Sparta

Sparta
Sparta
A celebrated town of the Peloponnesus, mentioned several times under this name or under that of Lacedæmon in the Bible

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Sparta
    Sparta
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Sparta
    A celebrated town of the Peloponnesus, mentioned several times under this name or under that of Lacedæmon in the Bible (I Mach., xii, 2-23; xiv, 16-23; xv, 23; II Mach., v, 9). Letters were exchanged between Onias I, High Priest of the Jews, and Arius I, King of Sparta, about the years 309 or 300 B. C. (I Mach., xii, 7-8, 19-23; Josephus, "Ant. Jud.", XII, iv, 10). Arius, who sought to maintain the independence of his country against the Syrian successors of Alexander by creating a diversion against them in Palestine, pretended to have found a writing relative to the Spartans, showing that they themselves and the Jews were two peoples — brothers both descending from Abraham. This assertion has little foundation, although perhaps there had been such a tradition. Later Jonathan wished to renew this friendship with the Spartans and sent them a letter by the delegates Numenius, son of Antiochus, and Antipater, son of Jason, recalling to them that "we therefore at all times without ceasing, both in our festivals, and other days, wherein it is convenient, remember you in the sacrifices that we offer" (I Mach., xii, 2, 5-18; Josephus, "Ant. Jud.", XIII, v, 8). After Jonathan's death the Spartans renewed with his brother Simon the friendship and alliance which they had concluded previously and sent him a letter on this subject by the same Numenius and Antipater who had undertaken the first embassy (I Mach., xiv, 16-23).
    Although the relationship of the two peoples may well be called in question, there is no proof that the documents are not authentic — everything indicates the contrary, as the coexistence of the King Arius and the high-priest Onias, and the fact that under Jonathan the Bible does not speak of kings of Sparta, as in fact the last tyrant Nabis died in 192 B. C. We see again towards the year 170 B. C. the High Priest Jason took advantage of the bonds of relationship of the Jews with Sparta to take refuge there — where he died (II Mach., v, 9). In 139 B. C. the Romans addressed to Sparta, and likewise to other kingdoms and cities a circular in favour of the Jews (I Mach., xv, 23); this would seem to prove that there was already a Jewish community established in this city. The belief in the consanguinity of the two peoples existed even in the time of Josephus (Bel. Jud., I, xxvi, 1), and Sparta participated in the generosities of Herod the Great (Bel. Jud., I, xxi, 11), perhaps because he had there a Jewish community.
    Christianity was introduced into Sparta at an early date. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, xxiii) reports that under Marcus Aurelius, the Bishop of Corinth, Denis, wrote to the Lacedemonians a letter which is "a catechism of orthodoxy and which has peace and unity for its object". Le Quien (Oriens christ., II, 189-92) mentions fifteen bishops, among them Hosius in 458, Theodosius in 681, Theocletus in 898, finally the metropolitan Chrysanthus, who must have become a Catholic in the seventeenth century. In the beginning suffragan of Corinth, then of Patras, the see was made a metropolis in 1082 and numbered several suffragan bishoprics, of which there were three in the fifteenth century (Gelzer, "Ungedruckte ... Texte der. Notitiæ episcopatunm", 635). In 1833; after the Peloponnesus had been included in the Kingdom of Greece, Sparta was reduced to the rank of a simple bishopric; it remains the same to-day, but the see is called Monembasia and Sparta. The bishop resides at Sparta and exercises his jurisdiction over all the district of this name. When the region fell into the power of the Franks, Honorius III established there in 1217 a Latin see which by degrees became a titular and finally disappeared (Eubel, "Hier. cath. med. ævi", I, 302; II, 188; III, 234). The city numbers to-day 5000 inhabitants.
    PALMER, De epistolarum quas Spartiani atque Judœi invicem sibi mississe dicuntur veritate (Darmstadt, 1828).
    S. VAILHÉ.
    Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sparta — Sparta, WI U.S. city in Wisconsin Population (2000): 8648 Housing Units (2000): 3733 Land area (2000): 5.465749 sq. miles (14.156224 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.058371 sq. miles (0.151181 sq. km) Total area (2000): 5.524120 sq. miles (14.307405… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • SPARTA — SPARTA, city in Greece; ancient city state in the Peloponnesus, called Mistra in Crusader times. The earliest information on the relations between Sparta and the Jews is the letter said to have been sent by Areus, king of Sparta (309–265 B.C.E.) …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • sparta — spartà sf. (4) Š, GK1938,98, FzŽ, Vvs, Rdm, Pns, Vlkj, Srd, Nm greitumas, spartumas, tempas: Spartõs neturi senas žmogus: skubinuosi, dirbu i vis an vietos LKT367(Al). Jokios spartõs neturi jijė audžiant J. Spartõs neturiu darbe Msn. Dirbu… …   Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language

  • sparta — statusas T sritis informatika apibrėžtis Atliekamo darbo spartumas, tempas. Panašią reikšmę turintis žodis „greitis“ vartotinas tada, kai reikia apibūdinti daikto judėjimą (nueitą kelią per laiko vienetą). Pavyzdžiui, kompiuterio sparta yra 400… …   Enciklopedinis kompiuterijos žodynas

  • SPARTA — Peloponnesi civitas nobilissima, Laconiae aput, ad Eurotam fluv. Lycurgi legibus optime olim instituta. Moenibus diu caruit, sed muri locô civium virtus fuit, quem admodum ex Agesilai responsione ad quendam, causam quaerentem, quamobrem tanta… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Sparta — es un grupo de Hardcore punk formado por ex miembros de At The Drive In, un famoso grupo de los 90. Publicaron a finales del 2002 su álbum debut Wiretap Scars y un segundo álbum, Porcelain (2004) que los volvería más populares, dentro de la… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sparta, GA — U.S. city in Georgia Population (2000): 1522 Housing Units (2000): 725 Land area (2000): 1.821947 sq. miles (4.718821 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.004707 sq. miles (0.012192 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.826654 sq. miles (4.731013 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Sparta, IL — U.S. city in Illinois Population (2000): 4486 Housing Units (2000): 2014 Land area (2000): 9.033397 sq. miles (23.396391 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.149693 sq. miles (0.387702 sq. km) Total area (2000): 9.183090 sq. miles (23.784093 sq. km) FIPS …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Sparta, KY — U.S. city in Kentucky Population (2000): 230 Housing Units (2000): 108 Land area (2000): 5.548141 sq. miles (14.369619 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.006747 sq. miles (0.017475 sq. km) Total area (2000): 5.554888 sq. miles (14.387094 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Sparta, MI — U.S. village in Michigan Population (2000): 4159 Housing Units (2000): 1704 Land area (2000): 2.440843 sq. miles (6.321754 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 2.440843 sq. miles (6.321754 sq. km)… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”