An exploration of the role of institutions in shaping the dynamics of status within the citizen community of classical Sparta.

"Drawing upon recent scholarship on Sparta, theoretical and methodological discussions from within the wider fields of classical studies and ancient history, and approaches to status and institutions developed in the social sciences, Philip John Victor Davies examines the diverse factors which influenced the standing of individuals within the Spartiate community and assesses how great a role institutions played in determining a Spartiate's standing and to what extent Sparta was, as ancient accounts would suggest, significantly more institutionalized than other Greek societies"--