this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024
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Today I Learned

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[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 93 points 2 weeks ago (13 children)

So this claim seems well sourced, but I had to look it up because my bullshit detector always perks up when Sparta is discussed.

The surviving written sources are limited and largely from a non-Spartan viewpoint. Anton Powell wrote that to say the written sources are "'not without problems'... as an understatement would be hard to beat".

By Roman times, when a more organized and centralized polity was creating a pan-Mediterranean culture that had a lot to do with which works ended up preserved, Sparta was pretty much a theme park shell of its former self, and its former self is probably not so amazing anyway. In particular, their unusually thorough and unbalanced slave economy is overlooked when lionizing them, and their military record is rather underwhelming, possibly due to the incredible inefficiencies, even by ancient Greek standards, of said slave economy.

[–] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 41 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

They really do get a lot more reverence today than they deserve. Like, I get most historical cultures don't stack up the best with modern moral standards applied to them, but like, based on what I understand about Sparta, if the place were somehow transplanted through history to the modern day as it's own country, it would probably end up some sanctioned pariah state out of sheer disgust for how it treats it's own citizenry and handles it's foreign diplomacy.

[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 47 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

A highly militaristic society that isn't all that strong compared to other militaries, that treats it's people and outsiders poorly, and has glaringly obvious issues with its governance, all with an air of superiority and an emphasis on never appearing weak?

...Was Sparta just North Korea?

[–] ben_dover@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

the description would work just fine for the USA too

[–] luciferofastora@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago

The USA doesn't have a slave caste making up 80% of its population that it ritually declares war on every year. They aren't quite as bad as Sparta.

Yet.

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The fact that folks vote you down without engaging speaks volumes. The npc angry meme comes to mind.

From an outside perspective the US definitely ticks those boxes. Maybe someone can explain what doesnt.

[–] Demdaru@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Nobody wants to feed the troll, simple. But eh.

  • Highly militaristic Check
  • Isn't that strong Eh, just beating every other contestant with either tech, experience or both.
  • Treats it's people and outsider poorly MMMMM, okay, for EU standards yeah, but for global ones? They're mid.
  • Obvious problems with governance . . . nnnnnyeaah...
  • Air of superiority Yeah. Except not really. Ya all are dropping it more and more as time goes.
  • Never appearing weak It's justified tho.

So overall, yeah, 3,5/6. 0,5 for treating people part. Defo not sparta...i mean, if they vote Trump and I'll have to update this but eh.

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