''Spartan'' (original title: ''Lo Scudo di Talos'') is a historical fiction novel written by the Italian writer

Valerio Massimo Manfredi Valerio Massimo Manfredi (born 8 March 1943) is an Italian historian, writer, essayist, archaeologist and journalist. Biography He was born in Piumazzo di Castelfranco Emilia province of Modena and, after getting a degree in Classical Arts a ...

in 1988.{{cite web, title=:: Valerio Massimo Manfredi ::, url=http://www.valeriomassimomanfredi.it, accessdate=9 January 2012 It tells the tale of two

Sparta Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

n brothers: Brithos, the elder of the two, a strong and healthy boy and Talos, a crippled and weak. Because of the rigorous Spartan laws, Talos must be sacrificed to the wolves of

Mount Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus ( el, Ταΰγετος, Taygetos) is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet ...

as his physical weakness would not permit him to help the military city of Sparta during its many wars. However, the young Talos miraculously survives. Nobody would have imagined that the two brothers would ever meet again and even less so that they would meet on a battlefield.

Plot

''Spartan'' is the story of two brothers born in the military

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Sparta. The elder brother, Brithos, was a Spartan paragon; the younger brother, Talos, was crippled and deformed at birth. Because of the cruel and strict laws in vigour at Sparta, babies that were deformed, crippled or had any health issues would not serve the city-state its purpose, which was to battle; therefore, these weaker children had to be sacrificed at Mount Taygetus. The young Talos however survives, rescued by a shepherd of the

Helots The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their e ...

, the people who served as slaves to the Spartans. This shepherd, who becomes Talos' adoptive father, raises Talos with love and recounts him the intriguing tale of

Aristodemus In Greek mythology, Aristodemus (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστόδημος) was one of the Heracleidae, son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final att ...

, the last King of the Helots. The legend goes that he who wears his armour, shall be the one to free the Helots from slavery. However, the blood that runs in his veins is Spartan after all; Talos the Cripple is drawn back to his hometown and in the midst of the legendary

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label= Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Las ...

. Here he faces the inhuman brutality and savagery of the Spartan soldiers and meets his brother for the first time since their separation. When he crosses his brother's gaze whilst attempting to protect Antinea, the woman he loves. But destiny has got a better fate for them in store: as a war between the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

and the Greek city-states looms, the two brothers will find each other again and will fight shoulder to shoulder for the future of their country. Along the way, he discovers some thing of his Spartan life like his real name is Kleidemos. When his brother dies, he oversees the Helots, with the help of his friend Karas, helps the Helots have victory over his own race.

References

20th-century Italian novels Novels set in ancient Greece Sparta 1988 novels Italian historical novels