Les Spartiates et la mer Ve s. av. J.-C. : des amiraux qui n’aimaient pas la mer

Abstract

Against Persians, in 480, the Greeks of the Hellenic League chose to be under the command of the Spartans, on sea as on land. Again for the end of the 5th century, Greek authors speak of Spartan hegemonia on land and sea. Actually, Spartans are very bad in sea-fight because they don’t understand its rules and they are afraid when they meet a good fleet or a bad weather. Their victories are generally on the sea-shore, not in open sea : even Lysander, the best of their navarchs, won on shore at Aigos Potamoi. Even their coastal territory is not well protected. It seems as if there was a kind of inadequacy between Spartan way of life and maritime activity, with some contempt for the maritime tekhnè. So the Spartan superiority was only and exclusively on land, even when authors speak of their universal hegemony.