SPARTA
History doesn’t say the actual time period that Sparta ruled but most historians say it was some where around the ninth century B.C

There aren’t very many places in history where you find the Spartans being well spoken of. In fact, if you look in any history book researching Sparta, written by a Greek, you’d probably find words like “an armed camp”, “brutal”, “culturally stagnant”, “economically stagnant”, “politically stagnant” and other such statements describing the race. The reason for this is that most of that part of history was written by other Greek city-states, one of them, Athens, which was a bitter enemy and rival of Sparta.

The Spartans viewed themselves as the true inheritors of the Greek tradition. They did not surround themselves with luxuries, expensive foods, or opportunities for leisure. And this, I think, is the key to understanding the Spartans. While the Athenians and many others thought the Spartans were insane, the life of the Spartans seemed to turn back to a more basic way of life.

Every Spartan was a servant of the state. The individual lived (and died) for the state. Their way of life was designed to serve the state from their childhood to the age of 60 and onwards, either in the army or as part of the governmental system. The combination of this ideology, the education of Spartan males, and the disciplined maintenance of a standing army gave the Spartans the stability that had very nearly been lost in the Messenians revolt.

The first dated history I found on the history of Sparta was recording the Messenean War that happened in the eighth century B.C. Sparta, along with the neighboring counties, was a monarchy with a limited oligarchy *. In 725 B.C, with their populations rapidly growing they became in need of more land to grow food for their people, so the Spartans marched over the Taygetus Mountains and captured the territory of her neighbor, Messenia. The Messenians had a lot of good fertile land, so the Spartans soon hand more then enough land for themselves and their newly conquered people.
* Oligarchy = a small group of people who together govern a nation or control an organization, often for their own purposes

The Messenians however, like all conquered people, didn’t like the fact that they lost their independence and so with the help of another city-state, Argos, they revolted in 640 B.C.
It turned out not to be any ordinary revolt, cause not only did they win, but they also almost destroyed Sparta itself. After the Messenean revolt the situation for Sparta wasn’t very good. Having almost been totally wiped out, and now controlling territory and subjects that out numbered their population ten to one, it would have been only a matter of time before their subjects would over run them.

The Spartans then came up with a new dramatically revolutionary plan. They became a military State and the ruled Messenians were turn into agricultural slaves and labeled Helots, this gave Sparta its economical power. Their lives were described as the lives of a “serf” or like that of a medieval peasant. They worked on small plots that were own by Spartans and a part of produce went to the master of the estate, and the rest went to the Helot farmer and his family. The life of the Helots was quite an unhappy one and the work was hard and they always lived on the border of subsistence.

The Spartan society was divided into three main classes. On top was the Spartiate, or native Spartan, who could trace his or her line back to the original inhabitants of the city. The Spartiate were the ones that served in the army and the only members of society who enjoyed the full political and legal rights of the state.

Below the Spartiate, were the Perioeci, or “dwellers around or about.” These were foreign people who served as a buffer between the Spartans and the helots. Because of this important function they were granted a greet deal of freedom far greater than that of the Helots. Trade and commerce were the responsibility of the Perioeci, as the Spartan citizens were not allowed to trade. At the bottom, of course, were the Helots.

Government
The Spartan government was an odd affair. It had a monarchy, but even this was not a run-of-the-mill one. Its overwhelming characteristic was stability. This was, after all, what the people craved, and continued to crave after the Messenian War. At the very top of the hierarchy was a small group of five Ephors (’overseers’), collectively known as the Ephorate. For all practical purposes, the Ephorate governed Sparta, for these five men led the council, ran the military, ran the educational system, ran the infant selection system, and had veto power over everything coming out of the council or the assembly. They even had power to depose a king; however, they needed powerful divine proof (in the form of omens or oracles) to exercise this power. Whenever a king left the city to lead an army into battle, two Ephors went with him to supervise his conduct and report back to the other three, and to initiate legal proceedings if necessary. The authority of the Ephors meant the monarchy could never become overly powerful; though this in turn meant that monarchs were constantly on edge and defensive. Internal disputes meant Sparta could not always present a united front against its enemies.
Then came the monarchy - a dual one. Two kings held office at the same time. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the dyarchy originated from the twin sons of King Aristodemus, who founded the two royal houses (the Agiads and the Eurypontids). Since the twins were so similar it was impossible to tell which was older - the one who would inherit the throne - so the twins’ mother was consulted. She wanted the best for both her sons (and for both of them to become king if at all possible) and so she told the Spartans she did not know. The Spartans sent to the Oracle of Delphi for a solution to the quandary, and she answered that both children should be seen as kings, but the greatest status given to the elder. In the end, it was a Messenian named Panites who suggested they find out by watching the mother and observing which child was treated better (which was washed and fed first, and so on), and whether she consistently tended one first. They found she did indeed do this, and took the child to whom she gave the greatest attention, declaring him first-born. He was named Eurysthenes, and the other was called Procles. The son of Eurysthenes was Euryphon (hence Eurypontids), and the son of Procles was Agis (hence Agiads). However, it is more likely the dual monarchy was decided on as a compromise between the two leading tribes of Dorians. The Spartan crown was not necessarily passed on from father to son - it could be passed on to the eldest male relative born during the previous king’s reign. The dual monarchy did create some problems. There was traditionally a great enmity between the houses, so once again there was another element of internal conflict in the governmental system.
Below the monarchy was a council - the Gerousia - which was composed of the two kings plus 28 nobles, all of whom were over 60; that is the age all Spartan men retired from the military. The council debated and set laws and governed foreign policy, and was also the supreme criminal court. The Spartiate selected the council and could even veto council proposals. This strange combination of hierarchal tiers means that the Spartan government, described in modern terms, was a democratic timocratic (Belonging to, or constituted by, timocracy) monarchical (1. Government by a monarch. 2. A state ruled or headed by a monarch.) oligarchy. (a. Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families. b. Those making up such a government. 2. A state governed by a few persons.)

With the uneasy situation with the helots and being preoccupied with their neighbors who were often on the verge of starting trouble the Spartans began to set their eyes on the neighboring states, in the sixth century B.C. When they conquered their neighbor, Tegea, instead of destroying their lands and taking them as parishioners, they demanded an alliance. Tegea would go with Sparta in all foreign relationships, as well as war, and would supply Sparta with certain amount of soldiers and equipment. In exchange, they could remain an independent state.

This was a smart plan on the part of the Spartans. In a short time, Sparta had formed alliances with a great number of the states in southern Greece (called Peloponnesus) and had become the one major power in Greece in 490B.C., including that of their neighbor to the north, Athens.

Upbringing
From the time a baby was born, the law went into effect for both for boys and girls.
The baby was judged by the council, all those that were considered to be “weak” or “sickly” were left out to die of exposure on the slopes of Mount Taygetos. Those who were considered “healthy” were spared. Often when a baby was “discarded” the Helots would take them and adopt them for their own

According to the description of Plutarch:
When the babies were born the mothers bathes them in wine rather than water. The theory was that the weak ones would lose control and go into convulsions, whereas the healthy ones were toughened, like steel, and were strengthened. The caretakers were very skilled, so much so that they were asked for by the neighboring countries. They did not wrap the babies up much, they made them learn to not be picky about their food and to be sensible, not afraid of the dark or afraid of being left alone, they made sure they were not left idle and would not allow whining.

For the male children, they lived with their parents, being taught about fighting and the “code” of Sparta and how, in battle, that retreat was never an option. He was also taught how to move with his spear, sword, and body as one. At the age or seven, however, the boy was taken from his parents and put under the control of the city, and stayed there till his death. From this age the boys were put into groups under the watch of the general of a state director of education.

The military emphasis is explained by Plutarch:
‘They were taught to read and write for everyday reasons, but all the rest of the education was to make them well disciplined and steadfast in hardship and the victors in battle they were supposed to be. As the boys got older, their training got harder. They cut their hair short and were made to get used to walking around barefoot. When they reached the age of twelve they got tunics to wear and received one cloak year. Their bodies were tough and not used to taking baths or lotions. They only got such things a few days of the year on special occasions. They slept in groups, on beds they made themselves from the tops of rushes, plants found by the river Eurotas.

The rules of discipline were high; the smallest rule broken was punished with a whipping.
The food was purposely given in small amounts to make the boys want to steal to get more; however, if they were caught they were whipped severely. There’s a story of a boy who stole a fox, to hide it, he put it under his cloak, allowing it to bite him instead of being caught, in the end the boy died but his shame wouldn’t have because he stole the fox but that he was caught with the stolen fox.

The boys were also taught music and poetry, but those were mostly about the military and they were based on patriotic themes and religion.

As fare as girls went, according to Plutarch a Greek biographer and historical writer, ‘Leonidas took as best care as possible for them. He made them exercise their bodies by running, wrestling and throwing the discus and or javelin.
This was seen as a way to help babies grow stronger and that they too would be strong during childbirth and not have as much pain during labor in all sport related events the girls, like the boys, were nearly all naked.

Adult Life
The age of twenty was probably the hardest time in a Spartan male’s life. Their training continued well into adulthood, and even though everyone was free to live as they wanted, their city was like a military camp, and they had a set way to doing things and a routine of public services. In their minds they were fully convinced that they were the property, not of themselves, but of the state. If they did not have duty assigned to them, they would watch other boys either teaching them something or learning something from seniors.

The Spartan male did get married, but he didn’t live with his wife. The marriage took place as any normal wedding would. It wasn’t till the age of thirty that the Spartan, what they called an “equal”, was allowed to live in his home. Before then he lived with all the other soldiers. But he continued to serve the military, only at the age of sixty did a Spartan retire from military service, but continued to serve in other ways such as training and teaching.

What I found interesting was that the Spartan women were able to have almost as much control as then men. Since their husbands were away most of the time the women was in charge of the household and all the business that went on any matters that needed to be taken care of went through her first, if her husband wasn’t there. The women were allowed to do things that, in other countries, would have been punishable by whipping or worse death.
The Spartans took good care of their women, probably more then any other country in its day.

The Battle of Thermopylae
Probably one of the best known things about the Spartans is ‘The Battle of Thermopylae’. The battle took place sometime during the fifth century B.C. Xerxes I, the Persian monarch who ruled after his father, Darius the Great, swore revenge on Greece after their previous loss 10 years earlier to the Greeks.

A committee of about thirty city-states from southern and central Greece agreed to combine their navel fleet under Spartan command with an Athenian leader. The Spartan king, Leonidas, led a small army of Spartans backed up by an army of Helots to the pass at Thermopylae (the main passage for traveling north and south on the eastern coast of Greece, near present-day Lamia.)

This was a strategic place for holding off invaders, a narrow valley next to the sea. The attackers would not pass the seaward side, and to go by land would make them take a detour and Xerxes wouldn’t do that.

The Greeks plan was to delay the land force of Persians and destroy them also at sea.
Now mind you, the Persian army consisted of 200,000 men, if not more, and 700 navel ships. Whereas the Greek army only consisted of 200 vessels and 9,000 men, who were led by King Leonidas and out of that 9,000 only 300 were Spartans.

Xerxes thought that the mere sight of his army would frighten the Greeks away so he let himself be known and waited for four days. On the fourth day he sent out scouts to check if they had fled. To the shock of the Phoenicians the Greeks were still there with reports from the scouts that the Spartans were seen braiding their hair. The reason for this was that the Spartans had every intention of defending the place to their deaths and it was custom to wash and dress their hairs with special care when they intended to put their lives in great danger.

Enraged, Xerxes ordered an attack of the fifth day. He sent the Medes against the Greeks, ordering the Spartans to be taken alive, he was sure it was going to be an easy victory.
The Spartans retreated, even to the point of showing the enemy their backs.
The Medes spurred on by this act broke ranks to chase after them, which was when the Spartans turned and fought them like savages and after and bold but quick fight. The Medes were defeated.

Xerxes now sent the ‘immortals’, his best troops and personal body guards. The Spartans pulled the same scene, with the same outcome. Xerxes was in flames.

Another day fighting didn’t do any better for the Persians. The Greeks had failed to take control of the sea and were now just trying to hold off the land troops as long as possible.
This was when treachery comes into the picture. A man of Malis, Ephialtes, went to Xeroxes and told him about a goat path that went around the mountain and came out behind them. After Xerxes found that the man was telling the truth he went into action right-away.

When the Greeks learnt about this treachery the next morning, they barely had enough time to escape if they wanted to. Leonidas ordered the other Greeks to go home. But the Thebans and the Thespians refused to leave so they stayed with the Spartans. The Spartans, and the few other Greeks that stayed with them, knew they were going to die, but this only made them fight all the harder. The Spartans were the ones however that put up the strongest resistance; they all stood on a small hill and fought facing outward, toward their enemies who were all around them.

King Leonidas was one of the first to fall; when he was killed he was a little ways away from the group. Some of the Spartans formed a tight group and fought their way to his body. Around his body was were some of the strongest fighting took place. Four times the Persians attacked to try and get the body but every time they were pushed back. Finally the Spartans picked up his body and fought their way back to the hill. The Persians couldn’t seem to be able to defeat the remaining 300 Spartans. They tired making a deal with them, asking for the body of their king, Leonidas, in exchange for their lives. The Spartan soldiers out rightly refused to give up the body of their king, saying: “A Spartan leaves the place of battle with his shield or on it.”

At the end, when the Spartans spear heads broke and their swords were no good they went man-to man using their nails and teeth like savage.
The Spartans exhausted and wounded, carrying the body of Leonidas, retired behind the wall, but they were surrounded by the enemy, who killed them with arrows.
Humiliated for having lost so many of his men to so few, Xerxes order King Leonidas head to be cut off for his already dead body and given to him, to try and “lower” his humiliation.

Now some people may wonder “why would the Spartans stay and fight, if they knew they were badly outnumbered and were going to die?”. Well from what I read in my research, it was told to Leonidas by an oracle that either Sparta would be destroyed or loses its king.

By the time the Persians made it to Sparta an army or 10,000, if not more, had been formed and fought the Persian army of 150,000. Not much is known of this battle but I believe the Persians never did conquered Sparta.