Sparta Dbq Essay

In many ways, Sparta's weaknesses overweigh the weakness. It’s cruel, sexist, wrong, unfair and not equal. Spartan boys were forced to learn military education and the system was cruel document A Boys were taken at age 8 to 21, document B One garment no shoes starving, Document D basic education was illegal If you never learned math, writing, reading, art, music, science, and history what would it be like?

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 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 army was responsible for maintaining the reputation of Sparta, arguably the most important role it played. Knows as the best warriors of the Peloponnese the Spartans used their strong military tactics in order to conquer neighbouring lands in order to further expand Sparta and gain larger areas of fertile land. Sparta lead the untied Peloponnese army and was greatly feared throughout the Mediterranean due to their title as the greatest army throughout Greece. This title in itself made the thought and task of attacking or declaring war on the spartiates a feared happening, further defending them from attacks dismissed as useless and never carried out by neighbouring states. The army was the main defence of Sparta keeping the citizens safe and

Lycurgus, a prince who was regarded as the founder of Spartan education, “introduced the custom of wearing one garment, throughout the year believing that they would thus be prepared to face changes of hot and cold,” (Doc. B). Lycurgus did not do this out of ruthlessness but rather to help the boys in the future by preparing them to easily come accustomed to their surroundings. Also with food, Lycurgus would give them a limited amount because “he believed that those who underwent this training would be better able to continue working on an empty stomach,” (Doc. B). This helped the boys survive when their was no food given to them. These rules taught the boys that their would always not be abundant resources in battle and also how to adapt to these

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.

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

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.

First, I will be explaining about is the spartan warriors’ toughness. Instead of letting them to be pampered in the matter of clothing, he introduced the custom of wearing one garment (Doc B). Also, [Lycurgus] required such a moderate amount of [food] that the boys would know what is was to go with their hunger unsatisfied(Doc B). This was a major advantage of the Spartans.

The Greek empire contained a fierce military within Sparta. The Spartan military is vastly known as a great reference to being one of the fiercest military forces in history. Some may feel Spartans set as a benchmark standard of the ultimate soldier. What made the Spartan military so successful is in how military life was part of every Spartan citizen. Although tactics for citizen selection was a bit cruel, Spartan parents only kept the fittest child to raise into adulthood. “Mount Taygetos known euphemistically as The Deposits”(Spartan Military) was a so called dumping ground of babies with deformities. Each male from childhood trains to be the perfect warrior, it is difficult to argue against having a strong mother figure in the child’s life aided his development greatly. “training of the body as incumbent no less on the female than the male; and in pursuit of the same idea instituted rival contests in running and feats of strength for women as for men”(Lycurgus 122). The Spartan women carry great respect in the civilization and possess

From birth, Spartans has to be strong. Any newborn that was sick, deformed, or weak was abandoned and left for dead. At age seven, they began a grueling education regimen. In their education, they were taught that their lives belonged to the state. The education itself was one of a physical nature rather than academic one. Although gymnastics and military were valued above literacy and arts, academia was not forgotten.

In the passage by mr.duckworth it explicitly states “ Unlike sparta, in athens boys didn't have to join the army.” Additionally, boys at the age 7 would have to join the army and work. That's is too young to be fighting and working every day. In athens they focus on education more than fighting and strength. Sparta was mainly about getting strong and ready for battle not learning.

The ancient Greeks made city states that functioned as their society. These were small, usually consisting of a population of around eight to ten thousand people. Some of the famous city states are Sparta and Athens. Sparta imposed many tensions on the individual. Sparta was a highly militarized state and would pull the boys away from the family usually around age seven and put them into a state sponsored training regimen that would make them highly skilled warriors. If the boy was unable to complete the training for any reason they were seen as unable to be a Spartan and were usually seen as an outcast and removed from society. The Spartans, just like most other societies in ancient times, valued boys over girls. “Spartan parents often exposed female babies to the elements and leave them to die they also made decisions on male infants testing them and seeing if they would develop into a mature warrior and if not they would face the same fate as females.”1 This

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.