Sparta And Tyranny

From the 7th century BC to the 6th century BC,tyranny appeared in many ancient Greek city-states.Because of the large scope and the relatively long duration,this period of time was called "Age of Tyrants" by future generations.There are reasons for the emergence of "Age of Tyrants".First of all,the political environment of ancient Greece has changed,the rule of aristocracy has collapsed,and the new political system has not yet appeared.This has caused many city-states to fall into chaos and urgently need strong leaders to stabilize the situation.This is an external factor;second,by analyzing the identity of the tyrants,most of the tyrants came from aristocrats,and they have family support behind them.The big family became the main source of tyrants in the major city-states.Finally,the ancient Greek army system changed,and hoplite emerged.They are not satisfied with their powerless status,but they are incapable of fighting against the aristocrats alone,so they support the seizure of power by the tyrant,which is the military support of tyranny.When major city-states embarked on tyranny,there was a special city-state that maintained its own political stability.Not only did it not emerge tyranny,it also sent troops to eradicate tyranny in other city-states.First of all,after the reform of Lycurgus,Sparta formed a stable political system.The king,the ephoroi,and the gerousia will restrict each other,so that Sparta can maintain the balance of the political system for a long time.Second,Sparta became an armed barracks after the reforms in Lycurgus,and family life was severed.As a result,Sparta had no other big families except the two royal families.The kings were restricted by the ephoroi and the gerousia,so Sparta lacked the source of tyrants;in the end,Spartan hoplites were all citizens,they all enjoyed the right to be elected as ephoroi,and their biggest task was to suppress helots,which allowed them to support the Spartan constitution.In addition,Sparta has repeatedly sent troops to eradicate tyranny in other city states.One reason is that tyranny is unpopular in the later period of rule.Sparta can increase its international influence by eliminating the tyranny in other city states.Another reason is that many tyrannical city-states are its potential enemies.Sparta used its name to eradicate tyrannical politics to attack its competitors.Both tyranny and Sparta played a great role in ancient Greece.By studying the relationship between Sparta and tyranny,it is helpful for us to study the history of ancient Greek politics.