Sparta Strengths And Weaknesses

To begin with, The Spartans lacked education. In document D the text states, “[The Spartans] learned to read and write for purely practical reasons: but all other forms of education they banned from the country,” Spartans were not allowed to read books or treatises. They could not perform in plays or criticize the government. They could not form their own opinion.

Since Sparta was small, their main way to remain powerful was military strength therefore, their education was based on military disciplines. “A Spartiate’s son was nurtured by his parents only until he was seven years old. At that age he was removed from his family and, from his eighth to his twenty-first year, he was educated by the state according to rigorous [military-like]

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.

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.

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

Sparta the state that is based on pure military and knowledge skills has focused more on preservation rather than celebration this was shown through their buildings, they were simple but very useful these buildings were made by farmers. That is what Sparta is compiled of the most battle ready and toughest farmers. Sparta being considered a state it was not thought of as a city, other states such as Athens had more protection such as a wall, but Sparta was more of a unconstrained land being more open to nature. Spartans had the respect of most people meaning no army dare cross into their land without some deep consideration. Even though their land is a more open area their location being in the laconian region had given them instant defence

Sparta was surrounded by

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.

The people of Sparta didn’t keep a written record of their history, events or customs, instead, it was orally shared. However, Non-Spartans, usually Athenians, did write about what they knew about Sparta and some of the events the Spartans were involved in. Much speculation has occurred as to the reliability of these accounts, not just because of the writers own predisposition, but also because of the secretive tendencies of the Spartans and their own form of propaganda that created a reputation known as the “Spartan Mirage”. Due to inconsistencies in the archaeological evidence and written sources, it is theorised that the Spartans formed a reputation for themselves that may or may not be completely accurate.

Keep in mind that Sparta was a petite city-state, around 25,000 people, so their military had to be able to defend themselves with an army of around 8,000 men. The threat of attack was almost always on Sparta’s doorstep, both from foreign forces such as the Athenians, and from inside forces like the Helots. The teaching of courageousness helped Sparta survive, and by being very belligerent, helped them win

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.

Ancient Sparta, a city-state formed and bred on the basis of a warrior society, was one reason the Greeks conquered the Persians. As young men the Spartan boys would all go to military camp to become a soldier (Andrews). Intense and lifelong military training produces the most efficient warriors on the planet. Though the numbers may have been few compared to the Persian army, the untrained and cowardly Persian archers and swordsmen. Also in Sparta, the children were ritualistically beaten and flogged. Though this may seem

The strengths out way the weakness of Sparta’s education because it makes a strong society, they learn to respect elders, and learn to have passion in what you are doing. Spartan fathers were forced to bring they kids to inspection. If the baby's passed the inspection they were kept “if not, they ordered it to be exposed” (Document A)This is kind of like their form of natural selection; getting rid of the weak makes them build a strong society essentially having no weak people. Being in the training that they were in make them respect their elders. They were trained to “... not only to respect their own fathers and to be obedient to them, but have regard for all the older men, to make room for them on

Looking into the societal structure of Ancient Greece it is well established that Sparta and Athens were the two most well know compacted city-states. Athens was honored as the middle ground of intelligence and learning. The people of Athens were engrossed in arts, drama and academic pursuits. Sparta on the other hand, was acknowledged for its military strength. A Spartans life was focused on the position of the state, because now he lived and died to benefit the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually antithetical as well as governmentally different, they both managed to annex dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

Sparta is one of the many city-states of Ancient Greece. This civilization was sought out to be one of the most powerful, and no one took their weaknesses into account. Sparta had abused most of their civilians, even their own children were. This civilization had even gone as far as to punish their young boys as well as many other civilians, as well as some ceremonies that endangered their lives This type of abuse had only gone so far. The Spartans had also banned all forms of foreign education, limiting the amount of education the young boys and girls had.These young boys, who had been taken from their homes and families around the age of eight, had endured brutal battle training. The Spartans had even encouraged stealing, but as soon as they messed up they were whipped to the point of death. For the reasons above, the strengths do not outweigh the weakness.