1. Spartan Society

2. Ancient Sparta was located in one of the more fertile parts of the Peloponnese. It stood in the valley of the Eurotas River on the well-watered Laconian plain.

3. Spartans and the Military
was
everything!
Spartan society was dominated by the military.
The Spartans believed that military power provided security and protection.
Spartan society was started by Lycurgus (ly-KUHR-guhs after
a slave revolt.

4. Boys and Men in Sparta
When a boy was born, the government took him away.
If the boy was unhealthy, the baby was taken outside the city and left. Abandoned to die if it showed any type of deformity
Healthy boys were trained to be soldiers.

5. Sparta: Society
“Come back with your shield - or on it” was the reported parting cry of Spartan mothers to their sons.

6. Spartan Training
A rigorous discipline and mainly military type education, the so-called Agoge, commenced at 7 and lasted thirteen years.
Put through increasingly brutal series of classes designed to make them used to suffering and hardship
Also designed to break down family relationships
For thirteen years, they drilled in gymnastics, running, jumping, throwing of spear and discus, and also taught to endure pain and hardship, hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue and lack of sleep.
There was not much time for education, mainly focused on music, dancing, and athletics

7. Military Lifestyle
At the age of twenty, the military service of the Spartan begun. He would join one of the dining messes or clubs which were composed of about fifteen members (one of Lykourgos laws).
Membership was official indication that a boy had become a man.
Not allowed to marry or have a family for 10 years.
Still had to have meals with club until he was 60.
Military clubs formed basic unit of military service.
Men were expected to stay in the military till about 60.

8. The Life of a Spartan Birth Age 7 Age 20 Age 30
Newborns brought to ephors (leaders) for examination
Sickly babies left to die of exposure
Healthy babies
Boys lived with their parents until age seven
Girls stayed with their parents until marriage, and learning weaving, cooking, cleaning
Age 7
Boys sent to military school for strict physical training
Weapons and endurance training
Frequent beatings
Taught basic reading and to be laconic (use brief speech)
Age 20
Young men became soldiers
Allowed to get married
But lived in the barracks until age 30
Age 30
These soldiers became citizens
Could vote and could live in their own homes
Remained in the military until age 60

9. Girls and Women in Sparta
Women had more power in Sparta.
They owned land and ran households while men were at war.
Women didn’t do jobs that other Greek women did, like weave clothing, but left them for slaves.
Spartan women also trained physically. They
believed that with strong mothers, children would
healthier.

10. Society In theory, all Spartans citizens were equal
To discourage economic and social distinctions, Spartans observed an extraordinarily austere lifestyle as a matter of policy
No jewelry, elaborate clothes, luxuries, or accumulation of great private wealth
Even today, “spartan” means
Practicing great self-denial
Unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment
Resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity

11. Helots Helots were servants of the Sparta state
Not chattel slaves, but not free either
By the 6th Century B.C., helots probably outnumbered Sparta citizens by 10 to 1
The large number of helots allowed the Spartans to cultivate their region efficiently, but also posed the threat of constant rebellion
Sparta responded for the need for order by military means

12. SPARTAN GOVERNMENT Two kings Led army and Sparta in general Hereditary
Gerousia
28 man council
All members over 60 years old
Drew up proposals for legislation
Assembly of the Spartans
All full male citizens
Voted on legislative proposals
Presided over by five elected officials called ephors
King Leonidas

13. Government
Highly unusual government that contained elements of democracy, timocracy, monarchy, and oligarchy

14. Sparta: Government Oligarchy Rule by a few
Power was in the hands of five men called Ephores who were elected annually by the Council of Elders
Timocracy
Government by people of honor
All Ephores were over the age of 60 and had completed their military career
The Ephores controlled all daily life in Sparta

15. Sparta: Government Monarchy Rule by a hereditary sovereign
Under the five Ephores there were two Kings that came from the two noble families of Sparta
With divine approval, shown in an oracle or an omen, the Ephores had the power to force the Kings’ abdication
Democracy
Election based on numerical majority
Under the Kings were the Council of the Elders.
The council passed laws and elected the five Ephores
Beneath them were the rest of the free Spartan men who voted for the Council of Elders