A Spartan lifestyle proverbially describes austerity; ancient Greek luxury was associated with Ionia and the oriental world. The contributions to this book, first presented at a conference held by the University of Nottingham's Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies, reverse the stereotype and explore the role of luxury and wealth at Sparta and among its Peloponnesian neighbors from the Iron Age to the Hellenistic period. Using literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence, an international team of specialists investigates the definition and changing meanings of the term luxury and its nearest ancient Greek equivalents, providing new insights into Sparta's supposed abstention from luxury, and the way that this was portrayed by ancient writers. They analyse wealth production and private and public spending, emphasising features that were distinctive to Sparta and the Peloponnese compared with other parts of ancient Greece. Other chapters investigate issues still familiar in the contemporary world: economic crisis and debt, austerity measures, and relief provisions for the poor.



edited by Stephen Hodkinson and Chrysanthi Gallou



In memory of Anton Powell / Stephen Hodkinson -- Introduction / Stephen Hodkinson and Chrysanthi Gallou -- The politics of flashing: from wealth of material to discourse of luxury in a world full of gods / Robin Osborne -- Alcman's early transmission and archaic Spartan society / P.J. Finglass -- 'as we carry a robe to the dawn Goddess': luxurious textiles in Spartan and Lakedaimonian sanctuaries / Chrysanthi Gallou -- Kyniska: production and use of wealth /Annalisa Paradiso and James Roy -- Closed economy, debt and the Spartan crisis / Alain Bresson -- Spartan female luxury? Wealth, τρυφή, and Sparta's 'loose' women / Ellen Millender -- Luxury, lost in translation: τρυφή in Plutarch's Sparta / Paul Christesen -- Funerary luxury and austerity in pre-classical Argos and Corinth: the making of citizen communities / Alain Duplouy -- Women in gold: luxurious objects, excellence and prestige in the Peloponnese / Elena Franchi -- Marble: a luxury material in early Greek architecture / Georgia Kokkorou-Alevras -- Paths to wealth in Central Greece, Ionia and the Peloponnese / Sarah C. Murray -- Austerity for the poor: imposition and relief / Lucia Cecchet -- Civic and religious euergetism in the Hellenistic Peloponnese: the epigraphic evidence / Sophia Aneziri -- Luxury and wealth in the Hellenistic Peloponnese / Selene Psoma