11-02-2009, 02:26 AM
Quote:In simple terms all statements are true at different times. A Lakedamonian might mean specifically a Spartiate/Spartan - or alternately a dweller from the larger extra-Spartan area of Lakedaimon - or indeed also a soldier from anywhere in Lakonia. Within the context of the army it mattered less than it did politically.
Just to buttress Ghostmojo’s point, Thucydides shows really clearly just how flexible and murky terminology for Lakedaimonians and Spartans could really be. Whereas he’ll normally use “Lakedaimonioi” to refer to both Spartiatai and perioikoi, he is not only capable of drawing distinctions between these two groups (as at 4.8.1), but also on at least one occasion uses “Lakedaimonioi” to mean “Spartiatai”, to the exclusion of perioikoi. The passage in question is 3.92.4-5, in which he describes the foundation of Heraclea in Trachis:
Quote:Having heard them [the Trachinians and Dorians], the Lakedaimonioi decided to send out a colony… And so first they consulted the god in Delphi; at his urging, they sent out colonists of their own and of the periokoi…
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Which words get used in any given passage really does depend largely on context.
