Essay about The Importance of the Army in Spartan Society.

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 the fifth century BCE, Sparta developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was limited in size (population), but its military was famous for its toughness. Even with a small population of an army of about 8,000 men, they managed to defend Sparta from incoming attacks. Unfortunately, Spartan boys were forced to join and receive training from age 7. Like the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was able to shield itself, but all the warriors died.

The Spartan State was a militaristic force to be reckoned with, and is famous for the values that were expected of their people. These Spartan values and militaristic system of government is described in a document by Plutarch (45-125 CE) regarding Sparta after the Lycurgian reforms, specifically after

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.

In military training both boys and girls were allowed to attend the training. They learned to wrestling, boxing, and footracing. As stated in History Alive, “the boys did military training in barracks a building where Spartan soldiers would live and train”.  In addition, the training was important to the Spartan’s because they needed to teach the boys to be prepared for upcoming wars and to win those wars. The boys were taught how to read and write but, the Spartan’s didn’t find that important. To be a brave soldier was very important to the Spartan’s. Therefore, being a brave soldier was important because the soldiers had to fight in wars to protect Sparta from invaders who want to destroy Sparta.

There are many aspects of Spartan culture that I feel were the most successful for the city-state. The most important aspect I feel the Spartans city-state had was their education. As shown in our History Alive books, Sparta didn’t focus on math, reading, or writing. Discipline and strength were what boys and girls were educated by. From age 7 all Spartan children were trained to fight. Some skills they learned were: wrestling, boxing, gymnastics and foot racing. All these sports helped the girls and boys get stronger and become more advanced for when fighting or in war. There were some differences on how boys were trained and educated. Until age 6 or 7, boys were taught by their mothers. When they were finally ready to learn how to

Spartan's were a dominating army that were more strong then all of the of the other armies from different city-states. now we need to know what they did at home while the men were at war. It's like when the U.S. Army goes out for war, what do the rest of the military soldiers go when the rest are at war. This is something that we need to discover from the Spartans and we also need to know if the strengths outweighed the weaknesses or did not.

First off, Sparta lacked very much in education. Document A mentions, “Only the rudiments [basics] of reading and writing were taught.” Every child deserves the proper education, nevertheless Sparta took that away. Spartans weren’t allowed to read books or perform plays. Sparta was so wound up with having a strong army that they didn’t “waste their time” on an actual

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.

Another area where Sparta and Athens differed greatly was in their military. Spartan men were raised to be warriors. Beginning on their seventh birthday when they were removed from their homes and enrolled in the Agoge, an education system to train them to be soldiers. (Brand, n.d., p. 6). At the age of 20, they were considered soldiers. And they were considered a soldier until they turned 60 or died.

Throughout history there were many armies that were strong and courageous when it came to battle, but none as strong as the army of Sparta and their strong education system. The city-state in Greece that was located in the peninsula of Peloponnesus was considered a “tiny powerhouse” in the eastern Mediterranean, whose greatest rival was Athens. They had a very strong army and battle strategy, called the phalanx, that allowed them to compete in many battles in history. Some of the battles included the Peloponnesus War, the battle of Thermopylae, and the invasion of the Persians. One of the main factors in the Spartans ability to compete in those battles against Athens and the outside world was because of the education system that they had in

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.

In Athens, armies were constituted of citizen-soldiers. Citizens had to supply their own equipment. The army is known to be strong, but not as much as the one from Sparta. However, the truth power of the Greek army is demonstrated during the Persian invasion. Despite of their differences and previous conflicts, Sparta and Athens combined to repel the invasion. It was in their interests to join with the other Greek city-states in a coalition to defend their mutual interests and cities. This decision proves that for Greek the protection of the state is important and that they are willing to do anything for the protection of their territory. With the incredible technique used to fight against Persian chariots, the Greeks ensured their victory and protected their territory from a Persian invasion. In Macedonia, when making a decision of going to war Alexander the Great never asked soldiers to do want he could not do by himself. In fact, due to his solidarity and respect to the army he became the ruler of the largest empire. During the war, Alexander ensured that everyone saw him by leading his troops and went right after the

Sparta was a warrior society centered on the loyalty of the state and military service, at Sparta the children used to begin their training to become a warrior at the age of 7, leaving their houses to join the barracks, where they also learned to write and read. The Spartan army was considered the best in the world, due to their commitment to the training and their battle strategy, they could overcome any opponent, to increase their power in the battlefield, the warriors were taught to fight until the death, because giving up was a dishonorable act towards Sparta (“300”, 02/27). The society was divided into 3 different groups; Equals, Half-citizen who were considered full citizens, and the Helots who were slaves. The Spartan government, different from the Persian Empire, had a decentralized government, splitting the power between the council, which consisted in 2 kings and 28 nobles (man over the age of 60).(Dr. Kaz, lecture, 02/24) Sparta had an strong and stable government, being considered the best in Greece. The woman in Sparta had much more freedom than in other place at that time, as the men were always training for the army, the woman had an important role in organizing and controlling the city, they were also treated very well, because they regarded them as the producer of the Spartan soldier. (Dr. Kaz, lecture,

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.