The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC | OCR A-Level Ancient History (H407)

The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC

218 questions
15 subtopics
Component Group 1: Greek depth study, one of three
Component Group 1

The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC is examined in Component Group 1, Greek period study and Greek depth study.

It covers the agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men, the education of Spartan girls, the values the agoge was intended to instil, Spartiates, perioikoi and helots, helot revolts, the krypteia and the fear of the helots, the status and role of Spartan women, the Spartan kings and the gerousia, the ephors and the Spartan assembly, great debates and influential individuals in Spartan politics, the organisation of the Spartan army and who fought in it, Spartan successes and failures on land, 465–418 BC, the Spartan navy and the commanders of the later war, Corinthian and Athenian views of Sparta, the Peloponnesian League and the limits of Spartan action and oliganthropia, the decline of values and the Spartan mirage.

Sample questions from The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men

Why were the boys deliberately underfed?

Show the answer
Hunger was meant to harden them for campaign and to drive them to forage and steal, which developed cunning, stealth and self-reliance.
The education of Spartan girls

Who was Alcman, and why do his poems matter for the study of Spartan girls?

Show the answer
Alcman was a choral poet working at Sparta in the seventh century BC who composed maiden-songs, partheneia, for choruses of girls to perform at religious festivals.
Spartiates, perioikoi and helots

Describe who the perioikoi were and where they lived.

Show the answer
The perioikoi, the dwellers around, were free inhabitants of the towns of Laconia and Messenia who ran their own local affairs but belonged to the Spartan state.
Helot revolts, the krypteia and the fear of the helots

What point is Thucydides making when he reports the disappearance of the helots who had been promised freedom?

Show the answer
He is showing that Sparta feared the bravest and most confident helots most of all, and would destroy the very men whose service it had just used.
The Spartan kings and the gerousia

Give three privileges a Spartan king enjoyed in peacetime.

Show the answer
He received a double portion at public meals, held the seat of honour at festivals and games, and was given the hides and other perquisites of the animals he sacrificed.
The ephors and the Spartan assembly

State the decisions that belonged to the assembly.

Show the answer
It voted on war, peace and treaties, elected the ephors and the elders, settled disputed successions to the throne, and approved the freeing of helots.
The organisation of the Spartan army and who fought in it

Describe the Skiritai and their place in the Spartan battle line.

Show the answer
They were troops from Skiritis on Sparta's northern border who formed a separate unit and held the extreme left of the Spartan battle line.
Spartan successes and failures on land, 465–418 BC

Why was the capture of Amphipolis in the winter of 424 BC so serious for Athens?

Show the answer
Amphipolis commanded the crossing of the Strymon and the route to the timber and mines of the north, so Athens lost shipbuilding materials, revenue and prestige at once.

The 15 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men	Recall questions on the age a boy left home, the deliberate hunger and the flogging for theft, the contest at Artemis Orthia, laconic speech, the mothakes, and the common messes.	16
The education of Spartan girls	Recall questions on the girls' races, wrestling and discus, why they did no spinning or weaving, their festival choruses, the age of marriage, Lampito in Lysistrata, Plutarch's reliability, Alcman's maiden-songs for Hagesichora and Agido, and the bronze running-girl figurine in the British Museum.	18
The values the agoge was intended to instil	Recall questions on obedience and Demaratus' answer to Xerxes, karteria, conformity among the homoioi, the treatment of a tresas and the men of Sphacteria, contempt for wealth, respect for elders, returning with your shield or on it, eunomia, the views of Plato, and Tyrtaeus' ideal of the fighting man.	17
Spartiates, perioikoi and helots	Recall questions on the homoioi and the conditions of full citizenship, the kleros and mess contributions, why Spartiates could not farm or trade, the perioikoi and their economic role and lack of rights, how helots differed from slaves and what they owed, the Messenian helots, helots on campaign, and the evidence of Herodotus, Strabo and Tyrtaeus.	16
Helot revolts, the krypteia and the fear of the helots	Recall questions on Thucydides' verdict on helot fear, the ephors' yearly declaration of war, the krypteia as Plato and Aristotle explained it, the revolt of 464 BC and Mount Ithome, the dismissal of the Athenians and its consequences, the two thousand helots who disappeared, the neodamodeis, the Messenians at Pylos, and Myron of Priene.	14
The status and role of Spartan women	Recall questions on property and land in women's hands, Aristotle's criticism, the wedding and child-bearing customs our sources report, the naming of the dead on graves, and the power women lacked.	12
The Spartan kings and the gerousia	Recall questions on the Agiad and Eurypontid dual kingship, the kings' religious and judicial duties, command on campaign and royal privileges, mourning a king, the monthly oath and the ephors' star-watching, the punishment of Agis II, and the membership, election, functions and Aristotle's criticisms of the gerousia.	14
The ephors and the Spartan assembly	Recall questions on how the five ephors were chosen, their powers over the kings, ordinary citizens and foreign affairs, Aristotle's criticisms of the ephorate, who sat in the assembly, voting by shout, what it could and could not decide, its monthly meetings, the rider on crooked motions, and how far Sparta was a democracy.	12
Great debates and influential individuals in Spartan politics	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.	14
The organisation of the Spartan army and who fought in it	Recall questions on the enomotia, pentekostys and lochos, the chain of command from king to polemarchs, the hippeis and the Skiritai, perioikoi and helots in the army, calling out the age-classes, the pipers and pre-battle sacrifices, how religion could delay campaigns, Xenophon's view of Spartan professionalism, and the secrecy over army size.	13
Spartan successes and failures on land, 465–418 BC	Recall questions on the weakness exposed at Ithome, Pylos and the surrender on Sphacteria, the use Athens made of the prisoners, Brasidas and Amphipolis, and the battle of 418.	15
The Spartan navy and the commanders of the later war	Recall questions on the Persian subsidies and what they cost Sparta, the office of navarch, Cyzicus and the captured dispatch, Notium and Aegospotami, and the limits of Xenophon's narrative.	15
Corinthian and Athenian views of Sparta	Recall questions on the Corinthian complaint about the Spartan character, the Athenian envoys' defence of empire, the charge against Spartans abroad, Athenian admirers of Sparta, and why the speeches are argument.	12
The Peloponnesian League and the limits of Spartan action	Recall questions on the League's oath and decision-making, what Sparta and her allies gained, how it differed from the Athenian empire, short campaigns, failures of leadership in the 470s BC, the helot danger, xenelasia, Spartan slowness, commanders who were not kings such as Brasidas and Lysander, and the problem of Athenian sea-raiding.	13
Oliganthropia, the decline of values and the Spartan mirage	Recall questions on oliganthropia and the figures of Herodotus and Aristotle, loss of citizenship through poverty and inheritance, the hypomeiones, how Sparta made up its numbers, Lysander's wealth and Xenophon's complaint of decline, Thermopylae and the Spartan mirage, and the problems of Plutarch, Xenophon, Aelian and Phylarchus as sources.	17

The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC is 218 of the 2,709 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.