Radio War Nerd EP162—The Rise & Fall of Sparta

Guest: Philip Matyszak, author & historian Recorded: December 17, 2018 On the eve of the War Nerd's voyage to the New World, we talk to historian Philip Matyszak about ancient Sparta—the ultimate warrior tribe, romanticized by everyone from Plato to Bush-era neocons, and waffendweebs in between — minus the Messenians. Mayszak, who appeared on the popular RWN EP #151 about Athens' disastrous Sicily campaign, discusses with us his two recent and highly recommended (by us) books on Sparta: "Sparta: Rise of a Warrior Nation" and "Sparta: Fall of a Warrior Nation". Lot of surprises and myths debunked. Sparta was essentially a proto-fascist slave state that ruled through terror and cult indoctrination, and eventually decayed into collapse due to the oldest reason of all: Inequality, the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands. Buy Philip Matyszak's books on Sparta: "Sparta: Rise of a Warrior Nation" and "Sparta: Fall of a Warrior Nation". Read Matyszak's blog.