Rise of Sparta

Rise of Sparta

The Spartan empire is one of the most well know Greek city-states, and for good reason too. The true “manly men” of the era, they were not one’s to be messed with. Their warrior mentality, as well as their interesting government structure led them to be one of the predominant civilizations in the Greek empire. Their social class was ahead of the time in terms of rights given to it’s citizens, and the housing style and training set up for soldiers and young men is a preview of the army they had ready for anyone who dared to challenge them. All in all, everyone was afraid of the Spartans.

The rise of the Spartan empire began with the Dorians. Though actual literature and records of where the Spartans originally came from have not been found, Dorian pottery has been found scattered throughout the southeastern Peloponnese where the Spartans called their home. The settlers finally landed on the Taygetan Plain and called it home. A smart call on their part, as the terrain was so difficult to traverse that they didn’t even need to fortify the city. The Second Messenian War led to Sparta being the predominant war machine for the Greek empire, giving the Spartans a large supply of helots from the Messenian population, allowing them to set up what would be the most powerful city-state in the Greek empire.

The citizens of Sparta were actually the minority, with most of the people living within the city-state being helots, or slaves. The only people who were actual citizens were those who could trace their bloodlines back to those who founded Sparta, which were a select few. The helots played a significant role in the city’s development, allowing the Spartan men to focus solely on training for battle for the first thirty years of their lives, while the slaves stayed back and did the work within the city. Those who were citizens had the benefit of the Agoge, which was the Spartan education system for young men. It translates to “the love of an elder”, and followed the Greek characteristic of the time for an older man supporting a young boy through his training and schooling and being his “lover”. This practice was of absolute importance for the young man, as the training ranged from military training to learn stealth and loyalty to one’s group. This practice helped shape Spartan men and get them ready for a long military service, most not getting out of the army until age sixty.

War was a major part of Spartan culture, just about every aspect of a mans life who was a citizen revolved around it. After getting training through the Agoge, men joined a Syssitia, which was a mess hall with an assigned group. This group would eat together for the rest of their military careers, which would in turn help build teamwork that would be paramount for the phalanx to work. The phalanx was the Spartans main for of attack. Made up of soldiers standing next to each other, shield in the left hand and spear in the right, when in formation would create an impenetrable wall of spikes and shields. This formation would go back for as many rows as there were men, preventing the Spartans from being surrounded from any direction. This successful battle strategy helped them become one of the most feared forces for their time. A certain amount of significance was held in each soldiers shield too. It was their responsibility to “return with their shield, or on it”. In the phalanx, the only time a Spartan could lose his shield was if he were to throw the shield and flee, leaving an opening in the wall and exposing his fellow man. In a formation in which people must rely on the person to their right, losing a man could mean losing a whole line if an opening was exposed. The loss of the shield would result in death if the soldier returned to the city, as it was the greatest dishonor a man could have in battle.

One of the famous and well-known battles in Spartan history was the Battle of Thermopylae. With three hundred Spartans, and roughly one thousand other Greek soldiers, the small force of soldiers inflicted huge casualties on a much larger Persian army. This last stand was a key part in stopping the Persian invasion, not just in terms of casualties for the invaders, but it also allowed the Greeks much needed time to regroup and eventually fight off the army and end the Greco-Persian War. This battle was the setting for the movie 300, although many parts in the movie were greatly exaggerated, the main points of the movie were still a good representation of just how powerful a small group of Spartans could be.

Although the war aspect made up the majority of Spartan culture, they had many other interesting parts that made up the society. Spartans were ahead

of their times for rights among citizens. Women were much more valued in society compared to other city-states. They had the right to own property as well as the property of their husbands while they were away at war, which was unheard of for the time. They also could inherit land from their fathers if they were the last remaining heir, while in other parts of the world the woman would have to marry a relative in order to receive it.