Spartan Economy

Explain the main features of the Spartan Economy. [25 Marks]
In Sparta, the economy meant two things : the system of wealth creation and the state of the countrys prosperity. The economy has four essential features, natural resources, economic objectives (military state), distribution of land and the roles of Perioikoi and Helots. These features are inter-related and work together in order to achieve the economic objective, which was to maintain a military dominance. This priority of maintaining a military state, and the ineffectiveness of some of these structures eventually led to the decline of the Spartan economy.
The geography of Sparta enabled provision of sufficient resources to the Spartans. The lands of Laconia and Messene, which were captured by Spartans (and the Laconians and Messenians enslaved/subjugated) became a good food source for Sparta.
These two regions had good agricultural land which provided crops in abundance. These crops included barley, wheat, grapes and fi...