| | |  | GREECE | Home » » The Spartans | | | | | | | Description: | | In this spectacular survey of one of the most extreme societies in the ancient world, historian Bettany Hughes follows the culture of Sparta, the militaristic Greek city-state which engaged in a fierce rivalry against the Athenians, culminating in 431 B.C. with the Peloponnesian Wars. Witness the Spartans' rise to power and attempt to forge a Utopian civilization before their collapse. 180 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. | | | Product Details: | | | Format:
| Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| PBS | | Run Time:
| 180 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| April 27, 2004 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 13 reviews |
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42 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Engaging and informative, a cut above standard documentariesMar 27, 2007
By R.L. Holly
"piper909"
An engaging documentary artfully assembled, this 2003 British production has been a hit for PBS in the United States, with the videos and tie-in book (the US edition of Paul Cartledge's The Spartans) often on backorder status. It is a rarity in that it gives Sparta its due for helping Greece resist the Persian threat and credits Sparta for its more enlightened attitude toward women. Although at times it may project a faint pro-Athens bias, host Bettany Hughes is a sympathetic and knowledgeable narrator. THE SPARTANS boasts terrific location photography by Douglas Hartington, with some impressive aerial shots of the Taygetus gorges. For the first time in a television documentary, we are treated to detailed examination of many artifacts in the Sparta Museum as well as shown many photos of archaeological excavations at Sparta. The atmospheric soundtrack is composed by Anthony Burke. Evocative reenactor footage is used - not as much as in the A&E production "Rise & fall of the Spartans," maybe, but effectively presented, even if the footage tends to be come repetitive by Part 3.
Part 1
THE SPARTANS opens at Thermopylae and with the epitaph of the Three Hundred -- and very stirring it is to hear this spoken in the original Greek -- before introducing some of the topics that will be addressed in the program. (Hmm. The claim that "male homosexuality was compulsory" is extremely dubious; the first boldfaced assertion as fact of a subject hotly debated among ancient and modern experts.) After the introduction, we journey to the Dark Ages of Greece, the end of the Achaean Age and the coming of the Dorian Greeks to the Peloponnesus and Laconia. An effective look at the development of hoplite warfare is presented. Next comes the Messenian conquest, then the establishment of the Spartan constitution. The upbringing of Spartan youths, warts and all, is then addressed at length. A good point is made that the sublimation of the individual as practiced by the Spartans can be very liberating - "the possibility of transcending your limitations as an individual and becoming part of something bigger and better." Spartan institutions are credited for initiating a system of political rights and responsibilities among its citizens centuries before other Greek states conceived of such things.
The finding of the so-called statue of Leonidas in 1925 is used to introduce the Persian Wars, which are then examined in detail. There is much footage of Thermopylae, including the eponymous hot springs, and the commentary casts the Spartans' self-sacrifice in terms that hearken to the Japanese samurai's bushido code.
Part 2
This segment begins by exploring at how Sparta and Athens fell out after the Persian Wars, with a look at Athenian politics and society and how these contrasted to Sparta's. This is a refreshingly non-partisan treatment, not hesitating to be equally critical of Athens. Women's life in Sparta is given much attention. Sparta comes off as considerably more enlightened, by modern Western standards, than Athens. (Interesting sidebar - in her remarks during a November 24, 2003, online chat with Channel 4 (UK) viewers, narrator Bettany Hughes, when asked where she'd have rather lived, Sparta or Athens, replied "Sparta. No doubt.") Hughes wryly notes how Spartan women were "objects of fear and fascination" to non-Spartan men. The legacy of these "radical" Spartan customs on later societies is discussed. Amusingly, whether by design or not, Hughes wears a scarlet dress for much of this sequence - fit garb for a Spartanette - and conducts her narration while striding purposefully about the Laconian countryside or riding on horseback in full exhibition of energetic Spartan vitality.
Lastly, the Laconian earthquake of 465 or 464 BC and subsequent helot revolt is noted and seen as the event that lit the sparks of conflict between Greece's two leading cities. The opening clashes of the Peloponnesian War and the Spartan disaster at Sphacteria ends Part 2.
Part 3
The last section of the film opens at Delphi and takes a look at Greek religion and Spartan attitudes toward the gods and oracles before resuming the history of the Peloponnesian War. Alcibiades, the Syracuse expedition, and Lysander are all examined, taking up half of Part 3. Then the period of the Spartan Hegemony is briefly described, shaped by the "crippled kingship" of Agesilaus and marked by power struggles among Sparta's ruling factions. Hughes notes the critical decline of Spartan citizen manpower and the rise of Thebes as a rival. She takes us to the battlefield of Leuctra, where Spartan military superiority was broken in 371 BC. The remaining sequences very quickly sketch how classical Sparta became a second-class power and finally a tourist attraction for wealthy Romans. The show concludes with a summation of Sparta's influence on Western philosophy.
THE SPARTANS is a standout documentary, wonderfully photographed and directed, and is highly recommended as a visual overview of Spartan history.
Those interested in further information about this production can read an online interview about "The Spartans" with classicist Bettany Hughes and historical consultant Paul Cartledge answering questions from viewers (November 2003)
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Sips of Lethe, apologies to ClioDec 30, 2009
By J. A. Ford
"Echinos"
If anything, this presentation of the Spartans has reinforced my understanding of brain research which finds that memory is synthetic, and, while certain facts are undeniable due to the mass of evidence, we create much of what we consider factual. Some documentaries are up-front about being personal views, and this one would benefit by such a cautionary preface. To inaccuracies mentioned by other reviewers I would add two lapses in well-known textual sources regarding the Spartans and the Peloponnesian War: the comment about a wail of grief passing along the great walls from the port to the city of Athens after the military disaster in Syracuse has been transposed from Xenophon's report in the Hellenica (2.2.3) which mentions this very demonstration of grief after the final defeat of the Athenians at Aegospotami. Following that ultimate defeat, Ms. Hughes mentions -- complete with flames in the foreground -- the burning down of the great walls to the accompaniment of the music of flute-girls. The word Xenophon uses is "kateskapton," which means "demolish, raze to the ground" -- no fire involved. They were, after all, stone walls. Xenophon was a 26 year-old and in Athens at the time of these events, so it seems likely that he was giving true reports. Less serious, but nevertheless confusing, is the reference to the Delphic oracle while at the temple of Athena Pronaia. (Would it not be more appropriate to be at the temple of Apollo for this, where the Oracle was actually given? It is just up the hill from the Tholos.)
I was looking for a fresh and accurate presentation of the Spartans to show to my class as a counterweight to 300 -- which they are all clamoring for me to show. I will probably use this DVD in conjunction with several corrections and words of caution. I have already used Ms. Hughes' DVD Athens: The Dawn of Democracy and found it quite helpful in dispelling the romantic notions we have come to accept regarding Athens and democracy. We would do well to keep in mind that a good part of the world regards our American democracy as imperialistic, like democratic Athens.
32 of 44 found the following review helpful:
 Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie here in obedience to their lawsJun 29, 2006
By L Gontzes
The Spartans is actually three separate documentaries, which attempt to bring to life the legendary heroes of Lacedaemon.
On the positive side: 1) Shot on location, Bettany Hughes does a good job of presenting the actual setting for the events that unfolded.
2) She presents the Battle at Sphacteria of 425 BC, the Syracuse expedition of 415 BC, and the involvement of Alcibiades very well and very accurately.
3) The re-enactment of the hoplite phalanx throughout the documentaries added a nice touch.
4) The theme is Sparta after all; that in itself is a positive aspect!
On the negative side:
1) She does not mention half as much as she should about THE most heroic battle in world history; the Battle at Thermopylae; a three day battle (August 18th, 480 BC through August 20th, 480 BC) for the pass at Thermopylae (the Hot Gates) between an immense Persian host under King Xerxes and a small Greek force led by King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans. Unlike the Alamo, Custer's Last Stand, and many other glorious battles where the parties involved did not expect to be wiped out, the
Spartans and Thespians willingly held their positions knowing that they could not possibly win against overwhelming odds. When told that the Persian arrows would block out the sun, they replied 'Good, we will fight in the shade!'
2) Bettany Hughes mentions homosexual relationships between men, when the existing evidence surrounding the issue of whether homosexuality in ancient Greece, and especially in Sparta, was more or less accepted than today is inconclusive and the issue itself is highly controversial; therefore, calling for EXTREME CAUTION when dealing with such matters. She even goes as far as to proclaim that it was compulsory! What people do in their own bedrooms is their own business, but to involve Greece's great men and legends in alleged homosexual acts, shows complete lack of respect as well as lack of basic/elementary knowledge of the era in question, with most frequent the misinterpretation of love between friends which did not include anything sexual or homosexual whatsoever! The warrior-heroes themselves would be turning in their graves if they knew what is being written and said about them by people who are either misinformed or are purposely out to distort the truth in following their own personal agendas.
3) Moreover, there are so many stories relating to the honor and glory of the Spartan hoplites, which are left unsaid; instead only a few and mediocre at that were mentioned. What ever happened to:
i) The reason why they wore red cloaks.
ii) The reason why they had two kings and the names of the Royal Houses i.e. The Agiads and the Eurypontids.
iii) The story with the boy and the fox that ate its way through his stomach, but he did not cringe.
iv) The story of the stranger who asked the Spartans what happened to adulterers in Sparta, only to be told that they would have to pay as compensation a bull big enough to stand on Mount Taygetus and drink from the river Eurotas, meaning that there are no adulterers in Sparta.
v) The story of the mother who killed her son for having been hit with an arrow in the back (i.e. having turned his back to the enemy).
vi) The story of the mother who upon seeing her son's friend asked how the battle had gone and when her son's friend replied that her child had died, she told him that was not what she had asked; her question was whether Sparta had been victorious.
vii) The Queen of Sparta Gorgo, (and wife to King Leonidas) who when asked by a foreign woman 'how is it that Spartan women are the only ones who rule men?' she answered: 'Yes, for we are the only ones who give birth to men.'
viii) How in Sparta only men who died on the battlefield and women who died during, or shortly after, giving birth were entitled to having a tombstone erected in their honor.
ix) Pausanias' words following the Battle of Platae of 479 BC as to why his Spartans were eating Melas Zomos (the broth) instead of feasting like the rest of the Greeks, 'We are Spartans.'
x) Pausanias' fate after setting up a monument in the Hellespont commemorating the victory over the Persians.
4) In addition she does tend to go off and talk about the other city-states more than she should when the theme is Sparta and not Greece as whole.
Nevertheless, The Spartans will bring out interest in the famed inhabitants of Lacedaemon, and hopefully more books, movies, and documentaries will present these heroes (both men and women) with the reverence and respect they truly deserve.
Strongly recommended is the 1962 film The 300 Spartans; a movie about honor, real men, and real heroes who fought and died in the name of Greece and Freedom.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Very Excellent and is a high standard for PBSSep 20, 2010
By William A. Hensler
I bought this video about the Spartans to get a tad more back ground informaiton on the Spartans because of the fairly bad information that had been recived from various sources, such as the entertainment movie "300". I am very happy with this video.
My first comments are on the video quality itself. This video fits my large screen TV and the picture quality is very sharp. This PBS dvd avoids some of the other problems of DVDs where the picture quality really starts to degrade. There is a point where Bettany Hughes is on a boat and they are in the area of Athens. The ocean is a brilliant blue and the picture quality is second to none. You almost have a "tour guide" feel when watching this video. Bettany Hughes comes across like a guide who has actually done her homework on the subject. She takes the rather meger information on the Spartans and manages to make it into over three hours of information.
The video breaks down into three one hour segments. It's quite good. The first video in an introduction to Spartan by Bettany and linking it to it's Greek brother, Athens. Athens is a democracy and it exists to further itself by trade. Athens is the beginning of western democracy. Sparta, on the other hand, is a true meritocracy. All of the people from Sparta - if they are citizens - enjoy a good lifestyle. Bettany does an excellent job of telling people how Sparta is settled. This is actually the indirect seeds of Sparta's doom. The Greek tribes that inhabit the area of Sparta are enslaved by the Spartans and the enslavement of these Greeks always is a source of displeasure for other Greeks. Bettany then explains the founding of the area of Sparta. Then the first hours ends with a narrative on the Battle of Thermopylae. That is the high point of Sparta.
The second video deals with the day to day living of the Spartans. Bettany then tells about the sexual habits of the Spartans but gives a disclamer that the information is controversal. Also, unlike Athens, there are few buildings or much of anything to mark Sparta. This is because the Spartans were a sports minded people. Bettany admires the life the Spartan women live; it's the best of any women in the early Western World. Also, she says the Spartans just didn't spend that much time inside because their life was divided up into training for the military, engaged in sports, or relaxing with their comrades. The Helots were responsible for the work and work was not a Spartan concern. The slavery issue is never completely settled and things start to fracture after an earthquake and slave revolt. Athens is sent away least dangerous democratic ideas are given to the people. This incident eventually degrades into the Peloponnesian war and is the subject of the last chapter.
The Peloponnesian war is like all wars. This war is nearly as fatal to Sparta as it eventually proves fatal to Athens. Initially Athens wins the first part of the war after a group of Spartans surrender on an island after being beseiged by the Athens solders. But Lysander takes over as the main Spartan general and the war concludes after the soldiers of Athens are driven out of Sicily and the King of Persia pays for rowers on the Athens fleet. Bettany does an excellent job of narriation and the viewer is treated to excellent, just excellent videos of the area.
Sparta is actually fatally injured from the Peloponnesian war. At the time of Thermopylae there were nearly 10,000 Spartan soldiers (only 300 engaged). At the end there was only about 1,000 Spartan soldiers and Bettany explains why the numbers were so reduced. Sparta gets into a fight with Thebes, in one battle a Spartan army of 600 Spartans and 1000 allies are destroyed by a force of 6000 Thebians, and this Thebian force liberates the rest of the Helots. Sparta is reduced to a second class city status. By the time of the Romans they are reduced to giving "Disney Like" tours (Bettany's words) to their Roman overlords.
This video is one of the best historical videos I've owned. Further readings can be done on the Peloponnesian war in the book A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. Additional readings on Thermopylae can be found in the very readable book Thermopylae 480 BC: Last stand of the 300 (Campaign).
Athens is the foundation of the west. Sparta helped Athens survive the onslaught of Persia but destroyed Athens in the end.
 Disappointing revisionismMay 17, 2012
By J. Preston
I was disappointed when I viewed this DVD. There are two reasons: (1) There are very, very few meaningful images in this documentary. Most of the images are stock images that have little to do with the history and character of ancient Sparta or its inhabitants; (2) This film is long on contemporary propaganda and very, very short on facts, history or interesting aspects of Sparta and its people.
Much of the film is feminist revision. I welcome films which point out the important roles that women have played in history. I do not want to waste my time and leisure hours rehashing decades of feminist cliches super-imposed, inaccurately, on ancient civilizations.
This documentary is a poor imitation of Michael Wood and his excellent narratives of history filmed in the 1980's. Unlike Wood's excellent documentaries, this film is almost devoid of images of Spartan artifacts and the narrative never coincides with the images being displayed on the screen. Most of the time, It repeats the same images, over and over, and over, and over, of a modern town in Peloponnesia as a representation of ancient Sprats, or a fertility symbol with prominent genitals that has little to do with the history or culture of ancient Sparta. The are very few references to art depicting the Spartans in history. The film lumps a thousand years of Spartan history into one homogenous period that illustrates the writer's personal modernist views.
The truth, as any student of history about ancient Greece knows, is that the Spartan culture evolved over many centuries. The roles that men and women played changed over time and included many varying social paradigms over many centuries. This film would lead you to believe that all women were repressed in Sparta (notwithstanding the many notable achievements of Spartan women in history) and that men were glorified. The roles of men in Sparta that are portrayed in this film are severely limited to sensational narrative about the brutality men endured in Sparta. The men are portrayed merely as expendable fanatics of violence and engines of destruction (much as they are mis-portrayed in our modern day culture). The roles women played in Sparta, as portrayed in this film, are seen in the very limited light, and limited intellect, of a modern day bourgeois urban feminist. I want to hear facts, and, see meaningful and powerful images that support those facts. What this film presents is a collection of attitudes that could be gleaned from Cosmopolitan magazine and mainstream "new feminism" in British magazines. "Why is your MAN such pig? (and so forth)."
Sadly, Ms. Hughes has read ancient history at Oxford. I would have welcomed the opportunity to admire her intellect. Instead, I was subjected to vignettes about how Spartan women (because they were similar to twenty-first century women) were superior. She delivers to us an allegory about a foreign visitor to Sparta who wrote that Spartan women were very beautiful, and, because they engaged in athletics, had "well-dveloped" buttocks. . . . . "Finally, some real talent at the BBC."
This film was certainly a waste of money (and time) in terms of gaining information or insight into Spartan life, history or culture.
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