Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta

508 Pages·2009·8.173 MB·English

by  Stephen Hodkinson

The standard image of Sparta is of an egalitarian, military society which disdained material Hodkinson ProP ert y and
possessions. Yet property and wealth played a critical role in her history. Classical Sparta’s success
rested upon a compromise between rich and poor citizens. Economic differences were masked
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by a uniform lifestyle and a communal sharing of resources. Over time, however, increasing
inequalities led to a plutocratic society and to the decline of Spartan power. r
Using an innovative combination of historical, archaeological and sociological methods, Stephen o
Hodkinson challenges traditional views of Spartan isolation from general Greek culture. Property p Wealth in
and Wealth in Classical Sparta, first published in 2000, has established itself as the most influential
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study of this subject in modern times.
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The author
ClassiC al
Stephen Hodkinson is Professor at the University of Nottingham, where he is Director of the &
Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies and of the Institute for the Study of Slavery. He is

the author of many innovative studies of classical Sparta, on which he is widely recognised as one W
of the world’s leading experts. He is co-founder of the International Sparta Seminar and has jointly
edited, with Anton Powell, The Shadow of Sparta (1994), Sparta: New perspectives (1999), Sparta: e
Beyond the mirage (2002), Sparta and War (2006) and Sparta: The body politic (2009, forthcoming). a sParta
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‘An outstanding contribution to an area of Spartan history long in need of detailed study … n
Hodkinson has shed new light upon almost every facet of Spartiate life … A rich stimulating
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book, whose depth of analysis is matched by its ambitious scope of enquiry … It will be warmly
welcomed by… ancient historians and classical scholars alike.’ l
Ellen Millender, Bryn Mawr Classical Review a
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Cover illustration
Bronze figurine of a reclining banqueter, late sixth century bc, from the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona, north- l

ern Greece, attributed to a Lakonian workshop. s
(Photograph courtesy of The British Museum, no. 1954.10-18.1.)
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PROPERTY AND
WEALTH
IN
CLASSICAL SPARTA
Stephen Hodkinson
The Classical Press of Wales
First published in hardback in 2000
This paperback edition 2009
The Classical Press of Wales
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© 2009 The author
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-910589-34-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Hilariae meae
(cid:88)(cid:76)(cid:11)(cid:19)(cid:4) (cid:55)(cid:88)(cid:73)(cid:74)(cid:69)(cid:82)(cid:83)(cid:74)(cid:83)(cid:90)(cid:86)(cid:91)(cid:19)
CONTENTS
Page
List of Figures viii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
PART I. SPARTAN PERCEPTIONS
1.Spartan economic egalitarianism and communitarianism in
modern thought 9
2.The growth of the dominant egalitarian image in ancient 19
thought
PART II. THE ANATOMY OF THE SPARTIATE
PROPERTY SYSTEM
3.The ownership and inheritance of land - revisited 65
4.Helotage and the exploitation of Spartan territory 113
5.Movable wealth: ownership, acquisition and exchange 151
6.Public rights over private property 187
PART III. RICH CITIZENS AND THE USE OF
PRIVATE WEALTH
7.Restrictions on the use of wealth in Spartiate life 209
8.Restrictions on the use of wealth: burial and funerary practice 237
9.Material and religious investment: bronze dedications at Sparta
and abroad 271
10.Equestrian competition: participation and expenditure 303
11.The use of wealth in personal and political relations 335
PART IV. PROPERTY AND THE SPARTAN CRISIS
12.Spartiate household economies: towards an estimate of
a balance-sheet 369
13.Property concentration and the emergence of a plutocratic society 399
Bibliography 447
Index 485
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Map of mainland and Aegean Greece (showing places mentioned in the
text) xii/xiii
2. View over central and western parts of Sparta Valley 136
3. Map of Sparta Valley 137
4. Map of Lakonia 140
5. Map of Messenia 143
6, 7. Bronze figurines of hoplites 223
8. Lead figurines, from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia 223
9, 10. Two sides of an Athenian victory monument, from the Acropolis 225
11. Drawing of terracotta relief amphora 241
12. Fallen Lakedaimonian soldiers buried in the Kerameikos 252
13. Figurine of a running figure (front and back), bronze vessel ornament 274
14. Drawing of inscribed bronze bell dedicated to Athena 277
15. Bronze figurine of Athena, from the Spartan Acropolis 283
16. Small votives from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia 288
17. Inscribed miniature breastplate dedicated to Athena 292
18. Two parts of an inscribed marble victory st(cid:4)l(cid:4) dedicated by Damonon 304
19. Detail of the sculpted relief on the Damonon st(cid:4)l(cid:4) 304
20. Drawing of a Panathenaic amphora dedicated to Athena 309
21. Inscribed figurine of a bronze lion from the Heraion on Samos 343
22. Inscribed marble seat from the stadium at Olympia 343
23. Graph of family landholding 402
24. Graph of male landholding 403
25. Family tree of the Agiad house, later sixth and fifth centuries 411
26. Family tree of the Eurypontid house, fifth and fourth centuries 412
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the course of many years’ study of classical Sparta I have accumulated debts
to a great number of persons and institutions. My education in ancient Greek
history began as an undergraduate in the ‘Manchester History School’, where
I was inspired to work on Sparta by the teaching of Cosmo Rodewald and the
writings of Geoffrey de Ste Croix. My postgraduate research at Cambridge was
skilfully guided, initially by Sir Moses Finley, and latterly by Paul Cartledge,
to whom I owe over two decades of personal encouragement and advice.
Anthony Snodgrass too has since the late 1970s given consistent support to
my work. I am especially indebted to him and to James Roy for their helpful
comments as examiners of my doctoral dissertation, of which this volume is
a distant descendant.
Most of the research and writing for this book was performed during my
tenure of a Nuffield Foundation Social Science Research Fellowship and an
award under the Research Leave Scheme of the British Academy Humanities
Research Board. The University of Manchester provided a further semester
of sabbatical leave and also, through the Faculty of Arts Recurrent Grant for
Research, funding for invaluable teaching relief during the final months of
writing. My capacity to undertake this research has been aided immeasurably
by the excellent holdings of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester,
supplemented where occasionally necessary by the efficient efforts of the Inter-
Library Loans department. A fruitful month in the library of the British School
at Athens enabled me to access numismatic material and work by Greek scholars
not easily accessible in the UK. I also thank the editor of the BSA Studies
Series, Dr W.G. Cavanagh, for permission to reproduce material from my
contribution to vol. 4 in the series (Hodkinson 1998b) which forms a major
part of chapter 9.
I am glad to express my gratitude to my colleagues (both academic and
secretarial) in the School of History and Classics at the University of Manchester
for their personal and practical support during the long gestation of this book.
I am grateful to colleagues in the Department of Classics at the University
of Nottingham, who generously offered me the honorary position of Special
Lecturer, which has permitted my access to the University’s library and comput-
ing facilities. David Taylor of the Department of Archaeology at Nottingham has
kindly produced the volume’s maps. One of the joys of working on Sparta today
is the growing spirit of international cooperation among scholars from different
nations. Many colleagues around the world have assisted me with specialist
advice on particular aspects of my study. I have endeavoured to acknowledge
ix
Acknowledgements
their help at appropriate points in the text; and I apologise here to any whom
I have inadvertently omitted. Certain academic friends, however, merit special
mention. Robin Osborne and Paul Cartledge have provided constructive
criticism of several chapters, which have been materially improved by their
comments. Noreen Humble generously volunteered to proof-read several
chapters. Above all, Anton Powell, my editorial collaborator over many years, has
contributed much expert academic and technical assistance. To his unstinting
efforts and to the unrivalled typesetting skills of Ernest Buckley I am indebted
for the prompt production and publication of this complex book.
My greatest debts, however, are personal ones. My children (Christopher,
David, Rosemary, Peter and Joy) have learned, with the enviable flexibility of
the young, to tolerate a father’s constant preoccupation with a project seemingly
without end. My wife Hilary Hodkinson has proof-read the entire volume and
greatly improved my clarity of exposition. Her unswerving support has been
a continual reminder that there are more important things in life than property
and wealth. I dedicate this book to her.
The publication of this book has been assisted by
a grant from The Scouloudi Foundation
in association with the Institute of Historical Research
x
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations of ancient sources generally follow the forms used in LSJ9 or
OCD 3; abbreviations of modern periodicals those in L’Année Philologique. In
certain cases common and easily identified variants have been used. In addition,
the following abbreviations should be noted:
BMC, Attica British Museum. Department of Coins and Medals, Catalogue of
Greek Coins. Attica–Megaris–Aegina, London 1888.
CEG P.A. Hansen, Carmina Epigraphica Graeca, 2 vols., Oxford 1983–9.
CH Royal Numismatic Society, Coin Hoards, London 1975–.
CID II J. Bousquet, Corpus des Inscriptions de Delphes. Tome II: Les comptes du
quatrième et du troisième siècle, Paris 1989.
CVA Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, 1925–.
FdD Fouilles de Delphes
FGrH F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, Berlin 1923–.
FHG C. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, Paris 1848.
IG Inscriptiones Graecae, Berlin 1873–.
IGCH M. Thompson, O. Mørkholm and C.M. Kraay (eds.) An Inventory of
Greek Coin Hoards, New York 1993.
IvO W. Dittenberger and K. Purgold, Olympia: die Ergebnisse der von dem
deutschen Reich veranstalteten Ausgrabung. V. Die Inschriften, Berlin 1896.
LSJ9 H.G. Liddell, R. Scott and H.S. Jones, Greek-English Lexicon, 9th
edition, Oxford 1968.
LSJ, Rev. Suppl. P.W. Glare, Greek-English Lexicon, revised supplement,
Oxford 1996.
ML R. Meiggs and D.M. Lewis, Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of
the Fifth Century, revised edition, Oxford 1988.
OCD 3 S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (eds.) The Oxford Classical Dictionary,
3rd edition, Oxford 1996.
RE A. Pauly, G. Wissowa and W. Kroll (eds.) Real-Encyclopädie der
classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Munich 1893–.
SGDI H. Collitz et al. (eds.) Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-Inschriften,
Göttingen 1884–1915.
SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden 1923–.
SIG W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 4th edition,
Hildesheim 1960.
References to sub-sections of chapters in Plutarch’s Lives follow those given in
the Loeb Classical Library editions.
xi
Modern names in italics
Fig. 1. Mainland and Aegean Greece.
xii