 "Review of Carteledge's Spartans" | 2009-11-22 |
| - Reviewed By scott.godwin from Chicago, IL, USA |
| I read this a while ago, so my review is admittedly murky. Carteledge's style is highly readable and entertaining. I don't remember it being especially funny, but this volume is certainly straightforward and intensive. One walks away with a much greater appreciating for the standout city-state that was Sparta. |
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 "Lots of Interesting Material That Gets Lost in the Telling" | 2009-11-02 |
| - Reviewed By CJA from Minneapolis, MN |
Cartledge is an authority on the Spartans and has a lot of extremely interesting observations to share. The most interesting is the Spartan emphasis on community over the individual; the removal of all Spartan males from the household at the age of 7 to embark on the calling of every Spartan male -- that of warrior; the reliance of slave labor to make the society work; and an interesting approach to sex roles that is different from what one might expect from such a seemingly "macho" culture. On this last item, it appears that the young boys removed from the home were apprenticed to older boys whom they served. The older boy was strictly accountable for the younger boy's behavior. There was often a sexual dimension to the relationship. Then when the males married, they did not see much of their wives because of military commitments. The marriage ceremony involved a ritualized rape of the female --usually not literally (though sometimes that was the case) and involving carrying the girl off against her purported will. Yet despite this, Spartan women were educated and were considered strong willed and masters of the household. To encourage more children, they were sometimes (with the husband's consent) paired off with additional men and could run multiple households. The strong willed women would reinforce the adult males' role of courageous fighting men and hold them to account.
All of this is absolutely fascinating, and I would have liked to have heard more. Unfortunately, Cartledge seems fixated on dates and lots of political and diplomatic history that gets away from the main issue of Spartan culture, how it worked, how it did not, and to what extent it was a dystopia as opposed to a utopia.
This could have been a far better book. Instead, the book becomes dull and reptitive at times and suffers from poor organization. |
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| "just a little too detailed" | 2009-04-27 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| Paul Cartledge gives us an overly detailed account of life from Spartan point of view. It is written in three parts with the first being the Spartan code. This details the making of a Spartan warrior and takes the reader to the battle at the hot gates against the mighty Persian Empire. The second part delves into the women of Sparta, the religious beliefs of Sparta, and the ongoing war against the hated Athenians. The final part enlightens the reader on the aftermath and downfall of this once mighty citystate. The book does an incredible job touching on the finer points of this age long forgotten, but the book does have too much detail to keep the story flowing. Great insight into Sparta and ancient Greece, just a little too detailed. . . . .I would highly recommend reading Clarence Cage's epic novel Ashes Divide: Ashes Divide an incredible novel of Spartan warfare. |
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| "The book is extremely detailed, but that's the problem." | 2008-09-25 |
| - Reviewed By derekwj |
If I was rating this merely on how much information you can cram into one book or audio program I'd give it 5 stars, but the problem is that it IS too detailed to the point that your mind is overwhelmed with time, names dates and events.
A historical book is only half of what it could be if it doesn't flow easily. It's tragic that the editor didn't force the author to thin out his work somewhat. |
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 "A mediocre primer." | 2008-07-27 |
| - Reviewed By Aegis Nod from Smalltown, USA |
The mythology of the Spartans, from their political and cultural organization, to their warrior-bred-and-born image to their women, have always ignited a sort of romanticism that is both well earned and deserved, as well as blown out of proportion.
For all the hype of the author himself, this book is not exactly the most scintillating or the best structured. His writing style is dull and unimaginative and often times, I wonder if he took grammar and syntax as seriously as the British are shrewdly known for. The way he has organized the chapters is haphazard and meandering, often times digressing then repeating in later parts. It was, in many places, frustrating and difficult to get through. And I really wanted to.
An extensive Timeline at the beginning was thorough and much appreciated, as well as several maps, including a sprawling map of the Classical Greek world, Sparta, its environs, the Peloponneses and a couple maps of the most important battles fought by the Spartans. There are some representative pictures that tell more than what Cartledge himself failed to convey and for that, it made reading the book, a bit more manageable and really brought the Spartans to life.
The book itself is divided into three parts:
-Part I is the foundation tale of Sparta and their Laws leading up to the Persian Wars of 480-479. This includes the establishment of the Spartan code of warrior-making as well as the staunch and pious beliefs of the Spartans themselves.
-Part II focuses on the mythology of the Spartan, including women and religion and especially the civil war that erupted between Athens and Sparta. This is straight-laced and straight forward and lacks any real git that this war ignited. He merely hashes numbers, battle and political machinations that comes off awfully sedate and little vividness.
-Part III delves into the aftermath of Persia, the Peloponnesian (Athenian) War and eventual decline of Spartan hegemony that includes the modern perceptions of Sparta and her people. There's a lot going on and all done cursory and without much detail.
Within each part and chapter, were headings that focused on specific moments, people and battle profiles. Brief, somewhat thrown together and wandering. While it would be difficult to not bring in other elements that will be discussed further later on, Cartledge would change subjects entirely, then repeat it again in other places, due to the fact that the headings were too closely linked together. Sometimes he'd have a small section on particular subjects with little reason other that he found it interesting because it didn't always seem relevant to the point at hand.
There is an appendix on Hunting in Spara is more of an academic philosophizing and rather, not very interesting or insightful. The short Bibliography is a rich source but everything else, lackluster and not very helpful. Especially the index, which doesn't direct you to much other than that name or word is somewhere in there, but not as to what its referring to, and at times, merely alluded to.
I have a fair amount of knowledge in Greek history, as well as Spartan, and for someone who is not familiar with the terms and general events going on behind the scenes, like with Persia or Athens and minor Greek city-states (though they are somewhat...expanded upon) or the generalities of Spartan civilization, you might throw this book down in disgust. The battles and how they were fought were good enough to get the general idea, though read the original sources, or at least, a better one than Cartledge's, for a better account. For a history book meant to expand your knowledge with the ease promised by such a short book with large print, you might be working a lot harder than you should. Even if you do know what he's talking about.
In general, Cartledge manages to get the major points across, though remembering them or piecing them together could get rather tedious. A good thing about this book was that he pretty much touched on not just the major parts but the minor ones as well, especially the profiles on mentionable Spartans, though like I said, sometimes they're just exegetic tid bits of info rather than essential. He doesn't pigeon hole the Spartans as one thing or the other other, like too many are taught to do. Also, he is both fair and cites both sides of the story without taking a side and I think his point of view is both respectful and takes into account the failures and the success of a fascinating and singular civilization. I think that the cold and sterile reputation that the Spartans have always is less endorsed in this biography, which I appreciate. When compared to the Athenians, all cities seem to pale, but Sparta was able to maintain a stability that at times, rivaled her sister state with as much intelligence as ease as Athens. Ultimately and rightly, Cartledge shows a people proud, unwavering in their beliefs and their stalwartness, but at the same time, human and as flawed as everyone else was. |
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 "ZZZZZZZzzzzzzz" | 2008-07-25 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| The author might be an expert but it reads like he is talking to an audience at the local pub. He starts a topic then goes off in a totally different direcion. I never could figure out where the transition took place. After several tries I gave up. Want to buy my copy--CHEAP??? |
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