The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Ricochet's own Victor Davis Hanson has just published The End of Sparta, a historical novel about ancient freedom that chronicles the great invasion of Sparta of 370/69 BC. Victor has agreed to adjudicate a weekend contest focused on the central themes of his novel.
The Prompt:
Your submission may address either of the following prompts:
1. Is Radical Democracy a Good thing?
A theme of The End of Sparta is the unheralded emergence of a new sort of democracy in Thebes in the fourth century BC. Earlier, radical Athens lost the 27-year-long Peloponnesian War against Sparta, and, along the way to that defeat, butchered the Melians, Mytileneans, many in Scione and Torone, executed many of its own victorious generals after Arginusae, and, in the aftermath of the war, soon condemned Socrates.
In contrast, the later landed democracy at Thebes, that lacked the sort of mass subsidies, liturgies and office sortition, that had radicalized Athens, defeated Sparta in just two years. It freed the Messenian helots, and also offered autonomy and self-rule to the many of the city-states of the Peloponnese. Ancient 4th-century democratic Thebes, then, seemed to have been a compromise from Sparta's constitutional oligarchy and Athenian rule by a 51% plebiscite on any given day. How can all people be equal under democracy when all are not in actuality of equal talent and capability, or on what particular grounds can some be given more privileges than others?
2. An Ancient Example of Unintended Consequences?
The End of Sparta mostly details the great invasion of Sparta in 370/69—a sort of ancient preemption—when Epaminondas the Theban marched down to Sparta—the first time in centuries that foreigners had done so—freed the Messenian helots and encircled Sparta with fortified democratic states at Mantineia and Megalopolis, essentially ending Sparta as a serious power. But, the novel asks, was such idealism a good thing, given that Sparta had defended Greece from Persia for a century—and would soon not be at Chaironeia to help stop Philip and his Macedonians? And do we often do good things that in retrospect make things worse? And to what degree does such careful circumspection end up in the Hamlet-like inaction?
The Rules:
The contest is open to all Members and College Contributors. In 500 words or less, address the prompt in a post on the Member Feed or College Feed. Be sure to indicate (either in the title or in the first line of the post) that your post is a submission in Ricochet's weekend contest. Submissions must be posted by 11:59pm ET on Sunday, October 23. You may submit multiple entries for consideration.
The Prize:
Victor Davis Hanson will determine the first place submission. The winner will receive a copy of The End of Sparta.
Best of luck!
- Comment (8)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
Feb '11
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Hmmm.... There is an embryonic post in my head titled "Chaos Theory and the Law of Unintended Consequences" and yet there are also a dozen things I should do today that relate more directly to the feeding, housing and education of my kids.
We'll see how badly I want to procrastinate later. If my kids starve, it's your fault.
Apr '11
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Interesting but perhaps misplaced among us polloi. Shouldn't professors Hanson and Rahe take on these questions, perhaps with the assistance of ad hoc interlocutors?
So let me reiterate my suggestion/plea for a Ricochet Lyceum, somewhat on the model of Law Talk. The principals and perhaps guests would engage in extended, fairly focused discussions (30-40 min.) of topics of interest, both ancient and modern, with a 2,500-year perspective. The moderator (or beadle) would be the chorus, a semi-informed undergrad charged with redirecting digressions and stirring things up if necessary ("... they're the Big Foots in this colonnade; I'm just here to fan away the drosophila and see that the co-eds sunbathing in the quad keep their chitons pinned up").
Edited on Oct 23, 2011 at 10:27amOct '10
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Holy guacamole. And I thought writing for Claire’s dad was intimidating. I just had a flashback like something out of Apocalypse Now … Kurtz dumps a skull in my cage while I stare at a blue book (do they even exist anymore?) with absolutely nothing to say and 40% of my final grade on the line. If I had a multiple-guess bubble to fill in I might regain some composure. Let’s get serious here...VDH writes books faster than I can read them and this has Graduate Seminar written all over it. Thanks for the invitation to my own humiliation, but I’m headed to the dining hall to start a food fight.
Apr '11
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Say, teach. Can I have an extension to Monday night?
Nov '10
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
yaaay, essay contest
Feb '11
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
No extensions! We can sweat out five hundred words by midnight.
Aug '10
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Radical democracy is a dangerous thing. Both Plato and Aristotle discuss the ease with which the majority, the "poorer," can be manipulated into acting against the minority who have more wealth and property. This resentment of the minority can allow for demagogues to rise to power and may ultimately lead to tyranny.
One need not merely worry about the tyranny of the majority that can result from radical democracy, one need also worry about the possibility of autocratic rule.
One possible solution to the silver tongues of despots and the whims of the populace is the creation of a mixed regime in which power is divided among groups and institutions are put in place that can mitigate the dangers of democracy.
There is no greater gift than self-governance, but majority rule and self-governance are not the same. To quote Jonah Goldberg, "majority rule only means that 50% +1 of the people can pee in 50% -1 if the public's Corn Flakes."
That's as close to a 200 word or less answer to a very complex question as I could get.
Apr '11
Re: The End of Sparta: A Weekend Contest
Nathaniel Wright:
That's as close to a 200 word or less answer to a very complex question as I could get. · Oct 23 at 5:40pm
Read the rules. You have 500 words in a regular member post.