Only one spartan?

Question

When "friendly" countries asked king Leonidas of Sparta for military aid, he sent only one spartan warrior. WHY?

Answer 1

Maybe becuase in that time countries where like states now. Therefore the were called city-states. The relationship Sparta probably had with another city-state is like the relationship between Illinois and Indiana. Nothing special. Maybe Sparta did not want to send so many of it's warriors to a neighboring city-state to help resolve a conflict that was not their own.

Never heard that before. Kinda sounds like a d**k move to me. Nonetheless, funny if it's true.

Answer 2

I guess cos he believed that Spartans were so completely awesome in battle that one Spartan warrior was like a thousand ordinary plebs - so he was being quite generous really lol

Answer 3

Agility Man said it best and gave the correct version of the story. :)

Answer 4

A very special Spartan: a General.

The policy worked very well for both sides.

Answer 5

I imagine it was supposed to be an insult and a sign of contempt. Sending one warrior would be a gesture that basically said that Spartan warriors were stronger than other city-states and that Leonidas was not interested in helping those who begged for his aid. The situation between the city-states was really quite rough and tumultuous and they never got along very well. In the end though, the Spartans did march to war as an army.

Answer 6

Sparta in its heyday was known for brevity (what we often now refer to as "spartan" as in "the arrangements were spartan.").  This included all things:  no extravagant buildings,no wild or  colorful clothes, no excessive consumer goods.  Even in speech.  There is one case where the leader of an alliance of Greek states indicated that Sparta needed to cooperate and "if not, I will enter your city, burn your buildings, level your fields" yada yada.  The Spartan reply was a message scroll that said "if" on it.  When Xerxes asked for Leonidas to give up, the messenger said it wouldn't be a surrender per se, the Spartans could retain all their lands, all they had to do was to put down their arms and let the Persians pass.  Leonidas' reply was like Tony McAuliffe's at Bastogne ("Nuts").  He said "Molen Labe" (or "come and take them").

In short, it wasn't ego.  It was the Spartan belief that you provided as much as necessary and not a bit more--no waste or extravagance.

The other point is that in most greek city-states, soldiers were part-time folks, ala National Guard.  In Sparta they were fulltime--something that was unthinkable back in that agrarian time.  It would be the equivalent of us sending a Special Forces advisor to a small country.  What does 1 soldier do?  Actually, quite a lot if he's a veteran, proven in combat and the best in the world at what he does, and he's a force multiplier.

Finally, the story you refer to is actually wrong.  First, it wasn't whenever a friendly country asked for aid they sent one hoplite.  Second, it wasn't Leonidas.  And third, it wasn't just one hoplite.  The story actually involved Agesilaus.  When allies were upset he had sent so few troops, he separated them by nation, and then had each soldier stand up and say their profession ("baker" or "butcher" or "fisherman") and all of the spartans said "soldier" (because most hoplites were members of the Spartiate--fulltime soldiers and banned by law from holding any other profession).  Agesilaus then laughed and said "I think it is I who brought the most fighters."