Spartan Foreign Policy in the Third Century BC

Spartan foreign policy in the third century BC is a neglected topic of Spartan history. This work explores this issue and argues for Spartan proactive participation in the interstate interactions of the third century BC. In doing so, it explains the reasons which drove Sparta to interact with other states and the extent of such interaction. It demonstrates that decision-making power was distributed between particular Spartan individuals and institutions, and that the changing distribution of power across these networks (to include ephors, gerousia, and kings) had a crucial impact on the articulation of foreign (military and diplomatic expeditions) and domestic (appointment of the Spartan kings) political decisions. As shown in this work, in the formulation of Spartan foreign policy, important efforts to avoid conflict without recourse to warfare and the presence of cooperation and interstate dialogue, facilitated by tools such as kinship ties and embassies, were central. These were utilised by the Spartan governing bodies to facilitate interactions with smaller (Taras, some Cretan poleis) and larger (Achaean League, Macedonia, Egypt, Rome) Mediterranean states. In adopting its foreign policy, Sparta could cultivate relations with these states and was highly regarded on the international stage. In interstate interactions, certain Spartan individuals were paramount: they were deployed by the Spartan governing bodies (gerousia, ephors) or could act by themselves in important military and diplomatic expeditions. By articulating a proactive foreign policy, Sparta could exercise influence on many locales situated inside and outside the Peloponnese and could even compete for hegemony with superpowers of the century such as Macedonia and Rome. In addressing these issues, it will be shown that the third century was a period characterised by a remarkable Spartan continuity of interest in certain locales inside and outside the Peloponnese.