Abstract
In his historical introduction to Laconia written in the second century AD Pausanias could rely on several genealogical lists as well as on rich mythological and historical narratives of the earliest times of Sparta. Although these mainly originated from non-Spartan authors, they reflect a variety of elaborate tales about which the Spartans debated, but which also strengthened their community and defended it against the outer world. Through its own past Sparta managed in the long run to assert a leading position in the Peloponnese as well as in the whole Greek world and to be remembered not only by its admirers as a traditional supreme power.
Thommen, Lukas