The INFLUX OF MONEY INTO SPARTA AT THE END OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

Abstract

Ironically, the influx of foreign capital into Sparta in the last years of the Peloponnesian War, the very factor which helped Sparta to win that war and found her hegemony in Greece, is frequently viewed in ancient sources, both contemporary and later, as one of the central factors responsible for having engendered the roots of her decline and downfall as a great power. This paper concentrates on the quantitative aspect of this economic factor by a thorough examination of the various sources of capital (e.g. the Persian grants and the income from tribute), the stages of its influx into Sparta and the total amount of foreign currency. The paper also analyzes the influence of that foreign capital on the collapse of the traditional system of land tenure, the ensuing processes of socio-economic change and their destructive impact on the Spartan state.