Spartans, the warriors of Sparta, are most legendary warriors during the classical age. Spartans only had one profession of being a full-time soldier because that is their path and their life. Spartans do not involve themselves with any manual work because that is the job for Helot. The word ‘Spartan’ can be defined as someone who is a person of great courage and self-discipline. When people mention Spartans, the key event and idea that comes to mind is the Battle of Thermopylae and the movie film “300.” The movie depicts Spartans as elite warriors, who are the perfect example of what a warrior should be. Between 600 BC to 300 BC, Spartans were the most fearsome military power in the Greek world. According to Thucydides, during Classical Age, it was common knowledge that “One single Spartan was equal to several men of any state because Spartan would never surrender their weapon for any reason, even if it is pain, death, or hunger.” The exemplary warriors were created due to the methods and structures implemented by the Spartan law maker, Lycurgus. Lycurgus saw that in order to be the perfect human specimen in Sparta, one must become a warrior. Thus, to create the perfect human being, he reformed a way to improve the people of Sparta through hereditary, public system, and military reformation.
According to Xenophon, who is an extreme admirer of Sparta, “Sparta was noted for being the smallest and strongest city-state.” This was possible due to the influence of Lycurgus.
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
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.
Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.
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.
In all versions of the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas and the Spartan army are seen as tough soldiers who grew up under harsh conditions. Spartans typically leave home to begin training on their
Firstly, the story of the 300 Spartans. The movie 300 is based off of the historic Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The movie begins with the King of Sparta holding a newborn baby over a cliff. It next shows the spartan men training and preparing for battle at an early age. Sparta was a Greek city which houses the finest warriors, and 300 of these soldiers are chosen to intercept the Persians in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. The Persian King Xerxes lead an Army exceeding over 100,000 men to Greece and was confronted by 300 Spartans. Xerxes waited 10 days for King Leonidas to surrender or withdraw. Tremendously outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy for three days before falling to the Persian army. A local shepherd named Ephialtes abandoned the Spartans to inform Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians could use to outflank the Greeks (Snyder et al 0-1:57:00).
He was one of the greatest artists in the history of Sparta. The city-state that was more superior was Sparta because of their geography, daily life, and government. The city-state with the geographic advantage was Sparta.. Doc B states, “Cities tended to be located in valleys between mountains or on coastal plains and dominated the countryside around them.” This is one reason Sparta was feared at war.
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.
Imagine fighting to the death with your peers in 8th grade, battle training from the age of 7, and never meeting your parents for 14 years! Well, all Spartan boys had to go through this and much more. They had to fight against their peers to survive in harsh conditions of the Spartan culture. The Spartan civilization was one of the most well renowned Greek city-states. This civilization had the strongest warriors and defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
The Spartans were full citizens were the slaves. The Perioeci, whose name means “dwells-around,” were known as craftsmen and traders. In the following paper, the development of Spartan military had a great influence on society and within the good culture. Spartan training started
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.
The Spartiate was considered a fierce and brutal warrior, excellent in physique, un-yielding in dedication, unmatched in combat, and constantly wiling to die for Sparta. This ideal warrior was created almost forcefully through the "physical, social and moral education" system, the agoge.