'Ariste politeia': The Spartan Constitution in the Classical and Hellenistic Greek tradition

Abstract

The μικτὴ (or μεμειγμένη) πολιτεία, the mixed Constitution, is one that wisely and proportionally combines elements of pure or simple political regimes (monarchy, aristocracy and democracy) as a guarantee of stability and internal peace. Sparta, who always seduced the ideal city builders, will be the first example in a long list of states in the history of Western thought of this sort of ἀρίστη πολιτεία, of optimal, tempered, and exemplary (but at the same time illusory) Constitution. In the present work we will examine the outstanding role that Sparta plays in the genesis and development of this political theory in the Classical and Hellenistic Greek tradition.