How Were the Spartans Putting Conservative Politics Into Action in Their Life Within Sparta in the 370s Before Leuctra? to What Degree Is Xenophon’s View a Fair One?

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How were the Spartans putting conservative politics into action in their life within Sparta in the 370s before Leuctra? To what degree is Xenophon’s view a fair one? The Spartans were putting conservatism politics into action in their daily lives by continuing to follow the laws Lycurgus had laid out for them centuries before. Some such laws are the role of women, the role of sex, and the role of equality described in Xenophon’s ‘Constitution of Lacedaimonians’, written around the 370’s. However Xenophon’s view is not a totally fair one, considering his past military experiences with Spartans, as well as the fact that he was not a Spartan citizen and therefore only knew the official laws laid out to him. The ancient Greeks believed that the world was created perfect, and that every change made it a little worse. This made conservatism fundamental in preventing decay in the world. The Spartans therefore found it essential to live by the laws, which were mainly military based, that the legendary Lycurgus had laid out for them in the first half of the 7th Century. Unlike other Greek states, who were much less rotated around the military and had women responsible for making clothes, the Spartans left that duty for the slave women, so that the higher class women could concentrate on physical training just as much as the men did. The Spartans believed that if both parents were strong, so too would the child be. When it comes to the custom of sex between husband and wife, Xenophon correctly points out that in other Greek cities, it was considered normal for man and woman to ‘have unlimited intercourse’ following marriage, however in Sparta a man should be ashamed to be seen entering or leaving his wife’s room. Again, this creation of desire between man and wife was seen to mean that their offspring would be more vigorous. Life in Sparta was also very much

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