The Power of Sparta
The Spartans made oligarchy the political base for a society devoted to military
readiness, and the resulting
Spartan way of life1 became famous for its discipline, which showed most prominently in the Spartan
infantry, the most powerful military force in Greece during the Archaic Age.
Sparta's easily defended
location2—nestled on a narrow north-south plain between rugged mountain ranges
in the southeastern Peloponnese, in a region called Laconia (hence the designation of
Spartans as Laconians)—gave it a secure base for developing its might. Sparta
had access to the sea through a
harbor3 situated some twenty-five miles south of its urban center, but this harbor
opened onto a dangerous stretch of the Mediterranean whipped by treacherous currents and
winds. As a consequence, enemies could not threaten the Spartans by sea, but their
relative isolation from the sea also kept the Spartans from becoming adept sailors.
Their interests and
their strength4 lay on the land.
