. SHERO, «Aristomenes the Messenian», Transactions of the American Philological Association, 69, 1938, pp. 500-531.

H. James SHEY, «Tyrtaeus and the Art of Propaganda», Arethusa, 9, 1976, pp. 5-28.

Conrad STIBBE, «Sparta und Tarent», Mededelingen van het Nederlandsch Historisch Instituut te Rome, 37, 1975, pp. 27-46.

Hans VAN WEES, «Tyrtaeus´ Eunomia: Nothing to Do with the Great Rhetra», en Stephen HODKINSON y Anton POWELL (eds.), Sparta. New Perspectives, London, Duckworth-Classical Press of Wales, 1999, pp. 1-41.

Henry Theodore WADE-GERY, «The `Rhianos-Hypothesis´», en Ernst BADIAN (ed.), Ancient Societies and Institutions. Studies Presented to Victor Ehrenberg, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1966, pp. 289-302.

Downloads

Published

2022-01-05

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 11 (2017): Guerra y competencia entre Estados en el Mediterráneo Medieval (siglos XIV-XV)

Section

Estudios

License

Copyright (c) 2017 University Journal of Military History

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

  1. Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
  2. Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
  3. Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
  4. Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
  5. Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
  6. Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
  7. Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
  8. NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. For purposes of this Public License, the exchange of the Licensed Material for other material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights by digital file-sharing or similar means is NonCommercial provided there is no payment of monetary compensation in connection with the exchange.
  9. Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  10. Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
  11. You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

  1. License grant.
    1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
      1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part, for NonCommercial purposes only; and
      2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material for NonCommercial purposes only.
    2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
    3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
    4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
    5. Downstream recipients.
      1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
      2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
    6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).

  2. Other rights.

    1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
    2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
    3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties, including when the Licensed Material is used other than for NonCommercial purposes.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

  1. Attribution.

    1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:

      1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
        1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
        2. a copyright notice;
        3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
        4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
        5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
      2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
      3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
      For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
    2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
    3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

  1. for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database for NonCommercial purposes only and provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
  2. if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
  3. You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

  1. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
  2. To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.
  1. The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

  1. This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.

  2. Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:

    1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
    2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
    For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
  3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
  4. Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

  1. The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
  2. Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

  1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
  2. To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
  3. No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
  4. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Creative Commons may be contacted at creativecommons.org.

How to Cite

Between Epic Tradition and History: The Spartan Conquest of Messenia. (2022). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 6(11), 157-171. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i11.281

Similar Articles

41-50 of 87

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.