The Western Way of War: An Alternative Explanation

[L'Impresario]

http://www.hoplites.co.uk/pdf/spartan_reflections.pdf

This an article(you might have read it already) by Cartledge which deals shortly with the transition from the homeric model to the classical greek hoplite and then with Sparta's social and political circumstances that allowed her to remain a military-focused state, long after the trend was gone;)