How Did Ancient Sparta Really Fall? | The Spartans | Odyssey

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state, and the perfect warrior. Classical historian Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life: homosexuality was compulsory, money was outlawed, equality was enforced, weak boys were put to death and women enjoyed a level of social and sexual freedom that was unheard of in the ancient world.
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[@MrFifadon1]

Everyone can appreciate a passionate person

[@mlbh2os211]

Bettany Hughes is a superb historian and storyteller.

[@danielyerbme]

She’d get it

[@dylansmith1418]

@@danielyerbme dream woman calibre

[@ClickClack_Bam]

@@danielyerbme She'd get what? You appear to have left the end of your sentence open my good friend. For example: "She'd get it 100% correct if she hosted another history show". Or "She'd get it but give it right back if you hassled her".

[@breakdancingninja8177]

The woman in the red dress said it best.

[@sonerali3047]

You wouldn't throw her out of the bed for eating crisps either.

[@armyofninjas9055]

I only recently discovered this channel. Working from home, this has been WONDERFUL.

[@seanwarren9357]

Imagine being free of the yoke and the taskmaster.

[@Powderfinger77]

F f fffc f f f

[@DaRyteJuan]

So basically you’re admitting to watching this channel instead of doing your actual work?

[@chris-kw9bp]

Not doing a great deal of work than

[@williamchauncey8100]

Working from home if you're watching this channel you're not doing much working get back to work boy

[@K8E666]

Love this woman’s work on Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt

[@Morgana0x]

I do too.

[@FINNIUSORION]

I grew up watching history programs with narrator's such as Leonard Nimoy and Charleston Heston, it was always a good day when bettany made her appearances on my television lol

[@silverforest4682]

Peter Coyote.... the best narrator I've heard.

[@jaymartin8273]

@@silverforest4682 I'll second that ;=)

[@johncarroll772]

The BBC do the best historical documentaries

[@malcolmarchibald6356]

Heston was quality. What a voice!

[@brutus4013]

Love it! Bethany’s the best. Easy on the eyes as well.

[@ss4650]

Some would say Beautiful.

[@brutus4013]

@@ss4650Yes ,some would.

[@ernestweaver9720]

Bettany did such a wonderful job on this documentary. She does a wonderful job on all of her documentaries. Thank you so much for going back and going all out on history.

[@bobhealy3519]

OMG. I love Bettany . Smart and beautiful.

[@funiguy8779]

Brilliant documentary from start to finish. Thanks.

[@Major_Pipps]

This was phenomenal. Everything was above and beyond. Had to pause the vid to say that...

[@janethayes5941]

She's really a good presenter. And the background music is excellent as well.

[@NobleKorhedron]

She's pretty good, but I've seen better; some Medieval historians included...

[@kensin7244]

She is a classical historian and this is a UK TV documentary.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettany_Hughes

[@janethayes5941]

@@kensin7244 thank you.🙂

[@SecretSquirrelFun]

Bethany is wonderful isn’t she and really brings history to life. Like you, I’m really liking the music. I also really enjoy Professor Mary Beard, I would highly recommend watching a few of Mary’s documentaries if you are enjoying Bethany’s style. Take care and have a good day 🙂🐿

[@janethayes5941]

@@SecretSquirrelFun Squirrels are my favorite animals right along with dogs!😁 Thank you so much for the recommendation. Always trust a secret squirrel. 💗

[@e.f.3207]

Absolutely FANTASTIC video!! Thank you so very much for putting it together and posting. Great job! 👍👍👍

[@richmolonlabe2824]

Thanks for the video!

[@rizalinojuliano3702]

That last summation was brilliant

[@lgstar3363]

Thnkx for the upload.

[@tanias4877]

Always informative and enjoyable, many thanks 👏👏👏

[@leslietarkin5705]

Very informative documentary.

[@erikaenander5374]

Adapt or die. Universally good advice. Historical truth. Great video.👍

[@badpossum440]

You need to put in a few more adds, i actually had to watch some of the video for a while.

[@KenRubenstein]

Agreed.,

[@ben-eg7kx]

Hahaha

[@annpartoon5300]

blame you tube

[@jaymartin8273]

Yeah! Terrible! More ads! :=)

[@jamesando8162]

Great job, and you're the best ever!

[@Officialwhoze]

If you want to see more of Bettany walking through fields, staring at mountains or the ocean while center screen stay tuned for the next Odyssey!

[@dimitarmitev7176]

❤️👍

[@user-ws2me9xm8t]

Very interestng history episode perfectly described

[@rogerevans9666]

Excellent storytelling. It is difficult to reduce all the details of this story to the important essentials.

[@NMansetJWard]

I have read Thucydides at least two times...excellent commentary...

[@bretnielsen5502]

So interesting I had to watch it twice.

[@LuzMaria95]

Love it 💪🏽

[@julianmarsh1378]

Sparta was overwhelmed by its responsibilities after the war ended in 404...she also understood that the Greek world had changed in a fundamental way: naval power and the widespread use of mercenaries and the new peltasts as opposed to reliance on almost solely hoplites. Money was needed to maintain navies and mercenaries and Sparta's traditional economy and outlook re: money had grown not only archaic but dangerous to the state.

[@buckwylde7965]

Excellent!

[@D.T.A1]

This channel has help me keep my sanity during this quarantine.

[@fileinterrupted1787]

amazing docu

[@sunnindawg]

Excellent

[@krumplethemal8831]

One reason Sparta fell was due directly to the harsh method of training its young males to become warriors. They were promised nothing for all their suffering except the honor of dying in battle. The Theban warrior had an easier life which allowed for greater numbers. To win battles even if you have less experience, numbers can mean victory over a battle hardened unit of just a few hundred.

[@drjukebox]

You obviously havent watched 300

[@krumplethemal8831]

The movie is a mythological joke.. well done but highly over exhaggerated..

[@drjukebox]

@@krumplethemal8831 I forgot the smiley :)

[@mrjdgibbs]

It wasn't that the easier life enabled larger numbers, it was mostly that the Spartans were hopelessly xenophobic. One had to be born in Sparta to ever be trained as a peer. Which definitely enabled the Thebans to have greater numbers. Epominandas understood this and waged a war of attrition.

[@vega6773]

Not really tho by the time the thebans defeated Sparta it was actual due to them not having warriors of that calibre anymore. So instead had to increase numbers from less trained soldiers which wasn’t as effective. So in a sense your right due to the fact it wasn’t practical to maintain in the long run through various reasons, but wrong in the sense that they lost due to their methods of training, as the lack of it made them weaker and prone to defeat.

[@issith7340]

Thank you from 🇬🇷

[@respublikas]

14 adds on a 48min video, this is insane

[@joshw9037]

Skip them dude

[@fetus2280]

adblock . i havent seen an ad in Years and years .

[@sword-and-shield]

Who watches YT without add blockers? I don't see any adds ever. Firefox browser and addblock

[@brianhiles8164]

I *liked* this video even as I had begun to view it, and why? Because of my positive memories, if dim, of its premier on American PBS TV a decade-and-a-half ago. 15 years or 2500 years -- the times are both extant and alien, when like as this the ancient past, of egos and _eidolons,_ is _also_ near and so very far away. Again, thanks to all involved for making this extraordinary series available again, and for free.

[@davidjones535]

KZbin NEEDS TO GET A GRIP ABOUT ALL THESE ADDS EVERY THREE MINUTES !!!

[@GOBEF3]

Bravo ❣

[@darkmattersproject2951]

Great information. I had no idea of their societies structure. Now things make much more sense here in the United States.

[@darkmattersproject2951]

@@unicornsarereal2668 Sir our political structure originates from Indo European and Africa. Eqyptian taught the Greeks the Greeks taught the Romans. The Greek civilization had three classes of people. We’re basically running the same system the Greeks were using. Please study the Greek political and cultural structure. Then Study Rome. Finally study the Indo European political and cultural structure. All those systems failed because of their structure. The United States has followed in the Greek system. Once you understand the Greek system. You will understand why the United States is going down. The German Japanese Korean system is different. They will continue to succeed. So will the Scandinavian system. Learn the Western economic and social history. That system can only be sustained through subjugation of other nations. The United States has been in perpetual wars right from the beginning

[@vchill79]

Mmm..Bettany Hughes, yes please!

[@vchill79]

@Bob Carruthers Everyone ages

[@documentryworldlive6920]

any chance of adding more playlists

[@justinsane7128]

Sparta Schmarta... More Bettany!

[@rustomkanishka]

Amazing documentary. Also, Huges is like Nigella Lawson but for History and story telling.

[@Synathidy]

I can see that resemblance.

[@andrenewcomb3708]

They pulled those huge stone up those hills!

[@athanasiusphilopatorismaxi389]

interesting docu

[@filofteia1]

Bettany Hughes is amazing. Hated history in school, my teacher was, to be politically correct, chubby and not intellectually gifted. This new format gives an amazing perspective

[@davidhoward4715]

Politically correct? Why do I think you're telling a fib? More likely you just weren't very bright.

[@Cheepchipsable]

What "new" format. This is from early 2000.

[@filofteia1]

@@Cheepchipsable The ''new format'' of presenting history as a tale of peoples and their story and deeds rather that a succession of dates and kings that one has to remember in order to pass an exam. Unfortunately I was in school before the 2000's

[@dcmastermindfirst9418]

Lol how can hate history??? I love it.

[@DM-uz7lf]

​@@davidhoward4715You must be stupid, every school is like that now, what, you think it just sprang out of nowhere🤦‍♂️

[@oliclay1348]

'Not with a bang, but with a whimper'

[@chatryna]

..."Fatal flaw to pursue absolute perfection, Sparta made an enemy of Change itself"....Well, I'd say it is not a flaw to pursue perfection, though I don't recommend it, but rather to pursue what it means to be perfect would be better. The logic of pursuing perfection makes change a part of this pursuit. I don't follow her logic, except superficially, which would be to say that for one to be perfect, they must always be perfect...which we always say, no one is perfect. I think she is equating perfection with discipline. And Discipline, we know is good, and is what protects a man from himself. But then again, one could ask, "discipline as manifested how?" For example: Disciplined to always be kind or always to be mean or to always excercise the discernment between the two."

[@Cheepchipsable]

In context she means their idea of perfection.

[@sunshinesplace9172]

Man, when she says “cuckold” 😫

[@siphotheguy1870]

After Sparta collapsed: "This isn't Sparta!!"

[@CatChrist]

The Spartans, Episode 3. Originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK.

[@Cheepchipsable]

It's annoying they don't connect the original series be name.

[@christopherross8358]

❤ Suzuki Sidekick 39:15

[@Drathaar01]

Damn. Baby got back!

[@SetTrippin82]

Damn she is a gorgeous mind and a lovely story teller.

[@jaymartin8273]

Yep she is :=)

[@davidwarner6755]

Great show and presentation! How can so much detail be known about the distant past? Especially when discusing obscure matters such as motives and emotions? Is it mostly guess work and interpritation?

[@Cheepchipsable]

Probably mostly educated guess work from writings of the times, described character traits, tradition and the fact people's motivations don't change that much throughout history.

[@Skaarxiong1]

this Assassin's Creed Odyssey game animation and graphic is amazing. what mod and EMB are being use?

[@amegagorilla]

Little too much of the ads, but thank you for uploading nonetheless.

[@stuckn.derplahoma562]

I think you forgot to add an ad in between the ads...

[@joshw9037]

Skip them... even the ones you normally can’t skip. Right next to the time on the bottom left you can click the little ‘I’ and just select report and ok or whatever pops up. You don’t even have to select a reason, just keep clicking away. Saves a little time...

[@stuckn.derplahoma562]

@@joshw9037 thanks!

[@PopGoesTheology]

1:01 Oracle 7:04 Alcibiades 18:40 Lysander Alcibiades

[@felipe367]

This is… Sparta!

[@Jaydeno411]

I absolutely love your videos but I’m under the impression that I’m seeing the same episode under a different name

[@buttercxpdraws8101]

Most of the videos on this channel were uploaded to KZbin long ago on channels like Timeline. With less ads.

[@himachal8252]

Yes Exactly

[@BangEmBeatZ]

really 5 min of commercials every fu%king 30 sec of the actualt show.

[@brianmorgan7680]

You can skip past all the commercials n restart the show= no commercials

[@gazmendh101]

Lol

[@n1ght_ch3f84]

@@brianmorgan7680 oh my God that is genius, why am I just now discovering this

[@jonathanflores9991]

I coughed up the premium bc i got sick and fucken tired of raid, robinhood and what ever dumb shit was the ad cycle back then. Fuck ads bro for real

[@SetTrippin82]

Stop bitching and pay for the content.

[@winnienguyen4420]

17th Century Prussia under the leadership of Frederic the Great was strikingly similar to ancient Sparta. They called it a military with a country as opposed to a country with a military.

[@buninparadise9476]

Frederic the Great ruled during the 18th century

[@asnark7115]

They ran critically low on hoplites and regulars because of their overly-selective membership criteria, which was based on blood ties.

[@mumblesbadly7708]

Rome had a similar problem, but wisely addressed it by repeatedly expanding the eligibility for who could serve in their armed forces.

[@kiq654]

They trusted blood after seeing its red, they never approved of others but did accept if somebody accepted trial. Weirdos, but at times not exactly selective as war took many and claimed none.

[@muzikizfun]

Easy, their system for maintaining quality was so stringent that it was unsustainable. Quality is important, but so are numbers. You can eventually wear down a smaller force no matter how good they are. Once the Spartan system was put under stress, and numbers were needed, the Quality and devotion to the state declined. This lead to their decline and eventual fall.

[@bradmakesgains8779]

Why don’t we have sequels to 300 about this!?!?!!!!

[@VaderPopsVicodin10]

Love this lady.. she's great. Keeps your attention and really seems to know what she's talking about. Pretty, too..

[@maf6856]

To many ads

[@pandemicgrower4212]

Early squad

[@johnemerson1363]

I was intrigued by her story of the fate of the Syracusan Athenian troops taken prisoner, in October 413 BC. In 1967 I visited the greek theater cut out of the limestone hill over the caves the Athenians were kept in. It is my understanding the Greek prisoners built the theater. If that is correct, too bad it wasn't mentioned.

[@jamesarmstrong5614]

L

[@johnemerson1363]

@@jamesarmstrong5614 L?

[@wesleyford7709]

Hi from Australia This is an older video but a good one. Myth can tell us a lot about ourselves and is also a source for 'evidence' too.

[@tigran56]

Sounds eerily familiar.

[@blade65dagger]

where are the collages or superimpose infographics? . . chronologically?

[@bombercountyblues]

An hour of mainstream commercial TV contains less ads than this.

[@kensin7244]

ad blockers ftw ;-D

[@mikemc7839]

Jon..just ffw until about 10 seconds from the end..let it play till the end..x out and play again..no ads pal

[@vchill79]

Turn off autoplay..skip to the end and press the replay arrow

[@Richard_Jones]

This story makes me think of the old Tailor's maxim "Euripedes, you pay for these."

[@jaxn13]

Is this an old production or made recently?

[@Cheepchipsable]

Early 2000s.

[@nikiforosprintzis4853]

Congratulations !

[@karloyu3484]

❤️

[@juliustetevano6113]

14 ads though? -_- lol come on man thats a bit much

[@17bantawa]

Assassin's creed oddessy makes sense now!!

[@ghanvedsingh8946]

Sangwan Jat from India (Haryana)has the Spartan roots even my (jakhar/zakariyas) roots are from.mecedonia

[@waitwhat1818]

Spartans? I click. Ads? I leave.

[@cgasucks]

Get KZbin Vance if you don't like ads.

[@rc59191]

Just click to the end of the video hit the replay button and they're gone.

[@Ichy-Sphincta]

intelligent and beautiful too boot love these vids with Bettany

[@fetijajasari9522]

Some more ads please, not enough ads in my history crumbels😡

[@travhammer]

I listen in your voice.

[@DereliqueMahBAWLS]

I just watched the original of this last night on the real KZbin channel

[@vchill79]

Whats the real KZbin channel?

[@DereliqueMahBAWLS]

@@vchill79 kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKO0dqafmbiFfsU

[@SeeYouUpTheRoad]

Timeline sooo good!

[@brianswelding]

Dang it! Bettany is a fabulous presenter but every time I see her in a show it's difficult for me to pay attention to the actual material 😉

[@hhunstad2011]

Well........ You should probably grow up. Come on Brian, your better then that!

[@brianswelding]

@@hhunstad2011 I know, you're right 😭 I was just having a moment. 🤣

[@hhunstad2011]

@@brianswelding 😊 goof ball Take care!

[@brianswelding]

@@hhunstad2011 🤣 You too

[@NolanHawkeyeAnthony]

She has gone down hill quite a bit as women usually do sadly

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

From what I gathered, the Spartan requirements for citizenship were so stringent that they all but depopulated themselves.

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

I can imagine the oracle telling them about the dark crystal...😁

[@christianfrommuslim]

QUESTION: There is a hypothesis that the dramatic changes in Athenian philosophy of the 5th century BCE came in consequence of their exposure to the monotheism of the Jews after their diaspora in the 7th century. For example, Socrates disparagement of Greek gods and description of what a true God would be like - views which led to his execution for blasphemy. Does anyone have data backing up this hypothesis, or more information?

[@modernhaze3]

Gorgeous Seductive Hostess and wonderful content

[@joshw9037]

5:07 I like what you did there...

[@mariosathens1]

Unfortunately the ancient Greeks were localists,, They loved their city and they hated their neighboring Greek city. They didn't realize quick enough that the world was changing and Empires were formed.

[@hugosophy]

Philip II of Macedonia united them at the end.

[@hellbound64]

Just get KZbin premium you cheapskates, never hear an ad again it’s awesome

[@mingojulius]

I love British narrators

[@CailenCambeul]

Euripides these pants? You own them.

[@billykotsos4642]

Lycourgos is an obvious choice, not an "unpredictable" one

[@justsaying7979]

How you going to put 12 ads on a 48 minute video smh

[@danielmoser4323]

You can’t be serious with the amount of commercials. That’s like peeing your audience in the face.

[@dr.benway7880]

That is a turn of phrase I have never heard.

[@haroldfloyd5518]

I’m sure KZbin will be in touch to tell you how you can eliminate commercials…

[@BulletHole]

this mentions that royal family wasnt subjected to agoge, was Leonidas?

[@BulletHole]

oh right, i was pretty sure he was second son and not expected to rule, but this says royal family was exempt. but it was just the heir apparent

[@seanwarren9357]

Early in, I note she didn't reference the cave gasses at Delfi, the real source of the oracles disassociation of reality.