Plutarch, Lycurgus and Spartan Militarist Values

“Life at Sparta in several ways resembled that of a military camp,” (Powell 2001, 219). Many laws that Lycurgus proposed revolved around the benefit of the Spartan military. These implementations set by Lycurgus do not give any benefit to the democratic changes occurring in society at the time.

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.

The entire Spartan society revolved around the army, essentially making it the key aspect of Spartan life and culture. The army influenced areas such as education and social structure as well as being the most important defence of Sparta in both combat and reputation.

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.

Many of the arguments against Sparta reason that government officials did not grant enough power to the people of the city-state, and therefore favor Athens. This is not the case. The kings, elders, and rulers of the Spartan government knew what was best for the citizens of Sparta, and, as a consequence, created strictly regimented rules that shaped Spartan lives for the better. Although Sparta did not have a significant amount of participation in law by common people, it was able to create and sustain an advanced city-state through discipline and a form of government that placed stress on health and military supremacy.

Did you know if a baby was born in Sparta and they were disabled they would be left on a hillside to die? Sparta was the best war state and most feared in Greece. Sparta had many great tactics in war such as flanking and round shields to protect themselves from arrows. Sparta was not just a war state, they had pottery, poetry, and architecture to do on the side of war. One of Sparta’s famous artists was Leonidas.

Sparta was ruled by a king or at some point two kings. These two kings were from two separate families of royalty and neither of them had absolute power. The king or kings had to be consulted by the Ephors. The Ephors had a lot of power and authority in the Spartan government. They were a group of five elders, men over the age of 30 who would serve in this position for a year. They had the power to bring up charges against anyone in Sparta, including the king. Unlike Athens who was set on trying to establish a peaceful democratic atmosphere; Sparta was a lot more militaristic and strict. One of the Spartan government’s main priorities was the strength of the Spartan army. They believed that strength, endurance and numbers were a key part in a successful and powerful army. Therefore every Spartan boy at the age of seven would be taken away from their mothers and put into training for the next 13 years.

Sparta made its every male into a soldier, they trained starting at a young age into late ages. This system limited Spartans contact with the outside world. As it says in the Spartan Society and Values, no man is proved to be a good man in war unless faces the blood if slaughter. This shows the ruthless ways of the Greeks with the men. They had to train for the military regardless of what they desired for the honor of their family.

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.

The history of Sparta was the great exception to the political evolution of the city-states. Despite the fact that Spartans in the end were all Greek, Sparta failed to ever move in the direction of democratic rule. Instead, its government evolved into something more closely resembling a modern day dictatorship. If the Spartans had followed the other Greek city-states in their political practices they might have been able to avoid their own downfall and could have even become stronger.

Sparta is the strongest Greek city-state because of their military , society , and education. The spartan produced what is probably the most iconic military in ancient history. The ancient Spartan warriors are known for their bravery , professionalism and skill, a reputation well deserved. The Spartan army was known far and wide for their fierceness , brutality, and efficiency in battle . This was partly due to their militarily-oriented society, but it was also due to a remarkable innovation in land warfare that made the Spartans nearly unstoppable on the ground.

     In the military community of the rulers and soldiers of Sparta there was a very strict

In this work, Aristotle describes and evaluates political systems in order to determine the best possible constitution. In the studied passage, Aristotle describes a Spartan society entirely geared towards warfare, to the point that Spartans were inexperienced in other domains: unable to manage public finances and, above all, unable to rule the empire they crafted by armed force. Aristotle is a contemporary source to the system he describes, but his statements should be tackled with a degree of caution. First, the source is written from an Athenian point of view: Aristotle probably echoed the representations that circulated among Athenians about Sparta, a rival city-state. Moreover, he took his main argument from Plato, who similarly criticised Spartan lawgiver. Second, Aristotle’s aim is not to provide a historical account, but to contrast several constitutions – making, necessarily, simplifications to theorise Spartan society as a political system, and possibly indulging in some exaggerations to serve his argument. However, as surviving literary sources were mostly written by non-Spartans, it is difficult to evaluate Aristotle’s statements and their degree of correctness. Aristotle’s writings have contributed to shape a fantasised image of Sparta as an exceptional militarist Greek city, which both saved and

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.

From the different phenomena that happened in Greece, mythology become the basis of their ancient political thought which comes from the external world but when the man’s curiosity to develop his full potential this led to the principles of central controlling the universe and the ability of man to lead and form its government. The Spartans focus on social stability and its military