Here the Spartans, there the Messenians both speak the Dorian dialect, both consider themselves descendants of the mythical Heraclids. The true nature of their violent conflict is lost in the legends of their early history. Around 600 BC, the Spartans succeeded in defeating the Messenians and subjugating them for the next 230 years. In doing so, they deprived their neighbors of an independent cultural development, indeed, of their place in Greek history. This book gives the Messenians their voice back and even manages to end on a happy note: for in the end, they regain their freedom and found the city of Messene. Today, the oppressive and bloody past of this picturesque and fertile region in the southwestern Peloponnese is no longer readily apparent. Winfried Schmitz has spent many years traveling through Messenia one of the most beautiful regions in Greece and researching its myths, historical sources, and archaeological evidence. Never before has the little-known history of Messenia and its inhabitants been told so vividly and knowledgeably as in this book.
Author
Schmitz, Winfried
Title
Im Schatten Spartas
Details
352 pages.
State
new
Subtitle
Die Messenier und ihr Kampf um die Freiheit
Verlag C. H. Beck oHG Wilhelmstr. 9 80801 München Deutschland
