Sparta: An Ancient City of Fierce and Courageous Citizen Soldiers

The ancient Greek city-state of Sparta is famous for being a city almost entirely dedicated to the art of war. Non-war and non-politics related tasks were left to slaves so that male citizens could focus on refining their skills as soldiers. Male citizens of Sparta would begin a rigorous training program at the age of seven where they were trained physically and taught to fight until the age of twenty when they would be inducted into the Spartan Hoplite army. An important historical question is how did the city get this way? What inspired the Spartans to develop one of the most disciplined armies in ancient Greece? The origin of the Spartan lifestyle lies in a Spartan stateman by the name of Lycurgus and dealing with neighbors of Sparta whom the Spartans enslaved.

Spartan women enforced the state ideology of militarism and bravery. Plutarch relates that one woman, upon handing her son his shield, instructed him to come home “either with this, or on it” (public domain)