THE POLICY OF SPARTA

Abstract

This text is a translation of an article by the English historian and political scientist George Beardoe Grundy (1861-1948). Grundy is famous not only for investigating the history of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, but also for founding such an interesting research direction as political psychology. His whole career was connected with Oxford University. In this article, Grundy critically assesses Dickens’ conclusions about the existence of party politics in Ancient Sparta. Grundy singles out a number of directions in Spartan policy: the maintenance of the military efficiency of the Spartiate population; the maintenance of a direct sphere of influence in Peloponnese in the form of a league; the maintenance of a balance of power in Northern Greece; indifference towards affairs outside the mainland of Greece. The work was written in the genre of scientific criticism.