Social Struggle between the Helots and Spartan

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

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.

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

Spartan government, in contrast, is oligarchical. People were most often brought into slavery as a result of being conquered in battle, however some were brought in to battle through their familial lineage. Upon being brought in to slavery, a Spartan slaves’ main duty was to aid in battle. In Sparta, the government and voting was held by select elites. These elites would most likely make decisions for themselves, without considering the well-being of other citizens not wealthy enough to vote. This would be undesirable for Spartan slaves and common people as their voices are not heard, and they have no rights in their freedom to vote.

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. Sparta apparently didn’t agree with this statement. Sparta had many weaknesses compared to strengths. To begin with they lacked education in many ways, they had slavery and killed many slaves that could have retaliated ,and their children were very abused and taken from their families at young age to go to training camp for the Army.

Athens and Sparta shared the same sources of income, agriculture and slave labor, but they managed them in different manners. The slaves in Sparta were called helots and since they had no rights, they were often treated as tools rather than as human beings. The helots belonged to the state not to their landlord, so they can be considered a part of the agricultural technology. Since Spartans major obligation in life was serving in the army, they left the management of their land to

Slaves were at the bottom of the political chain. Many times political leaders and offices such as the senate would decide the fate of slaves and gladiators. Often times gladiators would be put against each other in fights. These fights were known as the gladiatorial games, and they were often organized by political and municipal leaders (Spartacus pg.43). Gladiators didn’t get to decide if they wanted to participate in these fights, but was decided by political leaders based on their social standing. Slaves who weren’t gladiators worked on the farms of individuals who owned land and were of a higher class. Much like the gladiators the agricultural slaves had no political standing and had little to no political representation. On the farms slaves had little to no freedoms, they were deployed in small groups to work, and were held in barracks over night (Spartacus pg. 33). These slaves also had a strict set of rules that they need to follow. These political

The ‘Ephor’s’ were a part of the Ancient Spartan constitution. The Ephor’s were an order of five high magistrates elected by the people to represent the will of the people; they were replaced on an annual basis by vote to prevent one person becoming to power hungry or powerful.

They abused not only the helots, but their own children. In Document D, the text states that “the boys of Sparta were whipped during the entire day, frequently to the point of death”. This is called the flagellation. It is a competition to see who can withstand being whipped the longest, and many boys died in the process. This is absolutely terrible. They were killing their own soldiers just because they want to see who can withstand pain longer. Not only that, but the boys were given very small rations of food and therefore were encouraged to steal. If they were caught, they were whipped for being “bad stealers”. Not only did they abuse their children, but they abused the helots as well. The helots had to do all of the dirty work in Sparta. They did not get any appreciation for all of the work they did. Not only that, but the Spartans had murder squads to kill innocent helots for no

The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.

They were forced to sneak into helot territory with a dagger and a lot of food and secretly capture and kill some helots (Doc C). This was bad because their soldiers became murders. Then because they were forced to do that after the horrible earthquake the helots rebelled and threatened Sparta with considerable danger ( Doc C). That is a bad education system that could possibly end

The Spartan ruler and soldier class made up about ten percent of the total population and were actually the only citizens with rights in the country. The largest class of people was the helots and these were the forced labored individuals and were not allowed to own land. A third class of people, which were allowed to own land, was the perioiki and they performed business with the citizens of Sparta. The perioiki were responsible for work other than the cultivation of the land and were the carpenters, metal workers, builders, and painters. The Sparta citizens concentrated solely on military training and did not mix socially with the classes of the helots or perioiki. As a warrior and ruler the citizen of the Sparta was responsible to oversee the helots as well as defend the city-state’s borders.

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.

Bibliography•HSC Online Ancient History Ancient Sparta Notes:http://hsc.csu.edu.au/ancient_history/societies/greece/spartan_society/sparta_unbringing/ancient_sparta_upbringing.htmThis source was effective as it gave a range of information, particularly about life in the agoge and training of girls. It also had many useful references to ancient sources such as Plutarch. The only drawback is that it seems to gain most of its information from Plutarch, meaning that a wider range of sources may have