Tristan Hughes

And it's often called the time when Sparta falls from prominence.

And is that a fair statement to say at the beginning?

Roel, I'll start with you.

Which is funny also, doesn't it feel that

Largely today, when we think of Sparta, we seem to overlook the fourth century BC quite a bit, at least in the popular idea.

You think of Thermopylae, you'll think of Sparta beating the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War, and then you kind of just forget about them because you know that the Macedonians and then the Romans come along, I guess.

He was there and he could tell what Sparta was actually like at that time.

Xenophon's, at least in my opinion, a much easier source to read anyway, isn't he?

Xenophon, it sounds like he is our main source for much of the period that we're going to be talking about today, like the half century or so.

But surely we've got a few other sources as well, writing a bit later.

My mind might think of Plutarch or Diodorus Siculus or the like.

Are they also helpful additions to what Xenophon supplies?

This is where, when you get later, the speeches of Lycurgus and Demosthenes and the like.

Yeah, there's more realistic Spartan in the 4th century compared to the earlier centuries, I guess, from the...

And spare a thought for the often useless Justin, who I guess once in a while, he does make a statement once in a while, doesn't he?

I'm not a big fan of Justin.

I know I'm being too harsh on Justin.

You can tell how nerdy we're getting now that we're talking about a very obscure ancient source and delving into the Justin run, but

It needs to be done.

But let's set the scene then, the beginning of the 4th century BC.