Tough Love – Life in the Spartan Army The Spartan Army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. Sparta created one of the toughest and most disciplined armies in the world. Their soldiers were trained from being infants to be tough and obedient to their laws. Sparta enjoyed a period of supremacy after the Peloponnesian War until they met their first defeats against Iphicrates of Athens and Epaminondas of Thebes. The troops were citizens known as the Spartiates, the superior social class of Sparta; the others were the Helots, who were slaves and the Perioeci who were the upper-slave-class.
This was a culture that achieved supremacy due to unyielding determination and greeted death on the battlefield with honour. Welcome to tonight’s episode of ‘Ancient Civilizations’, and yes indeed, I will be discussing the Spartan Military system. The sole priority of the Spartan military was their training and weapons. For the Spartan male their training began before they were born. They married the strongest boys with the strongest girls and the fastest boys with the fastest girls in order to bread the best warriors.
The Spartan’s were a military oriented society. Spartan’s took great pride in their military training, even at an early age, and their developments in fighting would eventually set a new standard in combat through the ancient world. Spartan boys would first enter military school at age 7. The Spartan boys would train in harsh environments to enforce their ability to handle various weather conditions. The boys also were subject to train in various forms of combat and athleticism including; wrestling, boxing, swimming, discus throwing.
Melissa Horstketter HIS 105 300 Essay The film of 300 says a lot about what it was like back in the ancient history between the Spartans and the Persians. The Spartans were taught to fight for their state right away when they were a child. The movie shows all the different aspects of the Spartan culture. It shows how they just throw away babies that aren’t perfect, and how they take the children away from home at only the age of seven to train as a fighter. They show the basic ways of how the Spartans lived at the time.
“I die with a happy heart aware of the in the textbook. immeasurable deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself and my wife choose to die in order to escape the disgrace of . . .
After birth, the mother of the child bathes it in wine to see if the child was strong. If the child survived it was taken to the elders of the tribe by the child’s father. The elders would decide if the parents would raise the child or not. If the baby was flawed or weak, the baby was left to die on the wild slopes of mount Taygetos also known as the place of rejection. It was also a choice for the child to be adopted by the helots.
Male Spartan citizens were allowed only one occupation: solider. Indoctrination into this lifestyle began early. Spartan boys started their military training at age 7, when they left home and entered the Agoge. The boys lived communally under austere conditions. They were subjected to continual physical, competitions (which could involve violence), given meager rations and expected to become skilled at stealing food, among other survival skills.
The Athenians wanted to have a perfect government for their people while Sparta wanted a perfect military. Athenians daily life was mainly about education and learning, however Spartan men were very committed to their time in the army. Sparta was a better place to live than Athens because they were very simple but also effective in many ways since they always wanted to get the job done and done well. Sparta’s military was extremely tough. The training was ruthless but did make very tough men.
It is the capitol of Laconia and the chief city of Greece: famous for strict discipline and training of soldiers. Athens is a flourishing city-state in ancient Greece; it was an important cultural center in the 5th century B.C. Some differences would be that Sparta was a society built entirely around military life. Spartan citizen males were taken at the age of seven to be trained as warriors. They were expected to spend their time in military training, and live in communal barracks.
One would oversee the army, while one would look after the home front. The military controlled citizens from birth to death. Every male must enroll into the military. Their philosophy is based on strength, and this causes them to have an unbeatable army. The Spartan citizens were once considered as being something close to slaves.