Militarism In Sparta

In this research paper I am going to talk about how the Spartan Military influenced our society. You are sure to expect to learn about how it affected how we live on an everyday basis. Also, on how it affected the way the U.S military runs/works. Sparta's military has caused many influences on our modern-day society. This includes on how our military works and fights to how we live every day. In the next paragraph I am going to give a little back ground on how Sparta's military training went.

Source R is of … The main role of their army was to protect Sparta’s borders from both other city-states and in revolts. Sparta’s whole way of life, their militaristic society and the State’s constitution all revolve around its army. As time went on, Sparta developed into the leading military force in ancient Greece and they believed that they had the ‘best army in the world’ at the end of the Peloponnesian War and upheld this status for over a quarter of a century.

The freedom and greater respect for Spartan women began at birth with the fact that there were more girls than boys, because they were not victims of the state program of infanticide as was practiced in Athens. There were laws setup that required female infants and children to be given the same care and food as their brothers in contrast to other Greek cities where girls were frequently given less and lower quality food. The reason for this was because it was thought that if the girls had more food then their bodies would be better prepared for producing a healthy child for the Spartan society.

The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that

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

Cultural Beliefs Sparta is known in history as a powerhouse of militaristic power in Ancient Greece. In those times, Sparta was a constant in everyone’s mind, being included in almost anything to do with the topic of war. Raised from the notation that warfare is the complete center of life, it found its way into the culture of the Spartan people inevitably. Spartan people had the mindset that they as a whole collectively needed to be ready for battle, and this differed from the Athenian mindset, causing both to become very much the enemies of each other. Sparta’s cultural beliefs contributed to their rise to power due to their cultural values and education.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Athens and Sparta, the two largest and most powerful cities in ancient Greece (between 800 and 323 BCE) were two different models of polis, their social, political and cultural values and ways of life were dramatically different. (Brand, n.d.)

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.

Sparta is the best city state because they had craftsmen raiders the second reason why is because there education required-obedience,endurance,courage, self-control The third reason why sparta is the best cause social status determined by military achievement. The first reason why there good for being craftsmen raiders its because the perioeci,whose name means “dwellers round” worked as a craftsmen and traders,and built weapons for the spartans. The second reason why they are the best it's because spartan men devoted their lives to military service, and lived communally well into adulthood a spartan was taught that loyalty to state.spartan women had to contemporaries outside of sparta also spartan women had a reputation for promiscuity and controlling

“Athens and Sparta” by Mr. Duckworth states, “Where they differed was that while the Spartans had militaristic values, Athenians had Democratic.” Even though both city-states had good reasons to live in them, Sparta were better. Sparta would have been better to live in because Spartan women were more fortunate, Sparta used their army to protect others, and Sparta was self-reliant. First of all, Sparta gave women more freedom than those in Athens. The text states, “In sparta,women had rights that other greek women didn’t.”

Sparta is an old Greek city, and it was known mostly for its remarkable military. The reason it was known mostly for its military is that at the age of seven boys would start their education, which was not reading and writing but instead it was training and getting physically fit for the military. Even though the military was composed of boys the girls still had to be physically fit. The family life in Sparta was not traditional: they encouraged marriage, but the men were rarely home because they were training.Every newborn baby was inspected in Sparta. If the baby was weak, it was taken away to die. The women in Sparta could be educated unlike a lot of the women in other Greek cities. The fine arts in Sparta were very limited and that is because

Sparta was an intense polis that used slavery as a way to ease their everyday lives so the citizens could focus on what was important, military strength and fitness. The men devoted their lives from the age of six to Sparta above all. Women were allowed a unique experience of freedom that no other city-states allowed. Children faced hardship from their very first day of life, subjected to trials and if found inferior were subjected to infanticide. Spartiates held their state above all else which resulted in a superior militaristic society, stronger, and healthier citizens than any other polis in Greece.

In no other city-state did women enjoy the same freedom and status as Spartan women. As a military-driven society, the Spartans realized that “regardless of gender all Spartiates had an obligation to serve the militaristic end of Sparta.” With this focus in mind, women were allowed more freedom, rights, and independence. Spartan women were

First, besides their strong military, Sparta was known for providing women with a decent amount of rights. In these rights, education was provided. According to Plutarch(Document E), women had to be educated and trained in order to produce healthy offspring. Women were trained in many things such as “wrestling running, and throwing the quoit*, and casting the dart”(Document E). These activities were meant to strengthen women in order to produce “healthy and vigorous offspring”(Document E). By producing healthy and vigorous offspring, Sparta had a better chance at winning battles. Therefore, women being provided with an education had highly contributed to the strengths of a Spartan education.