OCR A-Level Ancient History H407
Relations Between Greek States and Non-Greek States, 492–404 BC
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC
The Culture and Politics of Athens, c.460–c.399 BC
The Rise of Macedon, c.359–323 BC
The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC–AD 68
The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88–31 BC
The Flavians, AD 68–96
Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43–c.128
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC
Great debates and influential individuals in Spartan politics
- 3 things to know
- Component Group 1
Overview
Recall questions on the regent's conduct at Byzantium, the debate of the 470s on sea power, the assembly of 432 and how its vote was taken, Alcibiades' advice, and Lysander's rise.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What brought the Spartan assembly together to hear complaints in 432 BC?
What did the Spartan assembly decide in 432 BC, and what happened next?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
How did the conduct of the regent Pausanias at Byzantium after 478 BC affect Sparta's position?
Model answer
His arrogance and harshness towards the Greek allies drove them to ask Athens to lead them instead, so the command against Persia at sea passed from Sparta to Athens.
- 2
What accusations were brought against Pausanias, and how did he die?
Model answer
He was accused of treasonable dealings with Persia and of stirring up the helots, and when the ephors moved to arrest him he took refuge in the temple of Athena of the Bronze House, where he was walled in and starved.
- 3
Who was Hetoemaridas, and what did he argue in the debate of the 470s BC?
Model answer
He was a member of the gerousia who argued that it was not in Sparta's interest to fight Athens for the leadership at sea, and he persuaded both the council and the assembly to leave the sea alone.
- 4
What was the long-term consequence of Sparta's decision in the 470s BC not to contest the sea?
Model answer
Sparta withdrew from the naval war against Persia and left the Aegean to Athens, so the Delian League grew into an Athenian empire unopposed for a generation.
- 5
Our account of the debate of the 470s BC comes from a much later historian. Why does that matter?
Model answer
It survives only in Diodorus, writing in the first century BC from a lost fourth-century history, with no contemporary account to check it against, so both the speech and the debate itself have been doubted.
- 6
What brought the Spartan assembly together to hear complaints in 432 BC?
Model answer
Sparta's allies, and above all Corinth, demanded action over Athenian interference at Corcyra and Potidaea, while Megara complained of being shut out of the empire's harbours and markets.
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