From the pre-teen ritualistic floggings to the extreme sacrifices made in the name of
their city-state, today we look at Bizarre Things The Ancient Spartans Did.
Number 9.
Infant Inspections Known historically as a warrior people, ancient
Spartans began their road to battle-readiness at adolescence.
When Spartan boys would be born, local elders would examine the child for any potential
physical deformities.
If the baby failed the test, they would at times be abandoned on a hillside, left to
perish or sometimes be adopted by foster parents from neighboring cultures.
Once they pass this first qualification, children are conditioned before age five using tactics
such as frugal feeding, wine baths to "adjust the body", and discouragement from crying
by way of silent treatment.
By being forced at such a young age to deal with darkness and loneliness, the children
were thought to have been strengthened for it.
This type of child-raising was so admired by other Greek city-states that Spartan nannies
were often sought after by foreign employers.
Number 8.
Combat Elementary After the age of 5, Spartan boys were educated
in the art of endurance through a type of militaristic training regimen called agoge
. These children would be sent off to a type of boarding school where they would stay in
communal barracks.
Here they would train with weapons and learn to carry and maneuver them with a type of
dance called the pyrrhic . This taught the young soldiers-in-training to stay dexterous
and nimble while granting experience with military instruments.
The agoge also taught the boys to read, write, and sing traditional Spartan combat anthems.
Team sports were also customary at this time as a way for the youthful Spartans to learn
to work together and as a unit.
All these instructions were a means to prepare the boys for a final competitive exam that
tests their athletic, dancing, and singing capabilities.
At age 12, these young males are no longer considered paidions , or boys, instead being
promoted to the status of meirakion . In this new role, the training intensity turns up
as focus shifts to improving survival skills.
This was done through the sacrifice of items like shoes, warm clothing, and full diets
as these harsh, restrictive conditions were thought to help generate tougher, more durable
and in-shape men.
Their physical attunement was especially required as being overweight was strictly taboo and
even punished with some even being banned from Sparta for their portliness.
Though despite this, the new meager diets weren't expected to be enough and these young
men were encouraged to steal food to get by, though should they get caught, the punishments
were severe.
The competitiveness between the meirakion was also raised as trainers would instigate
fights between them and even young Spartan women were enrolled to dole out ridicule and
incite further divisiveness.
This was thought to bring the best out of the trainees as they learned to channel emotion
into action!
Number 7.
Test of Endurance One of the most brutal traditions of ancient
Sparta came in the form of the Diamastigosis , or the Contest of Endurance as it's informally
known.
This ritual was developed in honor of an event years earlier at the altar of the Greek deity
Artemis in which many lives were lost.
The activities employed to commemorate the occasion were much more grim than modern celebrations,
though.
Used as a form of initiation to become a true Spartan soldier, this ritual was exerted exclusively
on ephebes , or the boys that are still training in the agoge . Here they would be flogged
mercilessly by older young men armed with sticks as they reached to take pieces of cheese
from atop the altar.
The event would continue until the stairs of the altar were completely crimson.
Many would not live through the ritual, but those that did, especially the last one standing,
earned praise from their peers and superiors alike.
This contest would find a way to become even more heinous and violent as the years went
on when Rome invaded and occupied Sparta.
At this period in time, the Diamastigosis would transform from a religious ritual to
a spectator sport, ushering people from across the Roman empire to witness the spectacle.
The brutality by which these young men were sacrificed was especially sought out by the
bloodthirsty Roman coliseum-goers who had developed a taste for such entertainment.
This rite of passage had transformed fully from a 7th century BC altar-based tradition
to a savage game within an enclosed theater by the 3rd century AD.
Number 6.
Spartan Secret Police While Spartan soldiers were widely regarded
to be the elite combatants of Greece, within their ranks was an even higher level of soldier
in Sparta's own secret police called the Krypteia . Once young men reach the age of 20 and showed
promise as future Spartan leaders, they were chosen to enter the Krypteia should they so
choose.
As the Spartan empire grew, so too did its enslaved helot population, outnumbering Spartan
soldiers 7 to 1 by the 5th century BC.
To help curb any potential rebellions, the Krypteia were charged with the responsibilities
of strictly overseeing helot settlements.
And this strict responsibility began immediately with their induction into the secret military
sect.
Elected Spartan leaders called ephors would direct the Krypteia to go on a rampage targeting
helots under the guise of purported revolts, resulting in an overnight slaughter and granting
the soldiers freedom to act at will.
Employing guerilla tactics, the soldiers would ravage the helot settlements like a ravenous
hunting party, seeking out the biggest, toughest helots to take down and bolster Sparta's alpha-dog
reputation.
Number 5.
Warrior Garb The iconic clothing of the Spartan army has
been of much debate ever since the release of the 2006 Legendary Pictures hit action
film 300.
Bare-chested battle gear may be effective in drawing audiences to the local movie theater,
but in reality, the ancient Spartans often opted for something a bit more sturdier by
actually using armor.
Sporting a muscled cuirass so as to resemble the finely sculpted torso of an ideal male
body, the Spartans would wear armor for ages, including at the Battle of Thermopylae , before
going through a period without metal protection.
But the unarmored period in Spartan history was relatively short and they would return
to employing heavy armor in 360 BC to comply with new battle tactics.
Aside from their brass armor, Spartans were also known for their traditional red robes.
These iconic crimson cloths were assigned originally by Lycurgus , an ancient Spartan
lawmaker, under the belief that it was a less feminine color.
In addition, it was believed that the red garments would hide their wounds and inspire
fear in their enemies during combat.
But even if the scarlet robes weren't assigned, given the expensive and regal nature of the
dye, they were often chosen for soldier's clothing by mothers and wives who took great
pride in their male warriors.
Number 4.
Spartan Kings Given their competitive nature, it may come
as a surprise that ancient Sparta was actually a diarchy meaning the city-state was overseen
and ruled by two kings!
The two royal families of the Agiads and the Eurypontids would take turns running military
campaigns out of country and ruling their people from within.
In a society that values masculinity above all, kings such as Leonidas from the Agiad
family and Leotychidas of the Eurypontids were bold, courageous generals.
However, regardless of their status or popularity, the kings were not immune to societal expectations
and Spartan law.
In the ancient culture's strange sense of equality in tradition, even royalty was subject
to punishments for somewhat petty and arbitrary charges by today's standards.
For example, King Archidamus was charged a hefty fine by Spartan lawmakers after violating
a rule when he married a woman who was considered too thin to birth kings.
This is somewhat rare in ancient history overall as most rulers during this period were much
less civil and often above the law.
Number 3.
Mandatory Marriages To keep the city-state consistently expanding
with new Spartan soldiers, the society put a great amount of importance on creating a
family and the institution of marriage.
Sparta's strict requirements on breeding warriors meant they believed in a very specific window
to procreate and as such made it law that all men were to be married by the age of 30.
While many Greek city-states held traditions of marrying girls much younger, Spartan women
were usually wed by the age of 19.
Men were expected to marry based on the physical fitness and health of would-be partners as
this was typically considered the most important trait in a mate.
However, even if a Spartan man found the perfect mate and married early, the couple would still
have to live separately until that age 30 benchmark as he would be required to continue
living within military barracks.
Loyalty to Sparta still came first, and this was proven further by the need to produce
children...even if the male was incapable.
Married women would sometimes have multiple partners to compensate with collective children
being claimed by all the potential parents in the arrangement.
Those men that didn't get married in ancient Sparta would be considered to have failed
their countrymen and would go on to be ridiculed at every public opportunity.
Number 2.
Battle of Thermopylae The film "300" certainly brought this ancient
battle to modern prominence, however there were some details that went misrepresented
in the adaptation of the 1998 comic book of the same name.
The true motives behind the unbalanced armies are a bit more complex than the book or film
let on.
For one, the battle actually saw about 7,000 Greek soldiers fight against 80,000 Persian
troops.
Among those 7,000, 300 of them were from Sparta.
The Greek city-states had much more soldiers at their disposal, however the invasion came
from the far north, about 95 miles outside of Athens — a risky distance from which
it would be difficult to strategize.
On top of that, this invasion came amidst the religious festival of Karneia , as explained
in the film, but also during the sacred Olympic games.
Thus all of Greece would was hesitant to send their full forces or risk angering the gods
for failing their religious requirements.
The Spartans did prove toughest though as Leonidas dismissed all other Greek troops
once the Persian forces of Xerxes closed in, allowing Sparta to rise to epic glory even
in defeat.
Number 1.
No Surrender If failing to live up to Sparta's cultural
marriage standards was the equivalent of a misdemeanor, then cowardice was a class A
felony.
In battle, this belief remained the same with warriors instructed to never surrender.
Fearless and honorable, Spartan soldiers would more likely take their own lives rather than
be taken prisoner or voluntarily concede victory.
This concept wasn't exclusive to the men either as mothers were recorded as saying phrases
like "return with your shield...or on it" to their sons before combat, valuing the courage
of their children over their safety.
This sacrifice was so sacred in fact, that only two groups of Spartans would ever have
their names inscribed on gravestones, one being men who perished in action.
The other group?
Women who passed during childbirth, as that was seen as the equivalent to sacrificing
oneself for the future of Sparta.