THE SPARTANS: THEIR WAYS AND THEIR GIFT TO US

You could hear their name ring with terror in the midst of their foes wherever they go in the Ancient World for battle, even their fellow respected Greeks looked upon the inhabitants of this Southern shores with admiration, fear, respect mixed with envy; simply because they are from Sparta. 

Many people today had no idea who they were, until when 300: a 2006 American epic period action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley was released to the Public viewing. This spurred many to begin to search and read about them to satisfy their raging curiosity about this ancient race of men. 

Who were these ferocious Spartans?

To understand the people, we must understand the foundations of their cities first. Sparta was a prominent city-state in the ancient Greece. In antiquity, it was known as Lacedaemon, while the name ‘Sparta’ referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. 

The inhabitants of Sparta were classified as Spartiates (Spartan citizens with full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi (free residents engaged in commerce), and Helots (state-owned serfs, enslaved non-Spartan locals). Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanx brigades were widely considered to be among the best in battle. 

Sparta was not just like other ancient Greek States. It was unique for its social system and constitution, which were supposedly introduced by the semi-mythical legislator Lycurgus. His laws shaped the Spartan society to maximize military expertise at all costs, focusing all social institutions on military training and physical development. And around 650 BCE, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.

Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. This war produced the legendary sacrifice of the famed 300 bodyguards of King Leonidas and himself, perishing at the hands of thousands of Persian forces led by the great Xerxes himself and Artemisia.

But what exactly made Spartans stood out in the Ancient World? One thing clearly did, “The Agoge”. 

According to folklore, agōgē was introduced by the semi-mythical Spartan law-giver Lycurgus but its origins are thought to be between the 7th and 6th centuries BC when the state trained male citizens from the ages of 7 to 21. It was the rigorous education and training regimen mandated for all male Spartan citizens (except the firstborn son of ruling houses). The aim of the system was to produce hard-core physically, mentally and morally strong males capable to serve in the Spartan army. Because Sparta was the only Greek city with no defensive walls, these men would become the “walls of Sparta”. Discipline was strict and the males were encouraged to fight amongst themselves to determine the strongest member of the group. 

The Agoge was renowned and admired throughout the Greek world, and many blue-blooded families from other cities competed to send their sons to Sparta to partake in it. Spartans were extremely choosy in which young men they would permit to enrol, and such honours were usually awarded to the honoured citizens of Sparta in other cities and to just a few other families of supreme ancestry and importance. 

When a boy was born in Sparta, he was washed with wine in the belief that this would make him strong. Every infant was then examined by members of the Gerousia (a council of leading elder Spartans) from the child's tribe to see whether he was fit and healthy enough to be allowed to live. In the event that the baby did not pass the test, he was placed at the base of Mount Taygetus for several days for a test that ended with death by exposure, or survival. At the age of 7, the male child was enrolled in the agoge under the authority of the paidonómos or "boy-herder", a magistrate charged with supervising education. This began the first of the three stages of the agoge: 

The Paídes (about ages 7–17), 

The Paidískoi (ages 17–19), and 

The Hēbōntes (ages 20–29) 

The boys lived in groups (agélai, "herds") under an older man. They were encouraged to give their loyalty to their communal mess hall known as the Syssitia, rather than to their families. Beginning at the age of 12 boys would be given only one item of clothing per year—a red cloak known as a Phoinikis (a toponym reflecting the Phoenician origin of the Tyrian purple dye used or imitated in the cloak). They also created beds out of reeds pulled by hand, with no knife, from the Eurotas River. Boys were intentionally underfed to encourage them to steal food for themselves; however, it was stated that "if they were caught they would be mercilessly whipped and reduced to their ordinary food allowance." This was meant to produce well-built soldiers rather than fat ones. This let the boys become accustomed to hunger, and this prevented hunger from being a problem during battle. Only the heirs apparent of the two Spartan royal households (the Agiads and Eurypontids) were exempt from the process. 

At around age 12, the boys would enter into an institutionalized relationship with a young adult male Spartan. This is described as a form of Spartan pederasty (erotic relationship) wherein somewhat older warriors would engage promising youths in a long-lasting relationship with an instructive motive. However Xenophon, an Athenian friend of King Agesilaus II and whose sons were given the honour of training in the Agoge, remarks that the laws of Lycurgus strictly prohibited sexual relationships with the boys. The boys were expected to request the relationship, which was seen as a method to pass on knowledge and maintain loyalty on the battlefield. 

At around the age of 18, the students became reserve members of the Spartan army. Also, some youths were allowed to become part of the Crypteia, a type of 'Secret Police', where the members were instructed to spy on the Helot population. They would also kill Helot slaves who were out at night or spoke about rebelling against the Government, to help keep the population submissive.

At roughly age 20, the students became fully part of the syssitia and Spartan army, although they continued to live in barracks and to compete for a place among the Spartan hippeis, the royal guard of honor. The voting was done by Spartan peers who were members of the mess and must be unanimous. Rejected candidates could try to gain entry to a different mess for up to ten years. If a man failed to gain entry into a mess by age 30, he would not gain full Spartan citizenship. At the age of 30, men were permitted to marry and to become full citizens of Sparta who could vote and hold office. Any male who did not successfully pass through the agoge was denied Spartan citizenship. 

Education in the agoge served as a great equalizer in Sparta. Men were meant to compete in athletics and in battle. Helots and common men likely only developed their reading and writing skills as needed to make votive offerings and read important inscriptions. Spartans who became kings, diplomats or generals would also improve the rhetoric, reading and writing skills necessary for their positions. 

You might wonder, “But what about the Spartan girls, what become of them?”

Spartan Girls also had a form of state education involving dance, gymnastics and other sports; together with other subjects such as music and poetry, including writing and war education. Girls were raised at home by their mothers while they were being educated. Traits such as grace and culture were frowned upon in favour of high physical fitness and moral integrity. The girls were also encouraged to help the males by humiliating them in public and by criticizing their exercising. Just as Spartan males were raised to become warriors, the females of Sparta were trained for their primary task: giving birth to warriors; as the saying went, "only Spartan women could give birth to men." Encouraged to be strong and healthy, girls participated in athletic competitions, running footraces in off-the-shoulder chitons. 

But as the saying goes, no matter how great, nothing on Earth lasts forever. Sparta will soon be destroyed around 146 BC by the Roman armies during the Achean Wars when they sacked the whole of Greece with enormous army of Steel and great Engineering innovation. But their legacy endures still. The conquering Romans gradually adopted some of the ways of the old Spartans, and till today, we can see it in different forms in many nations. 

Many Nations today try imitate the Spartans mirroring the agoge. In South-Korea, a two year military course is mandatory for all of their young citizens when they get to the age of 21. In Nigeria, fresh graduates of Higher Institutions under 30 years are drafted to a 3-week rigorous training and camping exercise to prepare them for adult life. Israel mandates all Israelis whether home or abroad to come home for a 2 and half years of rigorous military training. These same practice can also be seen in nations like the Ghana, USA, Israel, United Kingdom et al. 

Their race has been long gone, but the legacy they left behind still speaks. When you talk of physical and mental strength, tenacity and the will to persevere against all odds, always think of the Spartans.