Year 9

Unit 2 - Classical Greece 

Lesson 5 - Sparta
 
In the last lesson you learned about Athens, which was a very famous city state of Ancient Greece.  While Athens was known for its poets and learned people and fine buildings, Sparta was famous for something else. It was a land of warriors. Everything in Sparta was geared to producing a huge army of tough, disciplined soldiers. ​

​The Spartans succeeded in building the best army in ancient Greece. They also won most of the prizes at the Olympic Games, but they did not create much art or literature or many fine buildings.

​Social classes
 
There were three separate social classes in Sparta: Only Spartan men were allowed to be citizens of Sparta and only they could take part in the Government of the state. All citizens had to serve in the Spartan army.

The second class were the free men. They often came from outside Sparta and so were called perioikoi 'neighbours'. They were mainly craftsmen, farmers or traders. They were allowed to serve in the army. But they could take no part in the running of Sparta. 

The helots were descended from the people who had originally lived in Sparta, but who had been conquered by the Spartans. They were treated as slaves. They farmed the land for the Spartan masters, who usually treated them cruelly. Most people living in Sparta were helots.

How Sparta was ruled
 
There were two kings who ruled together. These kings were members of special royal families. Their main task was to lead the army in war. The day-to-day running of the State was carried out by five officials called ephors. Each year, the ephors were elected by the Assembly.
 
The laws of Sparta were proposed by the Council. The council consisted of the two kings and twenty eight councillors. These councillors had to be at least sixty years old and were elected for life by the Assembly. The Assembly consisted of all citizens over the age of thirty. All laws proposed by the Council had to be passed by the Assembly. The Assembly members had an interesting way of voting. They simply screamed out "yes" or "no" to the proposed law. The loudest group won the vote.

Activity

​Make a copy of the table below. This is best done using Word.  Read through the text above (and the previous lesson about Athens) and then add to the similarities and differences below.  There will be more information to add later. 

Life in Sparta
 
There was very little luxury in ancient Sparta. The people lived in hard, uncomfortable conditions because they believed that this would help to keep them strong and able to defend themselves from possible attack. Every Spartan man had to be a soldier. Even kings were not allowed to possess wealth or luxuries; as such things might make them weak or selfish. Children (even when they obeyed orders) were left hungry and flogged. This was to toughen them up into hard, fearful warriors. Babies belonged not so much to their parents as to the State. When a child was born, state officers would come to examine it. If the child was healthy and perfectly formed it "passed" the examination and was allowed to live. If not, the baby would be taken outside and left to die.
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School and Army
 
Young children were treated very harshly. They were not allowed to cry or to be afraid of the dark or to become "soft" in any way. They were often beaten in order to make them “disciplined".  At the age of seven, boys were taken from their homes and sent to a kind-of state boarding-school. There they would spend thirteen years learning to be strong and totally disciplined warriors of Sparta. Conditions in such schools were terrible. When a young man reached twenty years, his harsh schooling finally came to an end. But now he had to join the army and go to live in an army barracks, where conditions were almost as hard as they had been at school.

The Boy and the Fox (based on an ancient Spartan story)

The Spartan boy had been seeking some excitement when, near the house of local helot, he saw a beautiful young fox - no doubt the pet of some helot child. Remembering how in school he was encouraged to steal from helots, he thought only for a moment before scrambling over the fence. Creeping stealthily upon the animal, he pounced, grabbed the fox and was gone before anyone noticed.  The fox's little heart beat with fear. But the boy's heart beat with delight. He could not wait to show his fox cub to his friends and to tell them of his successful adventure.

It was only when he neared his barracks that he heard some guards approach. Knowing that (while successful theft was praised) he must not be actually caught stealing, the boy stuffed the fox inside his tunic. The guards, seeing that the boy seemed to be acting suspiciously, began to question him. The boy lied coolly about his activities and (since boys had to be polite to older Spartan citizens) even held polite conversation with the guards long after they had stopped questioning him.
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When, at last, the guards bade him good evening; the boy made his way to his barracks, staggered through the door and fell dead on the floor. His friends gathered around and soon discovered the cause of his death. While the boy was being questioned by the guards, the terrified fox had eaten right into his stomach and intestines. The boy, though in agony, had never cried out.

The leaders in the barracks agreed that the boy had been an ideal young Spartan.


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At the age of thirty, a Spartan soldier might marry. But this did not mean he could live with his wife. He still had to live in barracks and had to be content with brief visits (many of them secret and at night) to visit his wife and children. Soldiers were given land, which they used to support their families. They did not farm the land themselves. Such work was considered beneath their dignity. All farm work was carried out by helots, who were little more than slaves.  Only when a man reached the age of sixty could he finally return to live permanently with his family. But few Spartan soldiers reached such an age of "retirement". Most died before then of hardship or of battle wounds. 
 
Girls were at least educated in Sparta (not every Greek city-state educated its females). Their schools, though not quite as harsh as those of boys, were strict and hard. The most important activity in school was physical education, which included running competitions and other athletic activities. Girls were trained to become physically fit, so that they would eventually become the strong mothers of Spartan warriors. Spartan girls knew little of the art of fashion or physical beauty. They were expected, for example, to strip almost naked when they took part in religious dances or processions. This was to ensure that they would not develop the habit of showing off fine clothes. Spartan women were in some ways freer than their husbands At least they could live at home, rather than in an army barracks. They were also freer than some other Greek women in that they could own property. But, like the men they were expected to be tough and completely loyal to the State. A Spartan mother could kill a son who was considered to be a coward. A mother would tell her son, before he went to battle: 'Return with your shield or upon it’.

Activities

1. Why was there very little luxury in Sparta?
2. What did the Spartan mother mean when she said ‘return with your shield or upon it’?
3. Read the story of the Boy and the Fox, why, in your opinion, did the leaders of the barracks consider the boy to be a good Spartan?
4. Was there anything in Spartan culture and society that we still value today?