1. Journal of Ancient History 1 (292)
  2. The “Great Earthquake” in Sparta and All-Greel Solidarity

The “Great Earthquake” in Sparta and All-Greel Solidarity

Karpyuk Sergey G.

The article deals with the problems of dating and interpretation of ‘the great earthquake’ in Sparta in the mid-460s BC. The author rejects early dating (469/8), based on a misinterpretation of Thucydides’ and Diodorus’ notes. The earthquake of 465/464 caused great damage to Sparta. A connection between ‘the great earthquake’ and the Spartan oliganthropia is obvious, but its level was discussed by P. Cartledge, Th.J. Figueira, G.L. Cawkwell, N.M. Kennell, and some other scholars. The question is still open for discussion. After the earthquake of 465/464 in Sparta a campaign of relief to one polis began in some other city-states. The reason was the indisputable authority which Sparta had after Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. But Athens, Aegina, Plataea and other states rendered military assistance, not humanitarian aid. With their assistance Sparta could overcome the Helots’ uprising, and the polis of Sparta could survive as a social organism. Indeed, the case of ‘the great earthquake’ was an example of the citizens’ solidarity against the Helots’ uprising. The fi rst case of international ‘humanitarian’ relief after a natural catastrophe was the situation after the Rhodes earthquake at the end of the 3rd century BC.

Keywords: earthquake, Sparta, Athens, helots, Thucydides, chronology, polis, solidarity.
References:
  1. Karpyuk S.G. 2003: Obschestvo, politika i ideologiya klassicheskih Afin. M.
  2. Pechatnova L.G. 2002: Istoriya Spartyi (period arhaiki i klassiki). SPb.
  3. Starkova N.Yu. 1991: K voprosu o hronologii Tretey Messenskoy voynyi // Problemyi istoriografii vseobschey istorii. Mezhvuzovskiy sbornik nauchnyih statey. Petrozavodsk, 4–14.
  4. Strogetskiy V.M. 2008: Afinyi i Sparta. Borba za gegemoniyu v Gretsii v V v. do n.e. (478–431 gg.). SPb.
  5. Surikov I.E. 2008: Antichnaya Gretsiya: politiki v kontekste epohi. Vremya rastsveta demokratii. M.
  6. Surikov I.E. 2013: O vozmozhnom istoriko-geograficheskom kontekste syuzheta obstsennogo izobrazheniya na «vaze Evrimedonta» (Maloizvestnyiy epizod Greko-persidskih voyn) // Aristey. VII, 46–57.
  7. Adcock F.E. 1948: The Development of Ancient Greek Diplomacy // L’Antiquité classique. 17, 1–12.
  8. Badian E. 1993: From Plataea to Potidaea: Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia. Baltimore–London.
  9. Bloedow E.F. 2000: Why did Sparta Rebuff the Athenians at Ithome in 462 BC? // The Ancient History Bulletin. 14. 3, 89–101.
  10. Buck R.J. 1970: The Athenian Domination of Boeotia // CPh. 65. 4, 217–227.
  11. Cartledge P. 1979: Sparta and Lakonia. A Regional History, 1300–362 B.C. L.
  12. Cartledge P. 1987: Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta. London–Baltimore.
  13. Cartledge P. 2001: Spartan Refl ections. Berkeley–Los Angeles.
  14. Cawkwell G.L. 1983: The Decline of Sparta // CQ. 33. 2, 385–400. 36
  15. Forrest W.G. 1980: A History of Sparta, 950–192 B.C. L.
  16. Fugueira Th.J. 1986: Population Patterns in Late Archaic and Classical Sparta // Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 116, 165–213.
  17. Guidoboni E., Comastri A., Traina G. 1994: Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century. Roma, 1994.
  18. Hammond N.G.L. 1955: Studies in Greek Chronology of the Sixth and Fifth Centuries B.C. // Historia. 4. 4, 371–411.
  19. Hodkinson S. 1983: Social Order and the Confl ict of Values in Classical Sparta // Chiron. 13, 239–281.
  20. Kennell N.M. 2010: Spartans: A New History. Oxford–Chichester.
  21. Moles J. 1995: Review on: Badian E. From Plataea to Potidaea: Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia. Baltimore, 1993 // JHS. 115, 213–215.
  22. Pritchett W.K. 1995: Thucydides’ Pentekontaetia and Other Essays. Amsterdam (ARCHAIA ELLAS. Monographs in Ancient Greek History and Archaeology. Vol. I).
  23. Sealey R. 1957: The Great Earthquake in Lacedaemon // Historia. 6. 3, 368–371.
  24. Sekunda N.W. 2013: War and Society in Greece // The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World / B. Campnell, L.A. Tritle (eds.). Oxf. (on-line edition).
  25. Salapata G. 2006: The Tippling Serpent in the Art of Lakonia and Beyond // Hesperia. 75. 4, 541–560.
  26. Unz R.K. 1986: The Chronology of the Pentekontaetia // CQ. 36. 1, 68–85.
  27. Wierchowski L. 1998: Die demographisch-politischen Auswirkungen des Erdlebens von 464 v. Chr. für Sparta // Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur historischen Geographie des Altertums. 6, 1996: Natural Katastrophen in Antiken Welt / E. Olshausen, H. Sonnabend (Hrsg.). Stuttgart (Geographica historica, 10), 291–306.