Sparta Essay
Do the Strengths Outweigh the Weaknesses?
Sparta was once a city-state that had the best soldiers in the ancient world. Back then, military power was most important aspect of a city-state. In Sparta, there are three groups of people. The first are the hoplites, they are the soldiers. The second group are the non citizens, they are free and worked in industry. The last group is the biggest, the Helots. Helots were like slaves, but they could stay at their own homes or fields but had to give most of the food that they produced to the spartans. The Helots also did everything else the Spartans needed. The Spartans had disadvantages, but the strengths outweighed the weaknesses.
The Spartans did many activities to make the stronger and tougher. At birth, the young infant is dumped into freezing cold water. If the baby is able to cry and scream, that means that they have strong lungs and don't have breathing disorders. If the baby had some kind of dysfunction, it would be tossed of of a cliff. Young Spartan boys are home schooled until the age of seven, when the the must go to the agoge, a military school for boys (doc A). The english word agony come from the Spartan school agoge. At the agoge, the boys are not allowed to wear shoes. They believed that this would make them nimbler than any other enemy (doc B). They were also stripped of all their cloths and given only a single cloak for the rest of the year. This was supposed to make them immune to harsh weather so they could fight better in bad weather (doc B). Then when the boys get older, they have to pass a whipping test called “The Great Flagellation”. The great flagellation is where boys line up and side by side and have older boys whip them, whoever can withstand the most whipps is respected greatly (doc D).
The lives of the young Spartans in the agoge were tough. Not only did they have no clothing or shoes, the were fed way too little and were encouraged to steal, lie and kill. The lying would train them
Sparta was once a city-state that had the best soldiers in the ancient world. Back then, military power was most important aspect of a city-state. In Sparta, there are three groups of people. The first are the hoplites, they are the soldiers. The second group are the non citizens, they are free and worked in industry. The last group is the biggest, the Helots. Helots were like slaves, but they could stay at their own homes or fields but had to give most of the food that they produced to the spartans. The Helots also did everything else the Spartans needed. The Spartans had disadvantages, but the strengths outweighed the weaknesses.
The Spartans did many activities to make the stronger and tougher. At birth, the young infant is dumped into freezing cold water. If the baby is able to cry and scream, that means that they have strong lungs and don't have breathing disorders. If the baby had some kind of dysfunction, it would be tossed of of a cliff. Young Spartan boys are home schooled until the age of seven, when the the must go to the agoge, a military school for boys (doc A). The english word agony come from the Spartan school agoge. At the agoge, the boys are not allowed to wear shoes. They believed that this would make them nimbler than any other enemy (doc B). They were also stripped of all their cloths and given only a single cloak for the rest of the year. This was supposed to make them immune to harsh weather so they could fight better in bad weather (doc B). Then when the boys get older, they have to pass a whipping test called “The Great Flagellation”. The great flagellation is where boys line up and side by side and have older boys whip them, whoever can withstand the most whipps is respected greatly (doc D).
The lives of the young Spartans in the agoge were tough. Not only did they have no clothing or shoes, the were fed way too little and were encouraged to steal, lie and kill. The lying would train them