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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 937
EAN num: 9780520231245
ISBN number: 0520231244
Label: University of California Press
Manufacturer: University of California Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: July 07, 2003
Publishing house: University of California Press
Sale Popularity Level: 498190
Studio: University of California Press
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The complex and distinctive Spartan tradition has been a prominent theme in western thinking from antiquity to today. Sparta is also one of a handful of ancient Greek cities with enough existing evidence for historians to create a realistic social portrait. Over the past quarter-century Paul Cartledge has established himself as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. Spartan Reflections is a superb collection of his essays--two are published here for the very first time, and the rest, often difficult to locate, have been revised and updated for publication in book form. Giving us a real sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, these essays constitute a fascinating introduction to and overview of ancient Spartan history and its reception. This collection, unique in breadth and scope, will be an essential source for anyone interested in this idiosyncratic society.
Cartledge brings us up to date on what is known about the most important and intriguing aspects of Sparta: its military development, questions of gender and sexuality, and the difficult problem of artistic and literary aspects of Sparta. We learn about the institutions that distinguished Sparta from other city-states, including its religion, education process, degree of literacy, secret service, unusual system of servitude, and institutionalized pederasty. Throughout, Cartledge also makes important comparisons with Athens, helping us grasp what is really striking about Sparta.
Cartledge's writing is clear and engaging as he draws from myriad sources both ancient and modern, as well as from political and cultural theory. These essays, together with their magisterial bibliography, demonstrate his remarkable scholarly and intellectual range. Spartan Reflections will be an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship yesterday as well as a fascinating look at this culture for general readers.
A Selection of the History Book Club
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Rated by buyers 
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for the above reviewer, too academic you say, how much so are you the general reader. i'm 20, in my second year at uni studying classical greece and it's at a level to which everyone can read. it is an insult to the general readers intelligence that you refer to it as too academic. may i suggest concentration!
Rated by buyers -
Paul Cartledge of Cambridge university is one of the foremost philhellenes and classical scholars in the world. Beyond that, to my knowledge he is the preeminent authority on ancient Sparta of the present age. In fact, I can only think of a handful of names that would qualify as being in his class.
The present book is a compilation of essays that Cartledge wrote during various times during his intellectual career. Cartledge engages sundry enduring questions that the in inquisitor of Spartan history is apt to have.
Some of the topics covered include the Laconian approach to slavery, homosexuality, the art of war, the duel kingship concept, the idea of the egalitarian citizen, the position and treatment of Lacedamon women as well as the AGOGE [i.e.: public education] of young Spartan males.
Through it all, Cartledge attempts an elucidation between what Sparta was "really" like and what he liked to call the Spartan "mirage" would have outsiders believe. The latter was how Sparta wished to project herself to all other Greek city states.
The present text is far easier to read than his SPARTA AND LACONIA (which was his doctoral dissertation presented in book form). Nevertheless, it would be prudent for the reader to have at least some familiarity with the Homeric epics as well as Herodotus and Thucydides. If you're able to grasp some of the inferences Cartledge makes, you'll be fine. If not, you might get lost.
This is a book that should be read by all graduate and undergraduate classrooms where the course is has in mind a focus on ancient Sparta. If Sparta is what you're interested in, then Cartledge is whom you should be reading. He really is that good.
Rated by buyers 
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This book is not for the general reader interested in Sparta or Greek history. It is much too academic, with numerous references to other Greek scholars and to their writings. I know Paul Cartledge is an expert in the subject, but because of the schoarly manner in which this book was written, I just could not finish it.
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