The Spartan Way to victory Essay

The spartans only accepted babies that were strong. If the baby was weak they would leave it to die one Mount Taygetus. They would begin at the age of seven for training. The selection of spartan warriors began before birth. They would send boys at the age of seven to military boarding school.

Sparta was a very unique society which could be defined as Utopian Militaristic State. Spartan boys all were devoted their entire lives from an early age to the Spartan army. This heavily militarist society was also unique in terms of women's position in society. They had much more rights and freedoms than other Greek women, but in terms of family life they were not so lucky. Women were living separately from spouse during their whole lives. Their husbands were only coming to home at night, they were secretly removed after a short time. And also they were separated from their sons for military training. Women had to be strong in family and social life. Spartan lawgivers wanted girls to receive a good education in order to prepare them to their womanhood duties.

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

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

This tradition allowed for a city-state with an exceptional army, women with a substantial amount of liberties, and a gene pool that was superior to those around it. The Spartan way of life was one that focused itself on the importance of a physically strong society, and the people of this city-state went to great lengths to ensure that they maintained this tradition. As a result of this mentality, the authoritative figures of Sparta gave women more freedoms, as society did not see them as inadequate versions of men, but more as the mothers of society, whose job was to be the backbone of the strong Spartan army by birthing and raising robust young men. In fact, this lifestyle was so prevalent and noticeable that soldiers and writers from Athens and other outside lands took notice. Many documents from almost all areas around the Mediterranean Sea demonstrate this, especially in Xenophon’s “The Constitution of Sparta”, which describes the importance of physical ability in Sparta, as written by an Athenian soldier. The people of Sparta preserved this physical superiority in many ways. Boys moved into barracks at the young age of seven to train and become a part of the renowned Spartan army, and mothers abandoned babies with medical issues as soon as possible. This not only ensured that all citizens were able-bodied and working to improve the city-state at all times, but improved the gene pool of the civilization by eliminating any possible genetic disorders with visible phenotypes within the society. All these factors contributed to the health, wellness, and overall success of the Spartan

In the period known as classical Greece in the years 800-323 BCE, Greece comprised of small city states (poleis) which were considered and operated as independent small countries. Amongst those city states Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and considered in Greek history as the most influential states to western civilisation. These two city states shared some common characteristics whilst in some instances they were very different from each other. Sparta and Athens had differences and similarities in the way they governed their city states, in how they established their military forces, how they treated women, their marriage customs and social gatherings

There were many different aspects to the Spartan cultural life which ancient sources and evidence have provided insight and knowledge for our modern societies. These features include art, architecture, writing and literature, and Greek writer’s views of Sparta. The Spartan cultural life also gives us knowledge into other aspects of Spartan life and the society in which they lived.

And lastly, the teamwork and survival skills of the Spartans was a major key factor to how they were so effective in battle. They were not something to mess with as they tend to have a powerful standpoint on how it should be for themselves of surviving. According to document B, it is stated that they were told to steal food for themselves as they live off of having hungry stomachs but if they get caught then they would be disciplined by being whipped, enforcing that they need to work fast and efficient, because getting caught in the real world is not an option, which is why it makes them hardened warriors that almost never fail at what they do as they keep the consequences under check. However, in document A, they were trained from ages 8-21 which makes their bond for each other be at its peak. as they take this brotherly bond into battle then they would have more effectiveness of getting things done as a group, making them a force to be reckoned with. The thing as it may be is that they train their Spartans to the max in order to have the utmost effective soldiers fighting for their own beliefs, which is why their powerful

This distinctive reputation came about through many different ways. A defeat in battle in Tegea 7th C BC may have initiated their fixated focus on the army. Spartans are famous for the agoge; their ‘education system’. Nearly every healthy male child was selected after strict evaluation through the “ test” put in the wild. These young boys then endured years of systematic rigorous brutality and training until they became men, soldiers that were able to fight in the Spartan wars.

     After experiencing the effects of a rising population and shortage of arable land, the Spartans moved through their mountainous western frontier in hope of seeking a new spacious land to live upon. Their decision to change their home grounds put the Spartans in great danger as they found themselves entering into the fertile plain of Messenia. Fearing that they may be overthrown by power by the Messenian resistance and the helot status, the

Sparta valued physical strength, military strength and emotional strength. It was very important for them to have a strong military. It was so important, that they would kill new born babies if they had any disabilities that would prevent them from being part of the military or helping it in any way. They would take the boy from a young age of 7 to start training. These boys were faced with many difficult tasks such as having to walk barefoot and deprivation to make them strong. They would even mention a story of a boy who followed the Spartan Code when he hide a fox under his shirt and did not show any sign of pain when the fox was eating his stomach. They strongly believed that you shouldn’t show any sign of feeling specially not pain or weakness. They also believed that you shouldn’t be in love with the person who you marry. You are just married to help Sparta produce more boys to serve the military or girls to train and bring more healthy baby boys to Sparta. If you were in love you had to hide it, since

The Spartans The "Spartans," who were they, where did they come from and what did they accomplish for Greece and, in time modern society. All these questions I hope to answer in my investigation. I found the Spartan, very interesting when I first encountered them in "The Odyssey" by Homer, where we hear of "Helen of Sparta," the partner of both "Paris of Troy" and his enemy and his city's enemy "Menelaus of Sparta." The entire war in fact broke out because Helen ran away with Paris and the whole of Greece was dragged into what at first was a personal feud. Had this not happened none of the Odyssey would have taken place and the old fable like story, as it seems to have developed, of the giant

Before the Spartans were known for their military might, they were just another Greek City-State. The Spartans took pride in their artistic skills, especially Spartan poetry . A key event in the rise of Sparta was the conquest of Messenia in the 8th century . After the conquest of Messenia, the Messenian citizens were made slaves, or Helots as the Spartans would call them . After dealing with a Messenian slave revolt, a Spartan called Lycurgus created a set of laws which all Spartan citizens had to follow . The goal of the laws was to make the Spartan citizens professional soldiers that were capable of fighting off any enemies or potential slave revolts . The helots outnumbered the Spartans and were used for any number of tasks so that the Spartans’ time and focus would be solely devoted to military training. The use of Helots to do ordinary tasks like taking care of the crops, house and meals, was the spark that allowed for the formation of the Spartan military culture.

In the military state of Lacedaemon, generally referred to as Sparta, the social struggle between the helots and Spartiates caused a system of slavery unlike that of any other city in ancient Greece . Rather than individually owned, the Spartan helots were conquered Greeks who were owned collectively by the Spartan government; since no one Spartan owned a helot, helots could not be sold and were able to live in their own separate communities this causing the helots to be in an in between status of “free and un-free” . According to Critias of Athens the “distinction between slave and free was greatest in Sparta” , this due to that the helots preformed all the mundane agricultural and economic labor, which was considered uneducated work , thus allowing the Spartiate elite class to fully dedicate their efforts to military training. While this use of forced labor provided the foundation which would permit the Spartans to become the greatest warriors in ancient Greece, the helots were given frequent reminders that they were at the bottom of the social structure. Aspects such as labor, rights and treatment, and roles in war were all elements of the helot’s enslavement which caused not only hatred between the two classes but a necessary arrangement.

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.