Xenophon's Sparta: An Introduction (mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava Supplementum, 98)

Xenophon is usually believed to have written his Hellenica as a general ''history of his own times'' in Greece, and is criticized for his disproportionately close attention to Spartan affairs and his apparent bias in favour of the Spartans. But his treatment of Sparta is much more coherent and purposive than has been noticed; and knowing the cirumstances of his life, we should consider that there were ample reasons of prudence (at least) for him to have written with much circumspection about Sparta and especially about Agesilaus and Agesilaus' friends. This methodical interpretative study of Lysander in the Hellenica as well as of the Polity of the Lacedaemonians demonstrates that Xenophon wrote aobut this city - famous for the communal life of its citizens - with critical and philosophic intent. As a case study in reading classical history, it might signal the need for a complete reevaluation of other historians as well. XENOPHON'S SPARTA: An Introduction 4 CONTENTS 8 PREFACE 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 24 I. Sparta vs. Alcibiades (Hellenica I.i-iv) 26 II. Lysander's Victories, Callicratidas' Defeat (Hell. I.v-II.i.28) 35 III. The Conclusion of the War (Hell. II.i.29-iii.9) 55 IV. The Polity of the Lacedaemonians 69 V. Lysander and the Athenian Civil War (Hell. II.iii.11-II.iv) 105 VI. Lysander and Agesilaus in Asia (Hell. III.iii-iv) 114 VII. Lysander's Death in Boeotia (Hell. III.v) 127 VIII. Conclusion 133 Bibliography 137 Index 140 Mnemosyne, Supplements, Xenophon's An Introduction Mnemosyne, Supplements, Xenophon's An Introduction