Sparta

Sparta, Tennessee (White County)

Larry Miller, Tennessee Place Names: "The ancient Sparta of Greece inspired this city's name."

Sparta, Tennessee is named for the ancient Greek city-state known for its fanatical military ethos. Today, Sparta is much more interested in cultivating connections between itself and the country music industry than any relationship to the Spartans of antiquity. A sign downtown proclaims Sparta as “Bluegrass, USA,” and this nearby monument celebrates Sparta as the hometown of Lester Flatt, a venerable bluegrass pioneer. 

Ancient Sparta



Sample Latin Text:

Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.34

Cicero reflects on the harsh techniques of Spartan educators.

Cretum quidem leges, quas sive iuppiter sive Minos sanxit de iovis quidem sententia, ut poetae ferunt, itemque Lycurgi laboribus erudiunt iuventutem, venando currendo, esuriendo sitiendo, algendo aestuando. Spartae vero pueri ad aram sic verberibus accipiuntur, ut multus e visceribus sanguis exeat, non numquam etiam, ut, cum ibi essem, audiebam, ad necem; quorum non modo nemo exclamavit umquam, sed ne ingemuit quidem. Quid ergo? Hoc pueri possunt, viri non poterunt? Et mos valet, ratio non valebit?

Loeb Translation:

"The laws of Crete for instance—whether ratified by Jupiter or by Minos according to Jupiter’s decision as the poets relate—and also the laws of Lycurgus educate youth by hardships, hunting and running, hunger and thirst, exposure to heat and cold; moreover at the altar Spartan boys are submitted to such a shower of stripes that from the flesh the blood comes forth in streams, sometimes even, as I heard on the occasion of a visit, resulting in death; not one of them ever uttered a cry nor even so much as a groan. What then? Can boys do this, and shall men prove unable? Has custom the power, and shall reason not have the power?"