Athenian democracy advocates science and peace.
Similarities: They were all slave city-states in ancient Greece, and they all practiced the dictatorship of slave owners.
Difference: Athens is an offshore country, its economy is dominated by industry and commerce, its culture and scholarship are developed, and its slave owners are democratic. Sparta is a landlocked country. Its economy is dominated by agriculture, martial arts and military training, and it is ruled by a few slave owners and nobles.
Sparta and Athens are the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, but they belong to different types of city-states: although they are both slave-owners ruled city-states, Sparta is a military power under the dictatorship of aristocratic oligarchs, and the ruled have no freedom and rights; In Athens, with the development of society, the opportunities for the upper class of civilians (wealthy businessmen, ship owners and handicraft workshop owners) to participate in politics are expanding. At the end of 6th century BC, Athens became a famous slave country.
Athens is an ancient historical city named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom. According to legend, in ancient Greece, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Poseidon, the sea god, argued for the status of the patron saint of Athens. Later, the Lord God Zeus decided that whoever can give mankind something useful will own the city. Poseidon gave mankind a strong horse symbolizing war, while Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gave mankind an olive tree with lush foliage and rich fruits, symbolizing peace. People long for peace, not war. As a result, the city belongs to the goddess Athena. Since then, she has become the patron saint of Athens, hence the name Athens. Later, people regarded Athens as "a world-famous cultural ancient city, which created splendid ancient culture in history, and many precious cultural heritages have been passed down to this day, forming a part of the world cultural treasure house." Athens has made great achievements in mathematics, philosophy, literature, architecture and sculpture. Aristophanes, a joyous playwright, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euphrates, historians Herodotus and Thucydides, philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all engaged in research and creative activities in Athens. Love the city of peace. "
Greece is the birthplace of the Olympic Games. In ancient times, the Greeks regarded sports competitions as festivals to worship the gods of Olympus. In 776 BC, the earliest sports meeting in human history was held in Olympia village, about 300 kilometers from Athens, and it was held every four years thereafter. To commemorate the Olympia Games, the first Olympic Games was held in Athens on 1896. In the future, although it will be held in other countries in turn, the Olympic name will still be used and every torch will be lit from here.
Athens is the scientific research and cultural center of Greece. Athens Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific research institution, the famous University of Potis in Athens and the National Institute of Technology in Athens are all located here.
The establishment of democratic politics and class struggle in ancient Athens (2003111)
Liao Xuesheng [Journal of Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]
Scholars have done a lot of research on the history of the formation and development of various political institutions and systems in ancient Athens (1), but the reasons for the emergence of democracy in Athens and the influence of class struggle on the formation of democracy have not been paid due attention. This paper aims to explore the roots of Athenian democracy and the characteristics of class struggle in early class society. Due to the complexity of the problem itself and the limitation of information and academic ability, the author only puts forward some immature opinions in the spirit of attracting jade for experts and scholars to correct me.
As one of the ancient Greek city states, democracy developed to the highest level in ancient Athens. The reason for this phenomenon can only be found in the historical particularity of Athens, a citizen collective. The occurrence and development of democracy in Athens are closely related to the development and changes of Athens citizens' collective. As a political system, democratic politics is a concentrated expression of the power contrast and relationship between citizens of different classes in the city-state, which serves and is restricted by a certain economic base. The development and change of Athens city-state was carried out in the specific internal and external environment of ancient Greece.
The Athenian democracy spontaneously produced by the early class society was restricted by the specific class relations and class struggles at that time (2). From germination to establishment, it has gone through a long process, sometimes it develops rapidly, and sometimes it seems stagnant. From Solon's reform in 594 BC to Ephialtes's reform in 46 BC1year, the political power of Athens was completely controlled by the regular citizens' assembly, and this process lasted for 100 years. During this period, the activities of outstanding politicians to adapt to the requirements of historical development are intricately intertwined with the people's struggle for vital interests, and the struggle for political power by representatives of old and new forces from clans and nobles is interrelated with profound economic, political and social changes. The most important feature of the historical development of Athens in this period is the pace of democratic politics, which is consistent with the fact that small and medium-sized owners among citizens engaged in agriculture or industry and commerce, that is, third-and fourth-class citizens, really became the decisive force in Athens' economy, military affairs and politics.
Solon's great historical achievement in the reform lies in that by abolishing the debt slavery within the citizens' collective and taking corresponding economic, political and social measures, the relationship between different classes within the citizens' collective was adjusted, so that the Athenian citizens, who have been divided by the increasingly fierce polarization between the rich and the poor, changed their development direction and gradually turned to the track of expanding the number of citizens, coordinating the interests of different classes, strengthening internal unity and * * * with the outside. The abolition of debt slavery made a large number of small and medium-sized owners, first of all farmers, get rid of the bad luck of becoming slaves and selling to foreign countries; At the same time, it also made Athens embark on the road of developing slave owners' economy only by exploiting slaves abroad.
The historical event of Solon's reform came into being, firstly, because the peasants facing the tragic situation of slavery actively resisted the gentry and nobles who developed their own economy by enslaving poor citizens at that time. The struggle of farmers and other small and medium-sized owners in the citizens' collective against gentry and nobles is, first of all, their just struggle not to make themselves slaves. This was a class struggle under the conditions at that time. Since then, the struggle of ordinary citizens to safeguard their vital interests has become a decisive factor in promoting the development of democracy in Athens.
Solon, as the arbitrator of both sides of the struggle, eliminated the debt slavery of collective citizens by legislation. This way of solving problems is rich in the characteristics of early class society. Due to the strong influence of blood relationship in primitive society and the unbalanced historical development of temples, it is possible to develop slave-owner economy from external slavery. Within the citizens' collective, wealthy slave owners and ordinary small and medium-sized owners can reach a compromise under certain conditions based on the strength comparison and struggle between the two sides and temporarily cancel debt slavery. At that time, the development of the civic system with heavy infantry as the main force in Greece was also an important factor to promote the unity of different classes in the civic collective. (3)
A remarkable feature of Solon's reform is to encourage citizens to develop production, not only agriculture, but also handicrafts and commerce. It is undoubtedly an important condition to enable all citizens who have the ability to work to stand on their own feet and improve their political status with the increase of property, which will delay the division of property, increase the unity among citizens and ensure the cohesion and stability of the citizens' collective (4).
In terms of protecting the political rights of Athenian citizens, the tyrannical rule of the peisistratus family for more than 30 years has obviously regressed, because tyrannical rule is above the citizens' assembly. However, judging from the historical consequences, the rule of the Athenian tyrant objectively promoted the development of the third and fourth ranks in the Athenian citizens' collective, and prepared conditions for the rapid development of democratic politics under the new historical conditions. They took various measures to weaken the economic, political and social influence of clans and nobles, promote the development of agriculture and industry and commerce in Athens, strengthen the unity of the whole Asian imperial city state with Athens as the center in all aspects, and expand the contact between Athens and the outside world, so that Athens' economic development was at the forefront of Greek countries, especially Athens' economic development closely related to overseas expansion.
After the tyrant was overthrown in 5 10 BC, Sparta's armed intervention in Athens and the domestic political situation in Athens were once chaotic, which made the general public in Athens further realize that the political power and power struggle of the gentry and nobles were a serious threat to national security. In this case, Cleisthenes's reform greatly weakened the political influence of the gentry and nobles, expanded the ranks of Athenian citizens, ensured that all citizens, especially third-and fourth-class citizens, could actively and effectively participate in Athens' political, military and social activities, and made the democratization of Athens' political life enter a new stage.
No matter what the subjective motivation is, Cristini's reform plan can be implemented smoothly because the majority of citizens support the reform and get practical benefits from it.
Herodotus talked several times about some dramatic plots of peisistratus's coming to power, and Cleisthenes's motives for turning to the people, all of which have distinct characteristics of the times (5), eloquently demonstrating that the inner opposition of the people has a decisive influence on the actions of political activists born in the clan and nobility. In the absence of a powerful armed force and bureaucracy that is divorced from the masses of citizens and above the collective of citizens, and citizens are the main force of the army, this must be the case.
Shortly after Christini's reform, Athens had an increasingly fierce conflict with the powerful Persian Empire because it supported the Greek people in Ionia in their struggle against Persian rule. In the serious struggle against Persian aggression, which is related to the survival of the country, the citizens of Athens collectively withstood severe tests and profound changes took place inside.
It was during this period that the ideological understanding of the unity of all classes within the citizens' collective was greatly strengthened, and a relatively harmonious relationship was formed between wealthy citizens and ordinary citizens. From the late 1990s to the early 1970s BC, Temistocles' political activities were widely supported by the citizens, which was the embodiment of this harmonious relationship. Without the broad unity of citizens of different classes, the construction of seaports, the large-scale construction of warships, the two large-scale evacuations and the surprise construction of city walls could not have gone so smoothly. The public welfare donation system in which the rich pay for property cannot be greatly developed. (6)
It was in the process of the Sino-Greek War that the strength of the third and fourth ranks of Athenian citizens who made great contributions to the victory of the war was greatly developed. The military colonial system, which began after Athens occupied Salamis Island in the 6th century BC, developed greatly as Athens changed from defending to attacking in Persian War. Develop industrial and commercial, naval and municipal construction, including shipbuilding; All this benefits the fourth class as well as the third class and wealthy citizens. Because Athens has the natural advantages to develop its maritime power, its external expansion mainly depends on the navy, and the military colonial system can not be separated from the advantages of maritime power. Therefore, in its prosperous period, the citizens of the third and fourth grades developed at the same time. This is a remarkable feature of the history of Athens, and it is also an extremely important factor that determines the high development of democracy in Athens. The development of democracy in Athens is not only to meet the interests of the citizens associated with industry and commerce, but also the result of industrial and commercial development. The development of democratic politics is required by the interests of the whole Athens citizens' collective, and it can only be realized if the interests of citizens of different classes are met to a certain extent.
From Pericles and Socrates' exposition that citizens must actively participate in politics and PseudoXenophon's (7) statement that ordinary people are willing to let the rich hold important positions in the polis, we can clearly see the interdependence between the collective interests of Athenian citizens and different classes. Ephialtes can deprive the parliament of the God of War Mountain of most of its powers through peaceful means, so that the citizens' parliament really has the highest decision-making power in the country. It also shows that the realization of democratic politics was necessary for the development of Athens city-state at that time, and there was no strong opposition within the citizens' collective (8).
In Athens in the 6th century BC and the first half of the 5th century, if the collective interests of all citizens did not require democratic politics, it would be impossible to establish a democratic government. In the case of direct democracy and the participation of the citizens' assembly is also the main force of the army, if the citizens' assembly cannot reflect the will of most participants, it will not exist and play its role.
The Greek-Persian war greatly promoted the development of democracy in Athens (9), and the establishment and evolution of Tyrol League left a deep mark on the development of democracy in Athens.
In the international environment where slavery and exploitation coexist and there are many small countries, safeguarding national independence is the primary condition to ensure that all citizens are free from slavery, and the unity and growth of citizens' collective is the fundamental guarantee to safeguard national independence. It was this factor that made all Athenian citizens unite as never before in the last years of the 6th century BC and the first 40 years of the 5th century BC. With the Tiro Alliance gradually becoming a tool for Athens to achieve hegemony, enslave and exploit its allies, the requirement of safeguarding the vested interests of all citizens in Athens and strengthening the control of its allies will also promote the collective unity of Athens citizens from the opposite side.
In the case that all the people are soldiers, only when the people are rich and there are many soldiers can the country be strong. For Athens, which needs both a strong army and a strong navy, it needs more rich people and more soldiers. In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, relying solely on the development of domestic production, Athens could not guarantee that all citizens, especially the third-and fourth-grade citizens who were the main force of the army, had a relatively rich material and cultural life, so they were willing and indeed able to perform the obligations of military service. Therefore, the democratic development of Athens goes hand in hand with the external expansion of Athens. The democratic system can adjust the interests of different classes within the citizens' collective, arouse the enthusiasm of citizens who care about politics and are willing to undertake obligations (first of all, the obligation of military service), and is conducive to defending Athens' independence and its external expansion. Under the historical conditions at that time, foreign expansion was an extremely important condition to promote the economic development of slave owners.
The great benefits brought by Athens' external expansion were, first of all, to make the slave owners among the citizens richer (10). Successful elections and numerous political, religious and social activities within the polis are not only great opportunities for the vain rich to show themselves, but also important means for them to unite ordinary citizens.
In fact, although the citizens' collective in Athens had the same interests in a certain historical period, there were often conflicts of interests among different classes in Athens. Wealthy slave owners and ordinary citizens who mainly depend on themselves have different development tendencies. The inevitable polarization between the rich and the poor in a slave-owned society often threatens the status of small and medium-sized owners among citizens. The military colonial system is an important means to weaken this threat. It provided land from other countries to Athenian citizens who had no land or little land, which not only prevented third-class citizens from falling into poverty due to the increase of family population, but also raised fourth-class citizens to third-class, and also eliminated the fear of social unrest caused by a large number of refugees. The military colonial system is also a powerful tool to strengthen the cohesion of the polis and enhance Athens' control over its allies.
With the birth of class society, the aristocratic and wealthy citizens who are bound to develop look down on ordinary people, especially the poorest citizens of the fourth grade who are excluded from participating in political activities. This phenomenon is sometimes manifested in some Athenian citizens (1 1). It constitutes a force that hinders the development of democratic politics. The struggle to overcome this resistance is also a manifestation of class struggle.
Solon's reform established that citizens are divided into different classes according to the amount of property, and citizens of different classes enjoy different political rights, which is a kind of progress for weakening blood relationship and breaking the custom of determining political rights according to family background, but it is a huge restriction for poor citizens. Strengthening or weakening property restrictions is an important issue related to the development of democratic political system. Restricting poor citizens who have no land or little land to participate in political activities is the same proposition of rich slave owners who advocate oligarchy.
After Cristini's reform, the democratic development in Athens was influenced by both international and domestic class struggles. It is under the impetus of these two kinds of class struggles that the Athenian state machine has been constantly improved, showing its great role in safeguarding national independence, realizing external expansion, coordinating the interests of different classes within the citizens' collective, and promoting the economic and cultural development of slave ownership in Athens (12). At the end of the 6th century BC and the first half of the 5th century BC, the main content of the class struggle in Athens was to further ensure that the citizens of the third and fourth classes could participate in the political life of Athens more actively and effectively from the system and material aspects, and to overcome the actions of the conservative forces among the wealthy slave owners that restricted the development of the forces of the third and fourth classes. The reform of the election method of consuls, the improvement of the role of generals, the exile of political activists who were not supported by the citizens by the Tao Exile Law, and the once-enhanced role and power of the Parliament of God of War Mountain were later severely weakened, etc., all of which were manifestations of the struggle of different interest groups within the Athenian citizens' collective.
We can see that from the late 6th century BC to the first half of 5th century BC, apart from Temistocles, the main active figures in Athens politics mainly came from Maion family and Philaos family of alker. Mearti Ez, Meng Ke, Kestibos, Pericles, etc. It is unanimously agreed that they have made meritorious deeds in safeguarding national independence and realizing external expansion. In the 1970s and 1960s BC, the differences of opinion among Tamistocles, Ephialtes, Pericles and Meng Ke on the issue of Sparta were actually related to the struggle of Athens to expand or restrict democracy. In 46 1 BC, the exile of pro-Spartan Meng Ke was organically linked to the serious weakening of the parliamentary power of the God of War Mountain, indicating that the final establishment of democracy in Athens was closely related to the new victories of the third and fourth class citizens. Following the Ephialtes Reform in 46 1 BC, the position of consul was opened to the third-grade citizens in In 457 Bc, and before and after that, Pericles subsidized the Athenian citizens who participated in the political and social activities of the city-state. All this was to ensure that the citizens of the third and fourth grades actively participated in the political activities of the city-state.
Liao Xuesheng, born in 1936, is a researcher at the Institute of World History, China Academy of Social Sciences. 〕
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Pay attention to and release:
(1) For example, Hignett: The Constitutional History of Athens (C. Hignett's Constitutional History of Athens, Oxford by the end of the fifth century BC,1952); Rhodes: the 500-member parliament of Athens (P.J. Rhodes, Avenue of Athens, Oxford,1972); And Aristotle's annotation "(P.J.Rhodes, Comments on Aristotle's Athens Political Theory, Oxford,1981); Hansen: the citizens' meeting in Athens (M.H. Hansen, The Parliament of Athens in the Age of Demosthenes, Basil Blackwell,1987); Wait a minute.
(2) Generally speaking, there is a lack of profound and concrete research on the early history of Athens, including the stage of the 5th century BC and the characteristics of class struggle. But judging from the development of democracy in Athens, it is even more rare. Kolopova's works on the early history of Athens, especially her monograph "The Ancient City of Athens and Its Ruins" (кмколобовадрев?) by Lin Ze.
In his book A. Lintot, Violence, Civil Strike and Revolution in the Classic City of Baltimore, Lintot collected a lot of materials about the early social conflicts in Athens. 198 1.
(3) The development of the militia system with heavy infantry as the main force is conducive to the growth of democratic factors within the citizens' collective under certain historical conditions, but it cannot be decided whether a city-state implements democratic politics alone.
(4) In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, ordinary citizens in Athens engaged in labor, unlike citizens in Sparta who simply practiced martial arts, which was an important reason why Athens was able to develop democratic politics and the democratic factors in Sparta's "equal commune" gradually decreased.
Sparta established an "equal commune" on the basis of the law of enslaving blacks. There was no debt slavery among citizens, and the role of heavy infantry was fully played here. However, because some citizens were poor and lost their citizenship, the number of participants was decreasing, and the attitude of the king and those who had power because of the success of the election was arrogant, and the role of the Spartan citizens' assembly was gradually shrinking.
Since the 2nd century BC, Rome's external expansion has deepened the division of the citizens' collective, dividing the wealthy slave-owning class into two classes: elders and knights, and there are different factions within each class, which constantly produce parasitic rogue proletarians among ordinary citizens. The existence of a huge ranks of rogue proletarians is obviously not conducive to the development of democratic politics. The long-standing sharp opposition between the big and small landlords in Rome enabled the Senate controlled by the big landlord to control state affairs.
⑤ Herodotus, Ⅰ, 59-64; Ⅴ,66。
(6) The charitable donation system, which is of great significance in Athens' democratic activity mechanism, happened to be formed at the critical moment of national life and death. This fact itself is worth pondering, highlighting the characteristics of class relations in the city-state period. In his monograph "Rich Families in Athens from 600 to 300 BC" (J.K.Davies, productive families in Athens, Oxford from 600 to 300 BC, 197 1), Davis systematically collected and analyzed people and events related to the charitable donation system. In the preface of the book, he pointed out that public welfare donations for organizing performances began in about 502 BC/1year, but well-known donors were seen in the 80' s of the 5th century BC. In 480 BC, the public welfare donation for the construction of warships was first recorded (page 25).
(7) See Thucydides, Ⅱ, 37,1; 40,2; Xenophon: Recalling Socrates, Ⅰ,16; PseudoXenophon: Athens political system, I, 2.
(8) See Plutarch: Biography of Pericles, Seventh, Second and Third.
(9) The relationship between the Greek-Persian War and the development and evolution of Athenian democracy has not been properly studied.
It is worth pointing out that the oath of the Athens Civic Assembly specifically mentioned the prohibition of "negotiating with Persians for the purpose of damaging Athens". See Rhodes' monograph "Parliament of 500 Members in Athens" mentioned earlier, page 37.
(10) Plutarch pointed out in the Biography of Temistos that when he started to set foot in politics, his property was less than 3 tarants, but later he owned 80 or even 100 tarants (Prut. , they. As we all know, Meng Ke became rich because of the war. Plutarch pointed out: "Meng Ke became rich because of a series of successful battles" (Plutarch. ，Cim，ⅹ， 1)。
In the slave owners' society, it is natural for slave owners to get rich because of war.
(1 1) The works of pseudo-Xenophon, known as the "old oligarch", vividly express the thoughts of these people. Even among the leaders who sympathize with the people, such as Solon and Tamistocles, there is a strong feeling of contempt for the people.
Solon clearly pointed out in his poems that the purpose of reform is to make the people "follow the leader" and "restrain the people" (see Aristotle: Athens Political System, 2,4).
Plutarch said in the biography of Tamistocles that his vanity surpassed all others (ⅴ, 3), and he was born with extreme vanity (xvlll.l), always wanting to be superior (ⅹ Ⅰ Ⅰ, 8).
(12) га Koshelenko put forward an interesting conclusion in the article "Some Issues on the Formation and Development of Ancient Greek Countries", that is, Athens after the reform of Cristini could not be called a country, because there was no irreconcilable class contradiction in Athens at that time and there were not many slaves, so the city-state institutions could not be regarded as institutions aimed at suppressing the slave class. He believes that "Athens at that time was a kind of' peasant * * and country'". See the collection from the former class society to the early class society (отдкласовыхобщс).
Here, Koshelenko ignored the various functions of the state and only emphasized the suppression of the hostile class. Furthermore, we can't examine the city-state from the international environment.
The formation and early development of the country was about 10 century BC. The Dorians founded Sparta in Lacconia. The city consists of four villages. By the end of the 8th century BC, Spartans had established a city-state and basically unified Lacconia. From about 735 BC to 7 15 BC, Sparta first conquered Messenia in the west. Sparta was founded at the end of the 7th century BC. From the 9th century BC to the 7th century BC, the primitive commune gradually disintegrated and gradually formed a set of distinctive social and political systems.
Social system and political system Spartan society is divided into three levels: ① Spartans. Plenipotentiary citizens in the polis lived entirely by exploiting slaves, with about 9,000 households at the peak. Adult male citizens of Sparta joined a so-called equality commune militarily and became the ruling class of Sparta. 2 border people. The conquered border cities have about 30,000 residents. As a free man, he had local autonomy, but he didn't have the citizenship of the Spartan city-state. Mainly engaged in agriculture, but also in industry and commerce. ③ Black lab. Agricultural slaves belonging to the spartan city-states.
The polity of Sparta countries belongs to the aristocratic polity. The main political institutions of the city-state include: ① two kings, respectively inherited by two royal families. The main powers are religious and military. In peacetime, he presided over national sacrifices and handled family legal cases. During the war, one king led the army and the other king was in charge of guarding it. ② Council of elders. Two kings are ex officio members, and there are 28 other members. The elders hold office for life, and when there is a vacancy, they are selected from citizens over 60 to fill the vacancy. The Council of Elders drafts resolutions for Parliament, presides over criminal trials and handles state administrative affairs. (3) the citizens' assembly. It consists of all Spartan male citizens over 30 years old. Citizens can vote on bills and elect officials at the general assembly, but they cannot introduce bills. The voting method of the citizens' assembly is generally based on the voices of the participants, so it may not really express the wishes of citizens. (4) Five supervisors. Elections are held once a year. In principle, every Spartan citizen has the right to stand for election. After the conquest of Messenia, their power gradually increased, and they could not only supervise all the officials of the Spartan city-state, but also have the right to judge or even execute the king. Every time the king goes out to war, two inspectors accompany him to supervise on the spot.
In order to suppress a large number of rebellious slaves, the Spartan city-state stipulated a strict military training system for citizens. After a citizen's child is born, it can only be adopted after passing the medical examination. At the age of 7, the boy will leave his family and join his children's company to receive preliminary organizational discipline training; /kloc-after 0/2 years old, you should receive strict military and physical training. When a man marries as an adult, he usually lives in a military camp, participates in dinners and exercises, and can't be discharged until he is 60 years old.
After the middle of the 6th century BC, Sparta gradually formed the Peloponnesian League with most of the city-states of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and became the leader of a Greek city-state group. In 480 BC and 479 BC, Spartans served as commander-in-chief of the allied forces of Greek states in Bo Shi War, and joined forces with Athens and other countries to oppose Persian aggression. Since then, with the establishment of Tyrol League and the growth of Athenian power, the contradiction between Sparta and Athens has become increasingly acute. In 404 BC, with the help of Persia, Sparta defeated Athens and became the winner of the 27-year Peloponnesian War and the overlord of all Greece. Its tyrannical rule quickly aroused the dissatisfaction and resistance of the polis. From the 4th century BC to the 3rd century BC, it competed with Athens, Thebes and Corinth for a long time and gradually lost its advantage. The polarization between the rich and the poor of Spartan citizens accelerated, the number of people who lost their land and citizenship increased, the equality commune tended to collapse, and the citizen soldiers became increasingly weak. In 37 1 year BC, Sparta invaded the Greek city-state Thebes and suffered a great defeat. The king is dead. Subsequently, Messenia became independent and the Peloponnesian League disintegrated. In the late 3rd century BC, the social contradictions in Sparta were particularly fierce, and the reforms of Achilles IV and Cleo Menez III ended in failure. In BC 192, the Spartan tyrant Nabis was killed, and Sparta was forced to join the Ahaya League, which actually lost its independence. After the Roman Empire conquered the Peloponnesus, Sparta was destroyed by the Goths in 396 AD. Later, Byzantine residents moved in and called this place Lakaidaymon in Homer's epic.