Sparta and Athens: History's wartime lessons for a modern-day Israel

As Netanyahu evokes "super-Sparta," Israel may be repeating the mistakes that left both city-states devastated after decades of war.

On the eve of the Peloponnesian War in 432 BC, the wise king of Sparta, Archidamus, was summoned to address a clash between the Corinthians and Athenians. Corinth, an ally of Sparta, warned that Athens' power was growing too strong. If Sparta didn’t act soon, the other Greek city-states would lose confidence in her, and her friends might desert.

Archidamus rose to address his fellow Spartans and their allies. He told the assembled men that he had seen many wars, and he warned the others not to “fall into the common misfortune of longing for war from inexperience.” If there was to be war, he asked, “What can justify us in rashly beginning such a struggle?”

A comment by Israel’s Prime Minister this week appears to have set off a mini-debate about whether Israel can fairly be compared to ancient Sparta or Athens. It has also led to complaints that Israel should not view itself as one of these Greek city-states because this would imply the country has become war-like and cut off from the world.

ThePrime Minister said Israel should have an economy with “autarkic features…to be Athens and super-Sparta.” The comparison with Sparta may not be controversial on the Right, since it conjures up a warrior society with martial features. By contrast, the center and Left will likely see this as leading Israel to a self-fulfilling prophecy of isolation. In essence, they will say that Israel shouldn’t admire city-states like Sparta that were obsessed with militarism and ruling over others.

This debate may miss the bigger point. Both Athens and Sparta have often been considered historical clichés; a kind of good-and-evil or Manichean view of the world.

Athens was portrayed as a democratic and seafaring power. It had culture and philosophy. It was worldly.

Sparta, by contrast, was austere and obsessed with war. It didn’t care about the wider world and dwelled alone on land.

This is a largely unfair portrayal of societies that existed in ancient Greece and had aspects in common with each other and their neighbors. They were only two of many small states. They come down to us as prototypical rivals, in part because of the Peloponessian war and the record of it that Thucydides left us.

As such, when Westerners have interpreted their own wars, they have seen themselves in the models of the Athenians or Spartans. None of them seem to see themselves as the Corinthians or Argos or Macedonians. This leaves us with a simplistic view of these two rival powers.

However, it doesn’t mean that modern countries cannot learn the lessons of the past.

The war between these two countries lasted for almost thirty years, from 431to 404 BC. It consisted of two parts: the ten-year Archidamian War, named for the Spartan king of the time, which ended in 421 BC, and the Athenians' expedition to Sicily, followed by a second round of war that erupted in 413 BC.

The war left Athens devastated. It also led to the long decline of Sparta. As such, the war was ruinous for both city-states and their allies.

It should be noted that these two states went to war with an extensive list of colonies and allies. Athens was an empire of the sea. Sparta had allies on land. The war was dictated by this limitation, with raids on land by the Peloponnesian allies of Sparta and battles out at sea.

While Sparta is portrayed as the warlike country, its king at the time of its longest war was actually very pragmatic.

“Let us never be elated by the fatal hope of the war being quickly ended by the devastation of their lands. I fear, rather, that we may leave it as a legacy to our children,” he said, urging calm and calling for consideration of Athens' arbitration offers.

Israel today may have some commonalities with both Athens and Sparta. It is a country with a martial spirit and a populace willing to sacrifice. It has resilience. These are Spartan qualities. It also has many technological exports and is a global power in technology and other advancements. As such, it has Athenian qualities.

However, Israel’s current leadership also lacks many of the wise words that the leaders of Athens and Sparta had in their prime.

There is no speech today among leaders of the coalition discussing peace or warning that the current war will affect generations to come.

Contrary to Spartan leadership, the current Israeli coalition government has worked to enable 50,000 Haredi men to avoid service while sending reservists back and forth to Gaza. No Spartan king would have helped so many men avoid service.

Israeli officials brag about levelling buildings in Gaza and having Gaza “burn” and be destroyed. These are not the words of wise leaders of old, but rather the rash and warlike who plunged countries into long wars.

The notion that Israel can model itself either on the austerity of Sparta or the isolation of Athens, aided by long walls constructed to keep enemies out, is a notion that will lead Israel to the same ruins that befell both Athens and Sparta.

On the other hand, Israel might learn from the Greek city-states of that era. Both sides in that war sought to bring home hostages. They made deals to bring their people home.

Israel might learn that it is more important to bring citizens and soldiers home than to continue long wars that have diminishing returns.

There is much in the texts of the leaders of Athens and Sparta, as well as other states of that era, that might inform Middle Eastern leadership today.

Most of all, the lesson of that era is that, in the long run, entering into an endless war did not benefit any of those involved.