The Ruins of Sparta [6:46]

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[transcript]
Introduction
Thucydides famously remarked that if Sparta were to be deserted and only the ruins of its buildings remained, few would believe the city had ever been great. For unlike Athens, it had no spectacular temples or public buildings but resembled a cluster of ancient villages.

Since Sparta's warriors were her walls, the city remained unfortified until the Hellenistic era. In the Roman period, when Sparta was a modestly prosperous provincial center, a few substantial edifices were constructed. Most of these, however, are buried beneath the modern town. All that's visible today are the ruins on the Acropolis just outside the modern center and the nearby sanctuary of Artemis Ortha, looking out over a sea of olives from the Acropolis of Sparta.

The Acropolis was the tallest of the six low hills over which Sparta was built. In late antiquity, when Greece became subject to barbarian attacks, a wall was built around the Acropolis, made like the Valyrian wall in Athens, largely with reused stone. These precautions, however, did not protect Sparta from all Alaric and his Visigoths, who sacked the city in 396, 14 years before. They did the same to Rome.
Agora
Although Roman Sparta was more monumental than its classical predecessor, it was a far less impressive place than Athens, let alone Corinth or Ephesus. Its ruins are correspondingly scanty. Perhaps the most impressive structure then, though not now, was this Roman portico. We're just seeing one end of it here. Built in the 2nd century AD, it was an enormous building longer than the Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian Agora. The portico featured a series of barrel-vaulted shops, now raw masonry, but once faced with marble. A colonnade long vanished stood in front of the shops.

This may be the final incarnation of the Persian Stoa described by Pausanias as a classical monument built with the spoils of the Persian wars. Archaizing features of the design suggest that this may have been the case. During the Byzantine period, a monastery was built into the eastern part of the portico and houses rose over the western side. The descriptively but unhelpfully named round building may have been a monumental tomb, but we have no way of knowing. It was rebuilt during the Roman period and again quite recently, as you can see from that fresh marble.

An alternative candidate for Pausanias's Persian Stoa is this structure a short distance away now known simply as the Agora from the adjacent market square. This was the Basilica of Byzantine Sparta, likely built during or soon after the reign of Justinian. Ahead, as usual, in buildings of this vintage, was the altar and the synth throne on where the clergy sat.
Acropolis
This was the sanctuary of Athena Kolka, Athena of the bronze house. Though only a few foundation blocks survive today, this was among the most important temples in classical Sparta. It derived its name from the bronze plates that sheathed its walls. A few were found by archaeologists.

It was here that Pausanias, the Spartan regent who led the victorious coalition at the battle of Plataea, took sanctuary after being accused of conspiring with the Persians and was eventually starved to death. It was here too that the famous Leonidas statue in the museum was discovered.

Sparta's first monumental theater was built in the Hellenistic era. The current structure, however, dates to the reign of Augustus and was remodeled several times in the Roman period. It was the largest theater in Greece after that of Megalopolis.

The scale is hard to appreciate now since so much stone was plundered to build late antique walls. Parts of the seating, however, still survive. The first Roman stage was a wooden structure on wheels. Parts of the track on which it moved are still visible, though not from here. A permanent stone stage building was built in the reign of Vespasian.

There are a few dozen inscriptions on the east retaining wall, not unfortunately visible from this vantage point. They record the careers of the modestly prosperous officials who presided over Roman Sparta. An especially interesting example was set up by a certain Udokamus who records that he never in three missions to buy grain for Sparta was forced to throw any cargo overboard by storms. Besides the usual dramatic performances, the theater was used for the ball games played by young Spartans.
Temple of Artemis Orthia
The Spartan youths put on a more grim performance at the sanctuary of Artemis Ortha just outside the city. Ortha was a local goddess only later assimilated to Artemis. The sanctuary dedicated to her, which began to develop during the archaic era, remained in use for a millennium. More than 100,000 votive figures made of lead have been recovered here along with clay masks that likely imitate those used during initiation ceremonies. The foundations of the temple of Artemis are visible here. This was a Hellenistic building. Two predecessors stood on the same site. Around are the remains of a near amphitheater built in the 3rd century AD.

This was constructed so that thousands could watch one of Roman Sparta's most gruesome spectacles. Every year during games held in honor of the goddess, Spartan boys underwent the whipping contest, a trial of endurance to see who could be flogged the longest without crying out. Those who endured the torture in silence were awarded a bronze sickle. Not infrequently, the whipping was severe enough to kill. Although it masqueraded as an ancient contest instituted by Lycurgus, the contest was nothing more or less than a bloody exercise in nostalgia performed for the tourists who came to see what remained of the glory of Sparta.
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from the FRchives:

Why the Sparta you know Never Existed [05/09/2022]
Is This Sparta? Revisionists Get The Legendary Warriors All Wrong [08/11/2023]
Archaeologists making exciting discoveries in Laconia [08/28/2015]
Ancient Greek palace unearthed near Sparta dates back to 17th century BC [08/27/2015]
Messene, out from under the shadow of Sparta [10/06/2012]
"Because only Spartan women give birth to real men." [06/26/2008]
A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War [10/15/2005]
Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore [10/09/2005]

One of the most delightful experiences I have had--of countless ones--was reading The Peloponnesian War as I traveled across the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

I love Thucydides. His writing is beautiful. His mind was profound, towering, and exquisite.

Yes, there's not much left of Sparta.

Great idea!

https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Sparta&params=37_4_55_N_22_25_25_E_region:GR-J_type:city

Where da hole at?