Xenophon

Spartan Elite and Corruption Scandals

The article deals with cases of corruption in Sparta. The author shows that in the 5th century BC right up until the last decade of the Peloponnesian War it was mainly the Spartan kings and their closest relatives who were accused of corruption. But already at the turn of 5th–4th centuries BC almost all civil and military leaders of the country were involved in corruption scandals. At the end of the Peloponnesian War, the number of wealthy citizens who made their fortunes during military campaigns abroad sharply increased. The traditional moral values of equality and fraternity which the Spartans used to be brought up to believe quickly gave way to an unbridled thirst for profit. The author cites examples of corruption scandals in which both individual admirals and the entire Spartan government were embroiled. According to the author, moral corruption of the upper class led to the degradation of the whole society, dramatically increasing the social gap between the rich and the poor.

Die Antike Biographie als Hintergrund des Evangeliums

This essay continues the critique of perceived evangelical exceptionalism by providing a detailed study of the genre of biography in antiquity. While some scholars claim that the Gospels were a literary anomaly without clear precedents, we instead claim that they are an innovative variation of the classical biographical tradition. By classifying the Gospels into this generic classification, we work to establish an access to this literature that is historically grounded and does not seek the presumed religious ‘community’ of the author in the rhetorical framework of their writings.

Die Hypomeiones in Sparta

The article is devoted to the analysis of the structural changes in the civic community of Sparta at the end of the 5th–beginning of the 4th century ВС. The analysis of the sources shows that the civic community began to disintegrate and the new social group of Hypomeiones appeared just in this period. The author considers in detail questions connected with the reasons, time of appearance and status of this category of the Spartan citizenry. Particular attention is paid to the mechanism by which full citizens have lost some of their rights and have fallen down the social ladder, becoming Hypomeiones. The author examines all the sources related to this issue and shows as much as possible the extent to which this topic has been dealt with in Russian and Western historiography.

Kalokagathia: to a Question on Formation of an Image of the Ideal Person in Antiquity and During Modern Time

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of kalokagathia, developed by the Greek writers and philosophers in 5th–4th centuries BC The term kalokagathia combines two adjectives, with kalos designating outward, and agathos — inward perfection. The resulting neologism—a word-combination—denotes a predicate of perfection, with no existing synonyms to express the notion of virtue in the Greek lexicon at that time. For the upbringing of the ideal person, leisure (schole) was necessary, which in this slaveholding society was available to all free citizens. The author of the paper emphasises that during the Archaic period kalos kagathos was the self-determination of aristocracy, while during the Classical period the term acquired more generalized semantic value and was applied to worthy citizens of all strata of society. The specificity of the term kalokagathia was most fully developed in the writings of Thucydides and Xenophon. Thus, in Sparta kalos kagathos designated the ideal soldier, whereas in Athens — the ideal person and the citizen. The author of paper considers it difficult to give an adequate translation of the terms kalokagathia and kalos kagathos; therefore, it would be more rational to transliterate both of them. In the modern-day society, the concept of the ideal person appears to be in demand again, mainly within the framework for developing therapeutic sports and education system for the younger generations.