Sparta and the Commemoration of War

'At a time when the image of the Spartan has been used to justify white supremacy, military aggression, and controversial commemorative monuments, this book takes an in-depth look not only at Spartan society, military practice, and history, but also at the ways in which the Spartans viewed themselves. Through an examination of ancient literature, art, and archaeology, Matthew A. Sears calls into question many modern presumptions and assumptions about what we 'know' of the Spartans. This volume is certainly a must read for any historian studying the Spartans, but more importantly also for those attempting to use the Spartans as a model for contemporary practice.' C. Jacob Butera, University of North Carolina, Asheville 'It would be an exaggeration to say that commemoration of war is all the rage today, but there does seem to be an awful lot of it about, as war remains sadly something we humans can't yet do without. Same goes for the ancient Greeks, only more so, and the Spartans fought more wars than most of the other thousand or so Greek states, so it was a brilliant idea of Prof. Sears to construct an intelligent and thoughtful monograph around this centrally important theme of ancient historical studies.' Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge '… a seminal, meticulous, and impressively informative study … a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library Sparta/Greece ancient history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.' James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review '… the study of the commemoration of war in the ancient world is an important subject, one that has taken off in recent years, as Sears makes clear in the introduction. Sears' well-written, almost conversational contribution to this area of study will hopefully be the springboard from which more scholars turn their attention to the study of Sparta's commemoration of war.' Owain Williams, Annalist Apprentice 'A welcome addition to the growing library of works on Sparta and studies of commemoration in ancient societies.' Roy van Wijk, Bryn Mawr Classical Review