Mare Laconum: Sparta and the Laconian Sea in the Classical Period

• Grant number: 22/05883-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Norberto Luiz Guarinello
• Grantee: Gabriel Cabral Bernardo
• Supervisor: Chrysanthi Gallou
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Nottingham, University Park, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/00327-6 - Mare Laconum: Sparta and the Laconian Sea in the classical period, BP.DR

Abstract

In the last decades the modern scholarship advanced significantly our knowledge on ancient Sparta's relationship with its own territory and with other poleis. However, one aspect of this thematic has been little explored until now: the way in which Sparta and its perioikoi were connected to the sea that surrounded them. The present research project aims precisely to collect the necessary data to provide a more informed picture on this matter, allowing us to escape generalizations or assumptions entrenched in academic knowledge. To this end, all types of sources that describe not only the level of "maritimity" of Laconian coastal settlements must be sought (imports, maritime structures, local traditions connected to the sea etc.), but also whether this had any effect on the relationship of these settlements with mainland Laconia (including Sparta). Such reasoning will give us access to regional dynamics that responded not only to Spartan demands, but also to the interests of perioikoi and to the influences of networks external to Laconia. This, in turn, will allow us to demonstrate, in addition to the fact that Sparta did not keep the territories under its influence behind an "iron curtain", that the inhabitants of the Laconian coast (usually ignored) had their own historical agency, one not dictated exclusively by the demands of a (Spartan) centre. (AU)