Comparing Sparta: an ancient society in historical perspective

这个项目挑战了以前对古典斯巴达的解释，这些解释将她视为一个不同于其他希腊城邦和大多数文明社会规范的特殊社会。该项目从其他希腊城邦的可比机构的角度来审视斯巴达的社会制度，并在其历史时期和地方的社会中进行研究。它的比较方法是建立在对以前试图将斯巴达与其他社会进行比较的历史编纂和跨文化比较神话的分析之上的。其目的是通过在更广泛的历史背景下观察她所谓的独特机构来增强对斯巴达社会的理解。

This project challenges previous interpretations of classical Sparta, which have viewed her as an exceptional society divergent from the norms of other Greek city-states and of most civilised societies. The project examines Spartan social institutions from the perspective of comparable institutions of other Greek city-states and in societies at their historical times and places. Its comparative approach is grounded in an analysis of the historiography of previous attempts to compare Sparta with other societies and of the mythology of cross-cultural comparison. The objective is an enhanced understanding of Spartan society through viewing her supposedly distinctive institutions in broader historical context.