History of Sicyon
Sicyon is an ancient Greek city in Northern Peloponnessos near the Isthmus of
Corinth dating from the time of Agamemnon. Like most Greek
city states, it was ruled by tyrants during the 7th and 6th century BC. Meanwhile,
the Spartans were firming up their control of Peloponnessos and
freed Sicyon from the tyrant familiy of "Orthagoridai" in 550 BC. This gave the
Spartans important access to the Corinthian Gulf and they continued to help free Greek
city states (Samos - 522 BC and Athens - 510 BC) from their tyrant rulers. Sicyon joined
the Peloponnessian League dominated by Sparta. Sparta was the only city that could call a
meeting of the League. At these meetings a majority vote would commit the league to
militarily support Sparta. The Spartans were an elite militaristic society that used
serfs to do their domestic work. Sparta paid a high social price for their military
power. To maintain their "Spartan" life they rejected coinage and concentrated on producing
strong, violent, ruthless and obedient men. They were very superstitious/religious
and had many painful rituals. The Spartans prided themselves that their city had no
walls and depended on the abilities of their fighting men for protection.
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