Paul A. Rahe holds the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College. A Yale-trained classical historian and Oxford Rhodes Scholar, he is a leading authority on ancient Sparta. His six books on Sparta, including the Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta series and The Spartan Regime, explore Sparta’s character, origins, and grand strategy.
On Monday, he joins the show to discuss, you guessed it, ancient Sparta: who the Spartans were, what they did, and the legacy they left behind.
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We highly recommend Hillsdale College’s newest free online course, Revolutionary America: From Subjects to Citizens. It tells the story of how the colonists threw off British rule and built a republic. There’s plenty more on there too, including Athens and Sparta, taught by Paul Rahe himself. Every course is free.
What are the most common misconceptions or falsehoods people think they know about Spartans and Sparta? What are the things that are interesting that they should know but don't?
We only think of Sparta as a martial, austere, warrior-society, so how could a classically educated man like Xenophon reside there culturally, and did Sparta have any "soft power" then, or in our minds now?