Ancient Sparta

Abstract

The paper discusses about the battle of Thermopylae, and some of the tactics which were used in the war, i.e. Sparta and Spartan. Further, this paper discusses about the negative response to one of famous professor, he quoted in his book. The Spartans battle against Xerxes forces at the hot gates in Thermopylae was essentially a suicide mission.

Ancient Sparta

Thesis statement

“The Spartans battle against Xerxes forces at the hot gates in Thermopylae was essentially a suicide mission”.

Introduction

Many ancient civilizations have added to our current knowledge, technology, and understanding of the world. Some provide the foundations of modern ideology. The ones covered in this chapter commenced the movement from the very ancient agrarian society to modern culture. They are all geographically located in the Mediterranean Basin or the Middle East and include Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria), Egypt, the Hittite Empire, Persia, Greece, and Rome .

Often called the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia was the site of the world's first cities. This urban development involved not only just a large group of people living in close proximity but also a revolution in social organization, in farming, and in technology. This cultural leap was a transition from the primitive settlement to the modern society.

Beginning around 5500 BCE and continuing for the next 2,000 years, people gradually began to move from the mountains into the Mesopotamian plain and settled in cities. In addition to the development of cities, these people developed irrigation, canals, and flood control. They learned how to drain marshes and to turn them into farmland. They also invented the plow, the wheel, and metallurgy (copper and bronze). During this time, the Sumerians moved to this area and became the dominate people.

About 3100 BCE, the Sumerians developed writing. Initially, the writing took the form of pictographs or hieroglyphics, with each symbol representing a word. By 2500 BCE, the language had simplified and developed into cuneiform, that is, wedge-shaped symbols representing syllables of words. For over 3,000 years, various civilizations, such as the Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians, adopted and used this system of writing. Most of the early Sumerian texts were records of economic activity, but by 2500 BCE, they expanded to include religious and literary texts as well as historical documents.

As cities emerged, social and political complexity increased significantly and people developed specialized vocations. These developments led to interdependence. Thus, the people became dependent on outside trade and commerce to meet their everyday necessities. Leaders of cities emerged who sought to expand their influence and control into the surrounding villages, and social classes developed among the populations. These communities developed into city-states. Kings (or warlords) expanded their influence to include other city-states through military conquest. They also captured and enslaved people.

The Sumerians invented bronze, a copper and tin alloy. They developed sculpture (high-profile statues), religious imagery, literary styles, and views on kingship, law, and society. They laid the groundwork for various sciences including arithmetic, astronomy, botany, and medicine. Perhaps most notable, the Sumerians developed monumental ...