How Did Spartan Boys Become Spartan Warriors?
How Spartan boys became Spartan warriors Imagine being taken away from your family and your home when you were just seven years old. The Spartans may have built one of the finest militaries of the ancient world, but their culture was so harsh that the word “Spartan” has become synonymous with an austere way of life. Spartan society was carefully constructed around a strict moral code and sense of duty, and its people underwent extreme hardships and deprivation on their way to becoming accepted as full citizens. It is with this cruel way of life that lead to the greatest, hardest, and most disciplined warrior 's who ever existed in the ancient world. Spartans had to prove their fitness even as infants.
Infanticide was a disturbingly common act in the ancient world, but in Sparta this practice was
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Spartan girls were allowed to remain with their parents, but they were also subjected to a rigorous education and training program. Much of the Spartan agoge involved typical Greek school subjects like reading, writing, rhetoric and poetry, but the training regimen also had a vicious side. To toughen the young warriors and encourage their development as soldiers, instructors and older men would often instigate fights and arguments between trainees. This was partially designed to help make the youths resistant to hardships like cold, hunger, and pain. Boys who showed signs of cowardice or timidity were subject to teasing and violence by peers and superiors alike (Plutarch). As grueling as Sparta’s martial education system could be, the soldier’s life was the only option for young men who wished to become equal citizens, or “Homoioi.” According to the edicts of the Spartan lawmaker and reformer Lycurgus, male citizens were legally prevented from choosing any occupation other than the
Spartan girls were allowed to remain with their parents, but they were also subjected to a rigorous education and training program. Much of the Spartan agoge involved typical Greek school subjects like reading, writing, rhetoric and poetry, but the training regimen also had a vicious side. To toughen the young warriors and encourage their development as soldiers, instructors and older men would often instigate fights and arguments between trainees. This was partially designed to help make the youths resistant to hardships like cold, hunger, and pain. Boys who showed signs of cowardice or timidity were subject to teasing and violence by peers and superiors alike (Plutarch). As grueling as Sparta’s martial education system could be, the soldier’s life was the only option for young men who wished to become equal citizens, or “Homoioi.” According to the edicts of the Spartan lawmaker and reformer Lycurgus, male citizens were legally prevented from choosing any occupation other than the