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It is also believed that the growing inequality in wealth also resulted in a falling birth-rate. Then Sparta was increasingly bedeviled by internal dissent and political in-fighting. This was because many Spartans had experience of leadership outside the city-state and they were no longer willing, to obey the old elite. Spartan generals such as Lysander began to seek personal power and this led to growing instability, in a political entity that seemed so fixed and stable, through the centuries. Before the fateful battle of Leuctra, Sparta was no longer as unified as it once was and this was a factor in its decline.
====Conservatism====
[[File: Therm2007.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px| Recreation of Greek Hoplite]]
The Spartan system and the entire society was built around one aim , and that was to maintain the existing order. They sought to preserve their ascendancy over the helot population and their leadership of the Geek world. It was a society that distrusted change and believed that it was destabilizing. Sparta’ Constitution was handed down from generation to generation , and it was not altered or changed. The system or society that was sanctioned by the constitution did not change either. The Spartans were notoriously conservative , and they refused to countenance endorse change, unlike the rest of Greece who was constantly continually changing, especially the Athenians. The conservatism of the Spartans was often a strength but also a weakness. The state or society did not change and adapt to new social, political and military realities. Sparta was unable to change- this meant that it was inflexible and many even at the time saw it as a society that was petrifying <ref>Forrest, W.G., A History of Sparta, 950–192 B.C., New York: W. W. Norton & C, 1968), p. 113</ref>. The Spartans did not change their military tactics and still used the traditional tactics even when other states in Greece, such as Thebes were updating the phalanx formation. Then the Spartans could not change even when the citizen body went into a precipitous decline, there was no meaningful effort to reform the agoge system. The society seemed incapable of dealing with many of the problems that it faced in the wake of its victory in the Peloponnesian War<ref>Forrest, p. 145</ref>.
The conservatism of the Spartans was often a strength but also a weakness. The state or society did not change and adapt to new social, political and military realities. Sparta was unable to change- this meant that it was inflexible and many even at the time saw it as a society that was petrifying.<ref>Forrest, W.G., A History of Sparta, 950–192 B.C., New York: W. W. Norton & C, 1968), p. 113</ref> The Spartans did not change their military tactics and still used the traditional tactics even when other states in Greece, such as Thebes were updating the phalanx formation. Then the Spartans could not change even when the citizen body went into a precipitous decline. There was no meaningful effort to reform the agoge system. The society seemed incapable of dealing with many of the problems that it faced in the wake of its victory in the Peloponnesian War.<ref>Forrest, p. 145</ref> ====Conclusion====
Spartan was the victor of the Peloponnesian War and by 400 BCE it was the greatest power in the Greek world and a major player in the eastern Mediterranean. However, by 377 BCE the Spartans had been defeated in battle for the first time and it lost the leadership of Greece. The decline in Spartan power was due to military, social and cultural factors that allowed other states to challenge its preeminent position in the Greek world. Among the longer-term trends that undermine Sparta was the decline in the numbers of citizens and since they formed the backbone of the army, this greatly weakened Spartan power. The premium placed on stability and order meant that the Spartans distrusted change and this conservatism meant that Sparta could not change to meet the challenges that it faced. Then the Peloponnesian War produced tensions in society and the increasing wealth as a result of war-booty, created growing inequality between the citizens.
====References====
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