Sparta's Splendid Isolationism – Scott Yenor

Sparta pursued a Sparta-first policy throughout most of its history, preserving its unique domestic institutions.

It drew back from pursuing a wider empire, for fear that what it took to build an empire would undermine its unique constitution.

Paul Rahe, professor of history at Hillsdale College, serves as an excellent guide to Sparta.

Rahe's next four volumes detail Sparta’s conflict with Athens, whose threat to the Sparta-first policy ultimately proved fatal to each.

Sparta recognized the long-term threat posed by Athens, who, under Themistocles, was stirring up trouble in the Peloponnese.

In response, Sparta exerted power over Athens’ domestic policy.

New Sparta would thirst for naval victory, tempt soldiers with foreign influences, tempt foreign leaders with broader empire, and stress and suspend its constitutional norms with new offices like navarch.

Rahe's last book shows how Sparta lost its empire, its regional hegemony and its constitution.