All Rights Reserved. Women in the Sparta city-state had a better lot than in other Greek cities. Thank you! The Peloponnesian War was a war fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Spartathe two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Unlike such Greek city-states as Athens a center for the arts, learning and philosophy Sparta was centered on a warrior culture. Spartan government What was characteristic of Spartan society? Preserving democracy and the rights of the people.. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/sparta-warriors-training, How Ancient Spartas Harsh Military System Trained Boys Into Fierce Warriors. As Herodotus put it, they 'considered the things of the gods more weighty than the things of men'. While the boys were going through the agoge program, the girls were raised by their mothers or by trusted servants but, unlike in other city-states such as Athens, they did not learn how to spin, weave, or clean house. The gerousia led the citizen assembly, probably proposing issues on which to vote and it was also the highest court in Sparta. The paidonomos was appointed by the citys Ephors (overseers), who were elected officials sworn to uphold the laws of Sparta and were even given authority to challenge a sitting king if he did not do the same. But led by Brasidas, hero of the Battle of Delium, a Spartan force gained important successes in Chalcidice in 424, encouraging Athenian subject states to revolt. As Donald G. Kyle notes in his book Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World, Spartan youth had to present themselves for regular inspections in the nude, and boys who didnt look sufficiently fit were flogged. The program was first instituted by the lawgiver Lycurgus (l. 9th century BCE) and was integral to Spartas military strength and political power. Off the battlefield, the rigid acceptance of the status quo that the Spartan educational system enforced made it difficult for the Spartans to deal with social problems in their society, such as inequality in land ownership and a declining population. (71). A council of elders advised the kings in addition to serving as judges and hosting public assemblies. In 371 B.C., Sparta suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Thebans at the Battle of Leuctra. The precise date of the end of the agoge is unknown, but it did not survive the 396 CE sack of Sparta by Alaric I (r. 394-410 CE) of the Visigoths. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. Sparta, also known as Lacedaemon, was an ancient Greek city-state located primarily in a region of southern Greece called Laconia. Helots could not own property and so could not rise to become full-citizens, and this lack of social mobility would come back to haunt Sparta in later centuries. (69), Kylix with Men Courting YouthsMetropolitan Museum of Art (Copyright). This eiren then, a youth of twenty years, commands his subordinates in their mock battles, and indoors makes them serve him at his meals. City of Scott's Hill - $2,230,909. . "He's an impactful player; he's a home run hitter," said Smith of Robinson. In the following years their respective blocs observed an uneasy peace. The boy who excelled in judgement and was most courageous in fighting was made captain of the company, Plutarch wrote. Sparta was a powerful city-state in ancient Greece. The Spartans also suffered reverses at sea. The agoge was at its height during the Classical Period (5th-4th centuries BCE) and was praised as the ideal form of education by the philosophers Plato (l. 428/427-348/347 BCE) and Aristotle (l. 384-322 BCE) as well as the writer Xenophon (l. 430 - c. 354 BCE). In other words, because other city-states considered a sexual relationship between older and younger men natural, they ascribed the same to Sparta, but Xenophon claims the Spartan model differed from others. Learning from its past experiences with the Athenian navy, they established a fleet of warships. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. World History Encyclopedia. Help us and translate this article into another language! The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. The Spartans even turned it into an annual ritual, in which boys tried to steal cheeses from a temple altar, which required them to evade guards armed with whips. The sparsity of ruins from antiquity around the modern city reflects the austerity of the military oligarchy that ruled the Spartan city-state from the 6th to the 2nd century bce. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute failed. The Spartan hoplite endured rigorous training from the age of 7, to become a part of one of the finest type of warriors of the ancient world. The fighting engulfed virtually the entire Greek world, and it was properly regarded by Thucydides, whose contemporary account of it is considered to be among the world's finest . Originally Sparta was not that different from other Greek city states. Sparta decided to retaliate. Sparta was one of the most dominant of all the Greek city-states, and is most often remembered for their athletic and militaristic values. This was the name given to those who had been for two years out of the class of boys, and Melleirens, or would-be-eirens, was the name for the oldest of the boys. According to some accounts, one test was to drop the baby into a vat of wine and, if it cried, it was considered too weak, but this may be apocryphal. The focus of the education was very different in each city-state. In addition to local politics, from the 6th century BCE Sparta began to broaden her horizons by, for example, creating an alliance with Croesus of Lydia and sending an expedition against Polycrates of Samos in c. 525 BCE. Other [Greek] city states had fine armies, explains Kimberly D. Reiter, an associate professor of ancient and medieval history at Stetson University. Spartan political system was a combination of monarchy (kings), oligarchy (Gerousia) and democracy (ephoroi, ephors). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. They were subjected to continual physical, competitions (which could involve violence), given meager rations and expected to become skilled at stealing food, among other survival skills. Sparta and Athens are known as city-state with many contrasting beliefs. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. To push the claim, social media users are misrepresenting the limited use of RNA-based vaccines in animals, as well as a farming company's research into using plants to grow proteins used in vaccines. The kings were also priests of Zeus and they sat on the council of elders known as the gerousia. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. During this final period of the agoge, a man might marry but most did not until they graduated at the age of 30. For all Spartan citizens there was a strong emphasis on military training and frugal living in communal mess halls where simple food such as barley meal, cheese, figs and wine were the norm. A brief treatment of the Peloponnesian War follows. These youths pursued rigorous athletic and military training which became even more demanding from the age of 20, when they joined common mess halls (syssition) where they often formed homoerotic relations with older, more experienced citizens. The Ephors were among the older men who oversaw punishments given to the younger boys by their elders. Thanks in part to the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a small force of Spartan soldiers stayed behind to fight to the death against a vastly larger Persian army, the warriors of Sparta have long been famous for their military prowess and tenacity. The problem with Xenophons claim, however, is that the relationship between lover and beloved anywhere - was intended to enrich the soul, and relationships which were pursued purely for sexual gratification were disapproved of in Greece generally, so Sparta would not have been an exceptional case. In a decisive battle at Amphipolis in 422, both Brasidas and the Athenian leader Cleon were killed. And even this story gains credence from what their youths now endure, many of whom I have seen expiring under the lash at the altar of Artemis Orthia. All of these freedoms would have been unacceptable in other Greek poleis. The Battle of Salamis (480 BCE), one of the battles in the Greco-Persian Wars, revealed the magnitude of Athenian naval power and set in motion the deadly struggle between the two powers. what was sparta's focus as a city -state. From the 5th century the ruling class of Sparta devoted itself to war and diplomacy, deliberately neglecting the arts, philosophy, and literature, and forged the most powerful army standing in Greece. What is Sparta best described as? The Agoge was a trial by ordeal, as Paul Cartledge, a professor emeritus of Greek culture at the University of Cambridge, wrote in his 2003 book Spartan Reflections. All Rights Reserved. Agoge, the Spartan Education Program. This hilltop not only housed the famous Parthenon, but it also included temples, theaters, and other public buildings that enhanced Athenian culture. Between the 8th and 5th century bce, Sparta subdued Messenia, reducing the inhabitants to serflike status. Lycurgus returned with a new concept of law, one that people would learn by living it and would not need a written form, and gradually won the upper class over to his vision. Along with the surrounding area, it forms the perifereiak entita (regional unit) of Laconia (Modern Greek: Lakona) within the Peloponnese (Pelopnnisos) perifreia (region). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. It is often regarded as the epitome of the military-state that is devoted to war. Scholar Paul Cartledge describes the agoge as a "system of education, training, and socialization [that] turned boys into fighting men whose reputation for discipline, courage, and skill was unsurpassed" (32). Continued Spartan ambitions in central and northern Greece, Asia Minor, and Sicily once again dragged the city into another protracted conflict, the Corinthian Wars with Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Persia from 396 to 387 BCE. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Lazenby writes in his book The Spartan Army. Intermediary between the helots and the perioikoi were the liberated helots or neodamdeis. In the former battle, the Spartan soldiers arrived too late to assist the other Greek cities and in the latter mobilised only a token force as they felt compelled to first celebrate the Karneia festival in honour of Apollo. In Sparta, only the strongest males and females survived. Robinson, clocked at 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine, provides power and speed to a Falcons offense which has emphasized the running game under Smith. Spartan initiatives during the plague years were all unsuccessful except for the capture of the strategic city Plataea in 427. Hostilities resumed between Athens and Sparta with an assault launched by the Athenians at Sicily. The relationship between citizens and helots was an uneasy one and there were sometimes uprisings, notably in the 7th century BCE which contributed to Sparta's defeat to Argos at Hysiae in 669 BCE. As adults, Spartan women were allowed to own and manage property. One such type of governing body was the city-state or polis. They thought of themselves as Greeks. Male Spartan citizens were allowed only one occupation: soldier. These were the landed aristocracy, and following reforms credited to Lycurgus in the 6th century BCE (or even earlier), citizens could not indulge in agricultural activities - this was the lot of the helots - but they had to devote themselves to athletic and military training and politics. The city of Sparta was also in constant rivalry with the other major Greek cities of Athens and Corinth and became involved in two protracted and hugely damaging conflicts, the Peloponnesian Wars of the mid- to late-5th century BCE and the Corinthian Wars of in the early 4th century BCE. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The Byzantines repopulated the site and gave it the ancient Homeric name Lacedaemon. Boys entered the agoge at the age of 7 and graduated around the age of 30 at which time they were allowed to marry and start a family. Cite This Work The stability that the agoge fostered also led to a certain inflexibility, Hodkinson says. . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Sparta gained revenge on Argos in c. 545 BCE but then lost a battle with Tegea shortly after. However, the treaty only lasted six. Pre- and post-battle sacrifices were a common feature of Greek warfare in general but the Spartan army took things one step further and sacrificed before crossing rivers, for example, and even withheld from mobilising the army if an important religious festival was ongoing. The next year, starved by an impenetrable blockade, Athens capitulated. According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who wrote several centuries after Spartas heyday in the 400s B.C., Spartans began developing soldiers shortly after birth, when male infants were evaluated by Spartan elders. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Hoplite Warrior, DodonaO.Mustafin (Public Domain). Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. But Sparta was very different from the other Greek city-states. Going into battle, a Spartan soldier, or hoplite, wore a large bronze helmet, breastplate and ankle guards, and carried a round shield made of bronze and wood, a long spear and sword. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. This defeat led to Athenian surrender. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036. Sparta was a strict military society while Athens was a free democracy. Further, the Athenians were better prepared financially than their enemies, owing to the large war chest they had amassed from the regular tribute they received from their empire. It was the ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese, Greece. You cannot download interactives. Madden said the city was able to stay below New York's property tax cap, and said his . Xenophon, however, denies there was any sexual element to the relationships of the boys in the agoge. At the age of seven, boys left home to begin training at a military academy called an agoge (a-go-je). The Spartan army was known for its skill in on-land combat. At the end of 411 the rebuilt Athenian navy, fresh from several victories, acted to restore democratic rule. However, the democratic leaders refused Spartan peace offerings, and the war continued at sea with the Spartan and Athenian fleets trading costly victories. The agoge gradually declined in support from the 4th century BCE, though some form of it existed during the early years of the Roman Empire. Athens defeat was perhaps the worst casualty in a war that crippled Greek military strength, and thus the most culturally advanced Greek state was brought into final eclipse. But the revolt was headed off by the Athenians, who won control of the chief city, Mytilene. Sparta was about fitness, survival, and war while Athens was about public . Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! In 428 they tried to aid the island state of Lesbos, a tributary of Athens that was planning to revolt. Military activity was essential to Sparta. No man was allowed to live as he pleased, but in their city, as in a military encampment, they always had a prescribed regimen and employment in public service, considering that they belonged entirely to their country and not to themselves, watching over the boys, if no other duty was laid upon them, and either teaching them some useful thing, or learning it themselves from their elders. No man was allowed to live as he pleased, but in their city, as in a military encampment, they always had a prescribed regimen, he wrote. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Although a Spartan woman did not have much to do with the day-to-day raising of their sons, boys were still expected to recognize and honor their mothers through displays of courage, skill, and military victory. After the transitional stage, students were known as hebontes (young men) and were under the tutelage of a paidonomos (boy-herder). No one soldier was considered superior to another. In order to see their wives during this time, husbands had to sneak away at night. The historical name of Sparta is Lacedaemon. Books They would not intervene while the punishment was inflicted, but afterwards they would judge whether it was excessive or too lenient. Spartan troops drilled relentlessly, until they could execute tactics with perfection. We want people all over the world to learn about history. You cannot download interactives. In time of peace, power was concentrated in a Senate of 30 members. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. World History Encyclopedia, 28 May 2013. The paidonomos would learn from the Ephors what constituted excess or leniency and was often the overseer of punishments. Athens' power was based upon its. Watch 300. Mark, J. J. Patrick J. Kiger has written for GQ, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, PBS NewsHour and Military History Quarterly. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/sparta. The events that led to renewed hostilities began in 433, when Athens allied itself with Corcyra (modern Corfu), a strategically important colony of Corinth. Spartan women had a reputation for being independent-minded, and enjoyed more freedoms and power than their counterparts throughout ancient Greece. Developing a strong and efficient military. Sparta grew to rival the size of the city-states Athens and Thebes by subjugating its neighboring region of Messenia. Spartan girls were not allowed to join but were educated at home by their mothers or trainers. The Spartans conquered their neighbors and forced them to live as slaves, providing agricultural labor. It is called Na (New) Spart locally to distinguish it from the ruins that were excavated in 190610 and 192429. In the next few years the Athenians took the offensive. Sparta, Modern Greek Spart, historically Lacedaemon, ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese, southwestern Greece. Pop. World History Encyclopedia. Athens and Sparta had fought each other before the outbreak of the Great Peloponnesian War (in what is sometimes called the First Peloponnesian War) but had agreed to a truce, called the Thirty Years Treaty, in 445. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Modern Sparta is the capital of the southern Greek region of Laconia and a center for processing citrus and olives. The agoge of the Classical Period continued producing its elite warriors up through 371 BCE when Sparta was defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra and still continued on in some form until 396 CE when Sparta was sacked and fell to the Visigoth king Alaric. On the advice of Pericles, its most influential leader, Athens refused to back down. It seems probable that the boys all ate together throughout the agoge, but at the age of maturity one needed to be elected to a certain mess also known as a "common tent" (a suskania). Updates? Aided by a force of Spartans, Syracuse was able to break an Athenian blockade. However, in 480 B.C.E., Sparta allied with Athens, to prevent the Persian king Xerxes from invading Greece. Lycurgus was a Spartan prince whose older brother had died, leaving behind a pregnant wife. In the meantime (430429), the Spartans attacked Athenian bases in western Greece but were repulsed. Without a powerful, centralized state, smaller governing bodies created political order. The present-day city was built in 1834 on the ancient site; it is called Na (New) Spart locally to distinguish it from the ruins that were excavated in 190610 and 192429. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. The fighting engulfed virtually the entire Greek world, and it was properly regarded by Thucydides, whose contemporary account of it is considered to be among the worlds finest works of history, as the most momentous war up to that time. Though Sparta absorbed this population, it did not integrate the conquered people into society. Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. prepares to jump on a fumble by Purdue wide receiver TJ Sheffield during the second quarter at Ross-Ade Stadium for the Purdue game on Sept. 1, 2022. The war featured two periods of combat separated by a six-year truce.. Athens and Sparta had previously quarreled in the . In fact, Spartan women became amongst the richest members of society, as their men were killed in the many wars, and eventually controlled 2/5th of Spartan land. Sparta is one of the most famous states in the Classical era. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Marriage was important to Spartans, as the state put pressure on people to have male children who would grow up to become citizen-warriors, and to replace those who died in battle. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. He commissions the larger ones to fetch wood, and the smaller ones potherbs. Although an Athenian, Xenophon was a friend of Sparta and, in fact, served the state as a mercenary. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. A century-long decline followed. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! and the Corinthian War (396 to 387 B.C.E.). Youths were taught to compress their speech to give maximum meaning and power in as few words as possible. From the Sphinx of Egypt to the Kama Sutra, explore ancient history videos. A Spartan was taught that loyalty to the state came before everything else, including ones family. (16.6), Young Spartans Exercising by DegasNational Gallery (Public Domain). The understanding that ones life was not ones own to do with as one pleased but belonged to the state which had given that life was inculcated for women through the examples of their mothers and their tutelage and, for men, through the Spartan training program of the agoge. Sparta was a warrior society in Ancient Greece that was set during 401 and 434 BC. In the Corinthian War (395387) Sparta had two land victories over Athenian allied states and a severe naval defeat at Cnidus by a combined Athenian and Persian fleet. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Peloponnesian War, (431-404 bce), war fought between the two leading city-states in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta. When Spartan children were born, the male elders of the family decided if the infant was fit to live and be raised. Ancient Sparta is one of the most well-known cities in Classical Greece. He is said to have traveled first to Crete, then through Asia Minor, to Egypt, and many other places studying their laws and reflecting on the best aspects of society. localized power A key characteristic of ancient Greek city-state was a political (government) system based on independent city-states where everyone could be left alone to do their own thing. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. Part of the reason for this was that the boys upbringing had instilled behaviors that encouraged harmony and cooperation.. This 1899 illustration depicts the racecourse at Sparta. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. It was probably their training in tactical maneuvers which really gave Spartan soldiers their edge on the battlefield, J.F. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Initially, the term polis referred to a fortified area or citadel which offered protection during times of war. Sparta's position as the number one city-state in Greece, though, was to be short-lived. The modern-day term laconic, meaning to express much in few words, comes from Laconia, the home of the Spartans. The result of the conflict was the 'King's Peace' where Sparta ceded her empire (for which she in any case lacked the necessary bureaucratic apparatus to manage properly) to Persian control but Sparta was left to dominate Greece. Plutarch writes: Of reading and writing, they learned only enough to serve their turn; all the rest of their training was calculated to make them obey commands well, endure hardships, and conquer in battle. The decisive event was the catastrophe suffered by the Athenians in Sicily. Once married, they could start a family but still were expected to eat with their mess. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. The legacy of the program lives on, however, in the reputation of the Spartan warrior as a member of the greatest fighting force of ancient Greece who, for a time anyway, seemed invincible. The word laconic, which means pithy and concise, is derived from the Spartans, who prized brevity of speech. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/342/agoge-the-spartan-education-program/.

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