Sparta

Rise of a Warrior Nation

By: Philip Matyszak

Narrated by: Mike Cooper

This cultural history of Ancient Sparta chronicles the rise of its legendary military power and offers revealing insight into the people behind the myths.

The Spartans of ancient Greece are typically portrayed as macho heroes: noble, laconic, totally fearless, and impervious to pain. And indeed, they often lived up to this image. But life was not as simple as this image suggests. In truth, ancient Sparta was a city of contrasts.

We might admire their physical toughness, but Spartans also systematically abused their children. They gave rights to female citizens that were unmatched in Europe until the modern era, meanwhile subjecting their conquered subject peoples to a murderous reign of terror. Though idealized by the Athenian contemporaries of Socrates, Sparta was almost devoid of intellectual achievement.

In this revealing history of Spartan society, Philip Matyszak chronicles the rise of the city from a Peloponnesian village to the military superpower of Greece. Above all, Matyszak investigates the role of the Spartan hoplite, the archetypal Greek warrior who was feared throughout Greece in his own day and has since become a legend. The listener is shown the man behind the myth; who he was, who he thought he was, and the environment which produced him.

©2017 Philip Matyszak (P)2021 Tantor

Balanced viewpoint.”

I liked this professor’s ability to make clear military ancient warfare to a woman untrained in any strategy or tactics.

excellent

well done intermediate history of the Spartans, especially liked the sections on the Messenian Wars, and the one on Cleomenes. Very re-listenable.

Wonderful comprehension and scope

Wonderful comprehension and scope. After a thorough and enjoyable read, at the end there is a beautiful analogous situation with post WW2 America and subsequent abundance and decline. Sparta fought and adapted its way to become prosperous, innovative and strong then rode the laurels neglecting what got them in the first place which inevitably leads to decline as it does down to the personal level today. Highly recommended if you are a student of history.

The content and the narrator’s voice.

Very repeatable book. Dives into Sparta in amazing way. Finding more about Brasidas, Gorgo (her father Cleomenes), Leonidas, etc. all amazing.

If

Another book by one of my favorite authors. It was great to finally understand how Sparta began and how it saw itself.