This book provides a comprehensive military history of the Spartan army and how it became the most formidable war machine in Greece for at least two centuries. Included are chapters on the composition, training, and organization of the army, and the campaigns of Thermopylae, Plataea, Sphakteria, Mantineia, The Nemea, Koroneia, Lechaion, and Leuktra.
A useful overview of Spartan culture which traces the rise and fall of its society and empire. It includes sections on Lycurgus and King Leonidas and shows how Spartan women enjoyed an unusually dominant and powerful role in this hyper-masculine society.
Plutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC. It includes sections on Lycurgus, Agesilaus, Agis, Cleomenes, and the sayings of Spartan men and women.
With information presented in point form, this study guide is specifically written for the Year 12 HSC Ancient History syllabus. It includes chapters on the cities of Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Spartan Society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BCE, Rome's Agrippina the Younger, Rome's Julio-Claudians Emporers, and sample HSC examination papers.
In the first episode of The Spartans, Bettany Hughes examines the evolution of this intriguing ancient civilisation. While Athens is credited with art, architecture, science, philosophy and democratic politics. Sparta's ideals and traditions are equally potent and enduring: duty, discipline, the sacrifice of the individual to the greater good and mind over matter.
In this episode, the focus is on the bitter rivalry with Athens and the two cities' startlingly different view of women. They were two cities with totally opposed views of the 'good life'. For Athens, Sparta was a frightening place that turned its children into fighting machines. But worse still were Sparta's women: liberated, independent and opinionated.
Concludes the chronicle of the rise and fall of an extreme civilisation. Triumph in a brutal war against Athens sees Sparta as the most powerful city-state in Greece. But dreams of a Spartan utopia ultimately come crashing down.
A Spartan infant deemed to be weak would be thrown off a cliff; a schoolboy's only clothing was a blanket. The Spartans still epitomise tough military discipline.
The library provides access to a range of resources including JSTOR, which is useful for HSC History, English, and Society & Culture. Membership of the State Library is required to access JSTOR.
This site provides a point-form overview of the syllabus. It includes sections on social structure, the role of the Spartan army, and everyday cultural and religious life.
The Spartan Army by 
The Spartans : the world of the warrior-heroes of ancient Greece, from utopia to crisis and collapse by 
On Sparta by 
Excel : Year 12 ancient history by 
