Brasidas and the Un-Spartan Spartan

Citations Over Time

Abstract

While Brasidas is often singled out as a particularly un-Spartan Spartan and is clearly presented as such by Thucydides, there were many other Spartans, including in the pages of Thucydides, who matched Brasidas' innovation, energy and ambitious foreign policy. Thucydides overemphasizes Brasidas' un-Spartan characteristics and downplays his similarities to other Spartans such as Gylippus in order to make Brasidas the exception that proves the rule. Thucydides' treatment of Brasidas is therefore another important element in the historian's methods of characterizing states and individuals.

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