The Spartans is a compelling narrative that explores the culture and civilization of the most famous "warrior people": the Spartans of ancient Greece, by the world's leading expert in the field. Sparta has often been described as the original Utopia--a remarkably evolved society whose warrior heroes were forbidden any other trade, profession, or business. As a people, the Spartans were the living exemplars of such core values as duty, discipline, the nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for, sacrificing the individual for the greater good of the community (illustrated by their role in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph of will over seemingly insuperable obstacles--qualities that today are frequently believed to signify the ultimate heroism. Paul Cartledge is the distinguished scholar and historian who has long been seen as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. He traces the evolution of Spartan society--the culture and the people, as well as the tremendous influence they had on their world and even ours. He details throughout the narrative the lives of such illustrious and myth-making figures as Lycurgus, King Leonidas, Helen of Troy (and Sparta), and Lysander, and explains how the Spartans, although they placed a high value on masculine ideals, nevertheless allowed women an unusually dominant and powerful role--unlike Athenian culture with which the Spartans are so often compared. In resurrecting the ancient culture and society of the Spartans, Cartledge delves deep into ancient texts and archeological sources and complements his text with illustrations that depict original Spartan artifacts and drawings, as well as examples of representational paintings from the Renaissance onwards--including J.L. David's famously brooding "Leonidas." This illuminating volume that ties in with the PBS television series of the same name, airing in the summer of 2003. Booklist called Cartledge's The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, a companion to the PBS series, "superb," while The International History Review called Cartledge's The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece "an original and insightful work."

保羅·卡特利奇著名古典學傢。曾就讀於牛津大學，並獲得牛津大學博士學位。自1979年起執教於劍橋大學，是該校古典文學院(希臘曆史專業的教授，同時在劍橋大學卡萊爾學院擔任教職。著述等身，近期的著作包括：《插圖本劍橋古希臘史》；《希臘人：文明的熔爐》；《斯巴達和拉科尼亞：從公元前1300至前362年的區域史》；《希臘人：自我與他者的肖像；《斯巴達人：一部英雄的史詩》；《亞曆山大大帝：尋找新的曆史》；《溫泉關：改變世界的戰役》。曾主編兩套叢書並兼任三種學術刊物的編輯；達剋沃斯齣版社的古代曆史顧問。倫敦古物專傢學會會員。曾榮獲希臘共和國頒發的“金十字”榮譽勛章。2004年，他被斯巴達授予榮譽市民稱號，以錶彰他在斯巴達曆史研究領域中所作齣的傑齣貢獻。