Argumentative Essay On Sparta

The spartan military was one of the most feared militaries in the greek society. They trained their citizens in discipline and honor. Their entire culture was based on war. The spartans began in the mycenaean age(1600 Bce to 1100 Bce).

Spartans were very strict and set high expectations for their men in war. Taken from their families at the young age of 7 to train, the boys were whipped and starved. Spartans also enslaved people, called helots. The innocent helots were killed without warning. Spartans were so

“THIS IS SPARTA”, a famous quote from the Hollywood movie 300 (2006), is this movie by Zack Snyder true to what really happen? Sparta was a city-state in south west of Ancient Greece with a strict set of eugenics. Sparta was one of the two biggest and strongest city-states and is considered to have the strongest Army of its time. Persia was the super power of its time, it had expanding borders due to conquering and Persia had it eyes on Greece. After first failing to conquer Greece ten years earlier, Persia had returned to finish the job. The Battle of Thermopylae is the story of Sparta and its allies defending against the much bigger

Spartans military was a hard core and well rounded out military in its time. Part of the reason why they were so successful is because of their rigorous training each boy had to go through. Why I said boy is because the Spartan military training would start at age 7 for a chosen boy. The boy gets chosen to live in spartan society at birth. If the Spartans did not believe that the boy would be rounded out for their society they would leave the boy to die. During the boys training hazing and fighting was encouraged to help improve strength among the boys. During spartan training each boy was mainly taught mathematics, music, and how to fight. Also during their training, they would learn how to steal but without getting caught. If they were caught they would not be punished for stealing but only for getting caught. This type of training continues until the boys would become men. Which is at the age of 20 for the Spartan's. At age 20 Spartan men would have to pass a series of demanding

The government in Sparta followed a very different coarse than that of the Athenians. It was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was held by a group of five men called ephors. Working below the ephors was the Council of Elders and an Assembly. Male citizens over age sixty could serve on the Council while anyone, male or female, over the age of twenty could be a member of the Assembly. Though the citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government, the system worked effectively. Over the years, the Spartan's brutal reputation in war grew so great that other nations and city-states were too frightened to attack Sparta even though the Spartan army was no larger then eight thousand men. The Spartan Constitution called for all men to begin their military education at the age of seven, where they were trained to be tough and self-sufficient. Every man in the army fought with a great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may have been rough, but the rest of the Greeks envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straight forwardness, and fanatical dedication. The beliefs of Sparta were oriented around the state. The individual lived and died for the state. The combination of this philosophy, the education of Spartan males, and the discipline of their army gave the Spartans the stability needed to survive in Ancient Greece.

This tradition allowed for a city-state with an exceptional army, women with a substantial amount of liberties, and a gene pool that was superior to those around it. The Spartan way of life was one that focused itself on the importance of a physically strong society, and the people of this city-state went to great lengths to ensure that they maintained this tradition. As a result of this mentality, the authoritative figures of Sparta gave women more freedoms, as society did not see them as inadequate versions of men, but more as the mothers of society, whose job was to be the backbone of the strong Spartan army by birthing and raising robust young men. In fact, this lifestyle was so prevalent and noticeable that soldiers and writers from Athens and other outside lands took notice. Many documents from almost all areas around the Mediterranean Sea demonstrate this, especially in Xenophon’s “The Constitution of Sparta”, which describes the importance of physical ability in Sparta, as written by an Athenian soldier. The people of Sparta preserved this physical superiority in many ways. Boys moved into barracks at the young age of seven to train and become a part of the renowned Spartan army, and mothers abandoned babies with medical issues as soon as possible. This not only ensured that all citizens were able-bodied and working to improve the city-state at all times, but improved the gene pool of the civilization by eliminating any possible genetic disorders with visible phenotypes within the society. All these factors contributed to the health, wellness, and overall success of the Spartan

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

There were many different aspects to the Spartan cultural life which ancient sources and evidence have provided insight and knowledge for our modern societies. These features include art, architecture, writing and literature, and Greek writer’s views of Sparta. The Spartan cultural life also gives us knowledge into other aspects of Spartan life and the society in which they lived.

Spartan elders and kings were also very serious about the preservation of the Spartan’s history, culture and way of life. This is why they did not encourage foreigners to visit Sparta or anything that may corrupt their way of life. Sparta did not leave behind much art, literature or historic artifacts; but they considered their everyday life or the way that they lived to be a masterpiece all its own.

Imagine being taken away from your family at the age of seven and was forced to fight someone that was older than you and was trained and skilled in fighting, and they didn’t go easy. That would not be fun. The Spartans were known for their army but the army wasn’t very big. It wasn’t very big because they were very cruel during their training and some people died from it. They also didn’t have a good mental education system. Some things that they did for fun was senseless murdering. With this evidence of senseless murder, lack of mental education,and their cruelness, I think that the weaknesses beat the strengths.

And lastly, the teamwork and survival skills of the Spartans was a major key factor to how they were so effective in battle. They were not something to mess with as they tend to have a powerful standpoint on how it should be for themselves of surviving. According to document B, it is stated that they were told to steal food for themselves as they live off of having hungry stomachs but if they get caught then they would be disciplined by being whipped, enforcing that they need to work fast and efficient, because getting caught in the real world is not an option, which is why it makes them hardened warriors that almost never fail at what they do as they keep the consequences under check. However, in document A, they were trained from ages 8-21 which makes their bond for each other be at its peak. as they take this brotherly bond into battle then they would have more effectiveness of getting things done as a group, making them a force to be reckoned with. The thing as it may be is that they train their Spartans to the max in order to have the utmost effective soldiers fighting for their own beliefs, which is why their powerful

This distinctive reputation came about through many different ways. A defeat in battle in Tegea 7th C BC may have initiated their fixated focus on the army. Spartans are famous for the agoge; their ‘education system’. Nearly every healthy male child was selected after strict evaluation through the “ test” put in the wild. These young boys then endured years of systematic rigorous brutality and training until they became men, soldiers that were able to fight in the Spartan wars.

The ancient Greeks made city states that functioned as their society. These were small, usually consisting of a population of around eight to ten thousand people. Some of the famous city states are Sparta and Athens. Sparta imposed many tensions on the individual. Sparta was a highly militarized state and would pull the boys away from the family usually around age seven and put them into a state sponsored training regimen that would make them highly skilled warriors. If the boy was unable to complete the training for any reason they were seen as unable to be a Spartan and were usually seen as an outcast and removed from society. The Spartans, just like most other societies in ancient times, valued boys over girls. “Spartan parents often exposed female babies to the elements and leave them to die they also made decisions on male infants testing them and seeing if they would develop into a mature warrior and if not they would face the same fate as females.”1 This

Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began at birth, imprinted through society and the political system. The education of the Spartan male children prove that the military and war was constantly a huge part of Spartan society, and the laws and systems that Sparta was governed by, only enforced the militaristic attitude into the society of Sparta. That the Spartans needed to be ready for war is proved by the discord between the Spartiate and the helots, who outnumbered and under ranked the Spartans.

The Spartans lived and breathed war. They learned to fight when they were children, and trained hard for it when they were adults.