Spartans Strengths And Disadvantages

The Spartans fought in a formation called the Hoplite Phalanx. The Hoplite Phalanx is a highly organized fighting formation where Spartans are lined up side by side with overlapping shields. The goal of the Hoplite Phalanx is to protect the person to your left and right. When one person in the front line of the Phalanx is injured or killed someone behind them takes their place. The Hoplite Phalanx was very effective and it helped Spartans win battles where they were heavily outnumbered. The fighting formation that the Spartans used in the film included a variation of unorganized infantry lines, chaotic hand-to-hand combat, and a technique that they used which consisted of them laying down on the ground to let Persian horses jump over them as they approached. The hand-to-hand combat showed Spartans fighting by themselves with no teamwork from their fellow soldiers to help them battle the Persians. This fighting style would have never happened. The reason that Spartans were so successful in battle was because they fought as a team and kept to the Hoplite Phalanx. In “Herodotus, The Histories” Demaratus says, “so it is with the Spartans; fighting singly, they

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).

Although, Sparta had weaknesses they did have the strongest military of their time. The Spartan army perfected a battle formation called the phalanx that is still talked about today. Sparta’s weaknesses still outweigh the strengths because of the reasons I listed above, they lacked education, they didn’t last over 300 years and they abused their

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

After an embarrassing defeat at the battle of Hysiai Sparta went through great military change, these changes dramatically changed all other areas of Spartan life, turning Sparta into a military focused state. This militaristic influence impacted greatly on Spartan education, essentially aiming to mass produce the perfect solider. The education and training of Spartan boys aged as young as 7 in the agoge became the crucial

Sparta was a small culture both in size and number that eventually revolutionized into a powerful city-state. It is located on a small peninsula in Southern Greece called the Peloponnese. Sparta was based on its strong military that helped it continue to be dominate even with a small population. The education in Sparta helped develop this culture to its dominant state. Did the education system serve the overall best interest of the Spartan people? The education in Sparta did serve the best interest of the Spartan people because their education prepared them for their future, the rigorous military training taught the boys how to adapt to limited resources, and their education also helped them defeat the helots.

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.

Sparta’s poor education is a big weakness and reason why the civilization collapsed after 300 years. The Spartan education was very bland and their children were only taught how to read, write, and count. This affected the Spartans short and long term with many things and they really didn't discuss subjects that were government related. I say this because their only focus was on war and not education related things like science, math, and english/literature. Those aspects could have helped them in agriculture, health, and diplomacy. If Sparta had not only been able to enhance its education but have it’s citizens learn and pursue arts then they could have allied with other city-states like Corinth and Thebes. The reason why is because most of the other city-states had a relation in education and arts. That is why they were normally peaceful between each other. Who knows how the development of Sparta could have skyrocketed if they resolved conflict with 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.

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.

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.

Sparta’s strong education helped their city-state but it hurt Sparta in more ways. The Spartan education had some good ideas but there were more bad ideas about it. It was a risk to use that way of education because they would get strong but they could die in the process. That’s a weakness. People have been wondering did the strengths outweigh the weaknesses in the spartan education. I think no because there are way more weaknesses than strengths. Their education killed many Spartans over the years.

There are many aspects of Spartan culture that were important to the success of the city-state. The aspect that I feel most important was the education of the Spartans. According to “History Alive,” the main purpose of education was to produce men and women who could protect the city-state. The importance is that it was vital for the men and women to have some training because it meant that the Spartans had more soldiers to fight. In addition, the women had to run the city-state if men were at war. They also guarded against invaders and revolts from helots. Secondly, the Spartans valued discipline and strength. According to “Life in Two City-States: Athens and Sparta,” Spartans boys received education to fight at the age of 7. In advance, they

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.

King Leonidas, from Zack Snyder’s film, 300, once said, “This is Sparta.” 300 explains the historical story of Leonidas, King of Sparta, who leads a small force of three hundred men—his personal bodyguards—to a place known as the Hot Gates, to defend against a numberless horde of hostile Persians in combat to defend Greece. The King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans all died honorably while the Persians were able to get past the Spartans. The Spartans were citizens of ancient Sparta during ancient Greece. The movie shows the difficulty of a Spartan’s training by showing children fighting wolves and other children. Although this is a Hollywood movie, there are some parts of the movie’s portrayal of Spartan training that are historically accurate. Spartan training was ruthless and demanding for the men of Sparta. Training began at the age of seven and the children were taken away from their families. This is completely different from how the United States modern militaries train new recruits. The modern military training should not be combined with Spartan training because the Spartan’s were ruthless in the training of children, they used slaves as training dummies, and took individualism from their soldiers.