ABSTRACT
Xenophon, the author of one of them, began his work by observing that the Spartans had the greatest power of any Greek community but also one of the smallest populations. Caution is made still more important by a fact which shrewd contemporary observers of Sparta came to understand very well: the Spartans were masters of deception. Modern works have tended to overlook this. Life at Sparta in several ways resembled that of a military camp — a point familiar in antiquity. Spartan deceit may be best understood in this light. Cases of Spartan commanders seeking to deceive a foe are numerous. In classical Athens there was a different connection made between the Spartans and foxes, animals proverbial for deceit. Sparta’s willingness to falsify the past may be seen with unusual clarity where the past in question was that of other Greek cities.
