Part 213

To Sparta it was an important acquisition, for the plain of the Pamisus was the most fertile district in Peloponnesus. The Spartans next became aggressive on the eastern and northern frontiers of their territory. Among the numerous independent communities of Arcadia, the two most important were Tegea and Mantinea, in the extreme east of the Arcadian territory. With these cities, especially the former, the Spartans had some severe struggles, but were not able to conquer them, though they established a dominant influence, and reduced them to the position of dependent allies. From Argos … the Lacedæmonians wrested, in the course of two centuries, the strip of territory between the Parnon range and the sea from Thyrea down to the Malean promontory. By the beginning of the 6th century B. C. they were masters of two-fifths of the whole area of Peloponnesus—a territory of something more than 3,000 square miles. {3021} To modern notions, such a territory, which is smaller in extent than more than one Scottish county, seems utterly insignificant; but it sufficed to make Sparta the largest and strongest state in Hellas, and even at the pinnacle of her power she never made any further addition to her possessions in Peloponnesus. Protected from invasion by impregnable natural defences, and possessing a military discipline, a social and political unity, such as no other Grecian community could boast, the Lacedæmonians possessed peculiar advantages in the competition for the Hellenic leadership. … It was about the close of the 6th century B. C. that Sparta, having asserted her supremacy in Peloponnesus, began to take an active part in the affairs of the Hellenic communities outside the peninsula. … In 510 B. C. her king, Cleomenes, went to Athens at the head of a large force to obey the mandate of the Delphic oracle and 'liberate the city' by the expulsion of the Pisistratids."

_C. H. Hanson, The Land of Greece, chapter 11._

ALSO IN: _C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, chapter 9._

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapters 7-8._

SPARTA: B. C. 509-506. Persistent undertakings of Cleomenes to restore tyranny at Athens, opposed by the Corinthians and other allies.

See ATHENS: B. C. 509-506.

SPARTA: B. C. 508. Interference of King Cleomenes at Athens, and its failure.

See ATHENS: B. C. 510-507.

SPARTA: B. C. 501. Refusal of aid to the Ionian revolt.

See PERSIA: B. C. 521-493.

SPARTA: B. C. 496. War with Argos. Prostration of the Argive state.

See ARGOS: B. C. 496-421.

SPARTA: B. C. 492-491. Headship in Greece recognized. Defiance of the Persian king. Enforced unity of Greece for war.

See GREECE: B. C. 492-491.

SPARTA: B. C. 481-479. Congress at Corinth. Organized Hellenic Union against Persia. The Spartan headship.

See GREECE: B. C. 481-479.

SPARTA: B. C. 480. The Persian War. Leonidas and his Three Hundred at Thermopylæ.

See GREECE: B. C. 480 THERMOPYLÆ.

SPARTA: B. C. 478. Interference to forbid the rebuilding of the walls of Athens, foiled by Themistocles.

See ATHENS: B. C. 479-478.

SPARTA: B. C. 478-477. Mad conduct of Pausanias at Byzantium. Alienation of the Asiatic Greeks. Loss of the leadership of the Greek world. Formation of the Confederacy of Delos, with Athens at its head.

See GREECE: B. C. 478-477.

SPARTA: B. C. 464-455. The great Earthquake. The Third Messenian War. Offensive rebuff to Athenian friendliness.

See MESSENIAN WARS: THE THIRD.

SPARTA: B. C. 462-458. Embittered enmity at Athens. Rise of Pericles and the democratic Anti-Spartan party. Athenian alliance with Argos, Thessaly, and Megara.

See ATHENS: B. C. 466-454.

SPARTA: B. C. 457. Interference in Phocis. Collision with the Athenians and victory at Tanagra.

See GREECE: B. C. 458-456.

SPARTA: B. C.453. Five years truce with Athens.

See ATHENS: B. C. 460-449.

SPARTA: B. C. 449-445. Aid to revolts in Bœotia, Eubœa and Megara against Athenian rule or influence. The Thirty Years Truce.

See GREECE: B. C. 449-445.

SPARTA: B. C. 440. Interference with Athens in Samos opposed by Corinth.

See ATHENS: B. C. 440-437.

SPARTA: B. C. 432-431. Hearing of charges against Athens. Congress of Allies. Decision for war. Theban attack on Platæa. Opening of the Peloponnesian War.

See GREECE: B. C. 432-431.

SPARTA: B. C. 431-429. First and second years of the Peloponnesian War: Invasions of Attica. Plague at Athens. Death of Pericles.

See GREECE: B. C. 431-429.

SPARTA: B. C. 429-427. The Peloponnesian War: Siege of Platæa.

See GREECE: B. C. 429-427 SIEGE OF PLATÆA.

SPARTA: B. C. 428-427. The Peloponnesian War: Aid to the insurgent Mityleneans. Its failure.

See GREECE: B. C. 429-427 PHORMIO'S SEA-FIGHTS.

SPARTA: B. C. 425. The Peloponnesian War: Catastrophe at Sphacteria. Peace pleaded for and refused by Athens.

See GREECE: B. C. 425.

SPARTA: B. C. 424-421. Peloponnesian War: Successes of Brasidas in Chalcidice. Athenian defeat at Delium. Death of Brasidas. Peace of Nikias.

See GREECE: B. C. 424-421.

SPARTA: B. C. 421-418. The Peloponnesian War: New hostile combinations. The Argive confederacy. War in Argos and Arcadia. Victory at Mantinea.

See GREECE: B. C. 421-418.

SPARTA: B. C. 415-413. The Peloponnesian War: Help to Syracuse against the Athenians. Comfort to the fugitive Alcibiades.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413.

SPARTA: B. C. 413-412. The Peloponnesian War: Aid to the revolting cities in Asia and the Ægean. Intrigues of Alcibiades.

See GREECE: B. C. 413-412.

SPARTA: B. C. 413. Negotiations with Persian satraps. Subsidies for war against Athens. Invasion of Attica. The Decelian War.

See GREECE: B. C. 413.

SPARTA: B. C. 411-407. Athenian victories at Cynossema and Abydos. Exploits of Alcibiades. His return to Athens. His second deposition and exile.

See GREECE: B. C. 411-407.

SPARTA: B. C. 406. The Peloponnesian War: Defeat at Arginusæ.

See GREECE: B. C. 406.

SPARTA: B. C. 405. The Peloponnesian War: Decisive victory at Ægospotami.

See GREECE: B. C. 405.

SPARTA: B. C. 404. End of the Peloponnesian War: Surrender of Athens.

See ATHENS: B. C. 404.

SPARTA: B. C. 404-403. The organizing of Spartan supremacy. The Harmosts in power.

The overthrow of Athenian power in the Greek world, made final by the battle of Ægospotami, B. C. 405, rendered Sparta supreme, and established her in a sovereignty of affairs which is often alluded to as the Spartan, or Lacedæmonian Empire. The cities which had been either allied or subject to Athens were now submissive to the Spartan conqueror, Lysander. "He availed himself of his strength to dissolve the popular system of government in all the towns which had belonged to the Attic confederation, and to commit the government to a fixed body of men enjoying his confidence. As at Athens the Thirty, so elsewhere Commissions of Ten [called Dekarchies] were established.

See ATHENS: B. C. 404-403.

{3022}

In order to give security and strength to those governing bodies, detachments of Spartan troops were placed by their side, under the command of a Harmost. This measure, again, was, by no means a novel invention. From an early period the Lacedæmonians had been in the habit of despatching Harmostæ (i. e. military governors) into the rural districts, to hold sway over the Periœci, and to keep the latter in strict subjection to the capital. Such Harmosts were subsequently also sent abroad; and this, of itself, showed how the Spartans had no intention of recognizing various kinds of subjection, and how they at bottom designed to make no essential difference between subject rural communities in Laconia and the foreign towns which had of their own accord, or otherwise, submitted to the power of Sparta. The duration of the Harmosts' tenure of office was not defined."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 5, chapter 1 (volume 4)._

ALSO IN: _G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 72._

_G. F. Schömann, Antiquities of Greece: The State, part 3, chapter 1._

_C. Sankey, The Spartan and Theban Supremacies, chapter 1._

SPARTA: B. C. 399-387. War with Persia and with a hostile league in Greece. Struggle for the Corinthian isthmus. Restored independence of Athens. The Peace of Antalcidas.

See GREECE: B. C. 399-387.

SPARTA: B. C. 385. Destruction of Mantinea.

See GREECE: B. C. 385.

SPARTA: B. C. 383. Treacherous seizure of the Kadmeia of Thebes.

See GREECE: B. C. 383.

SPARTA: B. C. 383-379. Overthrow of the Olynthian Confederacy.

See GREECE: B. C. 383-379.

SPARTA: B. C. 379-371. Liberation and triumph of Thebes. Spartan supremacy broken at Leuctra.

See GREECE: B. C. 379-371.

SPARTA: B. C. 371-362. The conflict with Thebes. Two attempts of Epaminondas against the city. The battle of Mantinea.

See GREECE: B. C. 371-362.

SPARTA: B. C. 353-331. Independent attitude towards Philip of Macedon.

See GREECE: B. C. 357-336.

SPARTA: B. C. 317. Building of Walls.

It was not until about the year 317 B. C., during the distractions which followed the death of Alexander the Great, that walls were built around the city of Sparta. "The maintenance of Sparta as an unwalled city was one of the deepest and most cherished of the Lykurgean traditions; a standing proof of the fearless bearing and self-confidence of the Spartans against dangers from without. The erection of the walls showed their own conviction, but too well borne out by the real circumstances around them, that the pressure of the foreigner had become so overwhelming as not to leave them even safety at home."

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 96._

SPARTA: B. C. 272. Siege by Pyrrhus.

Not many years after the walls of Sparta were first built the city was subjected to a siege by Pyrrhus, the ambitious Epirotic king. There were two claimants to the Spartan crown, and Pyrrhus, espousing the cause of the unsuccessful one, marched into Peloponnesus with a powerful army, (B. C. 272) and assailed the Lacedæmonian capital. He was repulsed and repulsed again, and gave up the attempt at last, marching away to Argos, where his interference in local quarrels had been solicited. He perished there, ignominiously, in another abortive enterprise, being killed by a tile flung down by a woman's hand, from a housetop overlooking the street in which he was attempting to manage the retreat of his discomfited forces.

_C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, chapter 60._

See MACEDONIA, &c.: B. C. 277-244.

SPARTA: B. C. 227-221. Downfall in the Cleomenic War.

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

SPARTA: A. D. 267. Ravaged by the Goths.

See GOTHS: A. D. 258-267.

SPARTA: A. D. 395. Plundered by the Goths.

See GOTHS: A. D. 395.

SPARTA: End--------

SPARTACUS, The Rising of.

Schools for the training of gladiators, to supply the barbarous amusement which the Romans delighted in, were numerous at Rome and throughout Italy. The men placed in these schools were slaves, criminal prisoners, or unfortunates whose parents abandoned them in infancy. As a rule, they were forced into the brutal profession and the schools which trained them for it were places of confinement and restraint. From one of these schools, at Capua, some seventy or more gladiators escaped, in the year 73 B. C., and fled to the mountains. They had for their leader a Thracian, named Spartacus, who proved to be a soldier of remarkable ability and energy. Stationing himself at first on Mount Vesuvius, Spartacus was joined by other slaves and fugitives, until he had a large force under his command. Again and again the Roman armies sent against him were defeated and the insurgents equipped themselves with captured arms. Nola, Nuceria, and other towns in Southern Italy fell into their hands. In the year 72 B. C. they moved toward North Italy, routing two consular armies on their way, and were thought to be intending to escape beyond the Alps; but, after another great victory at Mutina (Modena) over the proconsul of Gallia Cisalpina, Spartacus turned southward again, for some unexplained reason, and allowed himself to be blockaded in the extremity of Lucania, by M. Licinius Crassus. In this situation he sought to make terms, but his proposals were rejected. He then succeeded in breaking through the Roman lines, but was pursued by Crassus and overwhelmingly defeated at Mount Calamatius, where 35,000 of the insurgents are said to have been slain. The flying remnant was again brought to bay near Petilia, in Bruttium, and there Spartacus ended his life. A few thousand of the insurgents who escaped from the field were intercepted by Pompey and cut to pieces, while 6,000 captives were crucified, with Roman brutality, along the road between Capua and Rome.

_G. Long, Decline cf the Roman Republic, volume 3, chapter 2._

See, also, ROME: B. C. 78-68.

SPARTAN EMPIRE.

See SPARTA: B. C. 404-403.

SPARTAN TRAINING.

See EDUCATION, ANCIENT: GREECE; also, SPARTA, THE CONSTITUTION, &c.

{3023}

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The splendor of the position of Speaker of the British House of Commons is perhaps not generally realized. The appointment, nominally for the duration of but one Parliament, generally extends over several. … Chosen from among the members, subject to the approval of the Crown, the Speaker can be removed only upon an address to the Crown. Besides a palatial residence occupying one wing of the Houses of Parliament, and a large patronage, he receives a salary of £5,000 a year. At the end of his labors he is rewarded with a peerage and a pension of £4,000 per annum for two lives. He is a member of the Privy Council, and the first gentleman in the United Kingdom, taking rank after barons. … The wig and gown which he wears, the state and ceremony with which he is surrounded, doubtless contribute to the isolation and impressiveness of his position. … When, at the opening of proceedings, he makes his way in state from his residence to the Chamber, through the corridors used by members for passing to the committee, library, and refreshment rooms, it is against etiquette for anyone to be found therein. When on summer evenings he and his family take the air upon the portion of the terrace which is outside his residence, there is no more thought of approaching them than there would be if he were a Grand Lama. When in the chair, he can be approached only upon strictly business matters. His levees, held twice a year and open to all members, can be attended only in court costume, sword by the side."

_The Nation, August 17, 1893 (page 117). _

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

See CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

SPECIE CIRCULAR, The.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1835-1837.

SPENCEAN PHILANTHROPISTS. SPENCEANS.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1816-1820.

SPEUSINII.

See SCYTHIANS, OR SCYTHÆ, OF ATHENS.

SPHACTERIA, Capture of.

See GREECE: B. C. 425.

SPHINX, The.

"About six hundred yards to the Southeast of the Great Pyramid is the Sphinx. The Sphinx is a natural rock, to which has been given, more or less accurately, the external appearance of that mystic animal. The head alone has been sculptured. The body is formed of the rock itself, supplemented, where defective, by a somewhat clumsy masonry of limestone. The total height of the monument is 19 metres 80 centimetres, equal to 65 English feet. The ear measures 6 feet 5 inches; the nose 5 feet 10 inches; and the mouth 7 feet 8 inches. The face, in its widest part, across the cheek, is 4 metres 15 centimetres, that is, 13 feet 7 inches. Its origin is still a matter of doubt. At one time it was supposed to be a monument of the reign of Thothmes IV. (XVIIIth dynasty). But we know now, thanks to a stone in the Boulak Museum, that the Sphinx was already in existence when Cheops (who preceded Chephren) gave orders for the repairs which this stone commemorates. It must also be remembered that the Sphinx is the colossal image of an Egyptian god called Armachis."

_A. Mariette, Monuments of Upper Egypt, page 70._

SPICHERN, OR FORBACH, Battle of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1870 (JULY-AUGUST).

SPINNING-JENNY, Invention of the.

See COTTON MANUFACTURE.

SPIRES: Start--------

SPIRES: A. D. 1526-1529. The imperial Diets. Legal recognition of the Reformed religion, and its withdrawal. Protest of Lutheran princes.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1525-1529.

SPIRES: A. D. 1689. Destruction by the French.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690.

SPIRES: A. D. 1713. Taken by the French.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

SPIRES: End--------

SPOILS SYSTEM, The.

See CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES.

SPOLETO: A. D. 1155. Burned by Frederick Barbarossa.

See ITALY: A. D. 1154-1162.

SPOLIA OPIMA.

"The proudest of all military trophies were Spolia Opima, which could be gained only when the commander-in-chief of a Roman army engaged and overthrew in single combat the commander-in-chief of the enemy. … Roman history afforded but three examples of legitimate Spolia Opima. The first were won by Romulus from Acro, King of the Ceninenses; the second by Aulus Cornelius Cossus from Lar Tolumnius, King of the Veientes; the third by M. Claudius Marcellus from Virodomarus, a Gaulish chief (B. C. 222). In all cases they were dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius and preserved in his temple."

_W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 12._

SPOLIATION CLAIMS, French.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1800.

SPORADES, The.

See CYCLADES.

SPOTTSYLVANIA, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MAY: VIRGINIA) GRANT'S MOVEMENT, &C.: SPOTTSYLVANIA.

SPRING HILL, Engagement at.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (NOVEMBER: TENNESSEE).

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts: A. D. 1637. The first settlement.

See CONNECTICUT: A. D. 1634-1637.

SPURS, The Battle of the (1513).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1513-1515.

SPURS, The Day of the.

See COURTRAI, THE BATTLE OF.

SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1854.

SQUIRE.

See CHIVALRY.

STAATEN-BUND.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.

STADACONA.

See QUEBEC: A. D. 1535.

STADION, OR STADIUM, The.

See HIPPODROME.

STADIUM, OR STADE, The Greek.

"Throughout the present work I shall uniformly assume that the Greeks employed but one measure under that designation [the stadium] which was … a hundred fathoms, or 600 Greek feet. This has been proved, in my opinion, beyond a doubt, by Colonel Leake in his paper 'On the Stade as a Linear Measure' … republished in his treatise 'On some disputed Questions of Ancient Geography.' … At the present day the controversy may be considered as settled. … A stade of 600 Greek feet was in reality very nearly the 600th part of a degree [of the circumference of the earth]; ten stades are consequently just about equal to a nautical or geographical mile of 60 to a degree."

_E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, chapter 6, note c._

STADTHOLDER.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.

STADTLOHN, Battle of (1623).

See GERMANY: A. D. 1621-1623.

STAFFARDA, Battle of (1690).

See FRANCE: A. D, 1689-1691.

{3024}

STAHL, George E.: Influence upon Medical Science.

See MEDICAL SCIENCE: 17TH CENTURY. CLOSING PERIOD, &c.

STALLER AND HORDERE, The.

"In the time of Ælfred [Alfred the Great] the great officers of the court were the four heads of the royal household, the Hordere, the Staller, the Dish-thegn, and the Cup-thegn. … The Hordere was the officer of the court in its stationery aspect, as the Staller or Constable was of the court on progress. … Of the four officers one only retained under the later West-Saxon monarchy any real power. The dish-thegn and cup-thegn lost importance as the court became stationary and no longer maintained a vast body of royal followers. The staller retained only the functions of leading in war as the feudal constable, which in turn passed away with later changes in the military system. The hordere alone held a position of growing importance. … No doubt the 'Hoard' contained not only money and coin, but the costly ornaments and robes of the crown."

_J. R. Green, Conquest of England, chapter 10, note._

"The names by which the Chamberlain was designated are Hrægel thegn, literally thane or servant of the wardrobe, Cubicularius, Camerarius, Búrthegn, perhaps sometimes Dispensator, and Thesaurarius or Hordere. … We may presume that he had the general management of the royal property, as well as the immediate regulation of the household. … The Marshal (among the Franks Marescalcus and Comes stabuli) was properly speaking the Master of the Horse. … The Anglosaxon titles are Steallere [Staller] and Horsthegn, Stabulator and Strator regis."

_J. M. Kemble, The Saxons in England, book 2, chapter 3._

See, also, CONSTABLE.

STALWARTS AND HALF-BREEDS.

During the administration of President Grant, certain lenders of the Republican party in the United States—conspicuous among them Senator Conkling of New York—acquired a control of the distribution of appointed offices under the Federal Government which gave them a more despotic control of the organization of their party than had been known before in the history of the country. It was the culminating development of the "spoils system" in American politics. It produced a state of things in which the organization of the party—its elaborated structure of committees and conventions—state, county, city, town and district,—became what was accurately described as a "political machine." The managers and workers of the machine were brought under a discipline which allowed no room for personal opinions of any kind; the passive adherents of the party were expected to accept what was offered to them, whether in the way of candidates or declarations of principle. The faction which controlled and supported this powerful machine in politics acquired the name of Stalwarts and contemptuously gave the name of Half-breeds to their dissatisfied Republican opponents. During the term of President Hayes, who favored Civil Service Reform, the Stalwarts were considerably checked. They had desired to nominate General Grant in 1876 for a third term, but found it unwise to press the proposition. In 1880, however, they rallied all their strength to accomplish the nomination of Grant at Chicago and were bitterly enraged when their opponents in the convention carried the nomination of Garfield. They joined in electing him, but Conkling, the Stalwart leader, speedily quarreled with the new President when denied the control of the Federal "patronage" (that is, official appointments) in New York State, resigned from the Senate, appealed to the New York Legislature for re-election, and was beaten. Then followed the tragedy of the assassination of President Garfield, which had a very sobering effect on the angry politics of the time. Conkling disappeared from public life, and Stalwartism subsided with him.

_J. C. Ridpath, Life and Work of James A. Garfield, chapters 10-12._