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Spartan Society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC

Social structure and relationships, education

and gender roles in Ancient Sparta

Jeffrey Lumb

BLacktown Girls High School

View over modern Sparti

View over modern Sparti (Sparta) looking towards the Taygetos Mountains

Outcomes

H1.1	describe and assess the significance of key people, groups, events, institutions, societies and sites within the historical context
H4.1	use historical terms and concepts appropriately
H3.4	explain and evaluate differing perspectives and interpretations of the past

Principal Focus:

The investigation of key features of Spartan society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC, through a range of archaeological and written sources and relevant historiographical issues.

Students learn about:

Social structure and political organisation:

Social structure: Spartiates, perioeci, ‘inferiors’, helots
Control of the helots: the military, syssitia, krypteia
Educational system: agoge
Role and status of women: land ownership, inheritance, education

This tutorial assists students to:

understand the geographic setting and background to ancient Spartan society
understand the influence of beliefs and values of the Spartans
examine social structures, political relationships and gender roles (male and female) within Spartan society
construct a valid and accurate view of people’s lives in ancient Spartan society
weigh up the relevant archaeological and written evidence for Spartan society.

The people of Laconia

( Sparta -the city state that became’ like no other’)

Sparta was the ruling city of the area of Laconia in the southern Peloponnese.

Click here to view a map locating ancient Sparta

Sparta lay in the valley of the river Eurotas. Of the people in the towns and villages which she controlled, some were free and were known as perioekoi or “neighbours”, although they were inferior in status to the Spartans themselves.

Others, because they were felt to be a greater threat, were kept in a state of slavery as publicly owned agricultural labourers. These were called helots. Helots were a fundamental part of Sparta’s way of life. Around the end of the eighth century B.C., when other Greek states were obtaining the extra land which they needed by sending out colonies, Sparta took over the adjacent area of Messenia and made the conquered Messenians helots as well. Not long afterwards the Messenians revolted, and it is clear the Spartans only just managed to retain their control.

Click here for a link to an excellent site that looks at this crucial period of Spartan history and its effects on the development of Spartan society.

Though following the First Messenian War (735 B.C.-716 B.C. according to tradition) a colony in Tarentum (Taras) in Southern Italy was taken (c.705 B.C.) by the descendants of Spartan mothers and helot fathers, who, by virtue of their background, would have no share in the land that came from the conquest of Messenia. Following the conflict with Argos and the 17-year-long Second Messenian War (c.650 B.C.) Sparta’s military weakness and vulnerability were revealed.

This conflict demonstrated Sparta’s need for enough military strength to ensure internal security. Pheidon of Argos had used most successfully the hoplite formation at the Battle of Hysiae. This showed Sparta the form that military reform should take.

So, Sparta deliberately chose, during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., to develop into a city-state very unlike others. Scholars have suggested a number of reasons for Sparta’s social revolution.

A rather simplistic view explaining why Sparta embarked on such a radical transformation of her society has been suggested in the underlying fear of a helot uprising. However other scholars have seen the Spartan social revolution that followed the Messenian Wars as a determination to guarantee "survival" for the Spartans!

Previously Spartan life had not been greatly different from that elsewhere. This we learn from ancient Greek sources, as well as from recent archaeology around the site of ancient Sparta. Ruled over by two kings, the aristocratic society had been typical, importing luxury goods, employing skilled craftsmen, and enjoying art and poetry.

Ruins of the theatre of
early Sparta

Ruins of the theatre of early Sparta (looking towards the stage).

Excavations of the theatre have revealed a theatre which rivalled the famous theatre at Epidauros in size.What importance can be attached to the presence of a theatre of such dimensions when constructing a view of cultural life in ancient Sparta?

The changes which took place were traditionally ascribed to Lycurgus. This important figure in Spartan history will be considered elsewhere.

Spartiati upbringing

Everything was dedicated to making each Spartiati a superb and unquestioningly loyal soldier. The process started at birth. Newly-born babies were inspected by a committee of elders and, if considered too weak, they were left to die of exposure on the slopes of Mount Taygetos

View from the Spartan Akropolis towards the Taygetos Mountains

Babies who passed inspection were carefully brought up, as Plutarch describes:

“The women did not bathe the babies with water, but with wine, making it a sort of test of their strength. For they say that the epileptic and sickly ones lose control and go into convulsions, but the healthy ones are rather toughened like steel and strengthened in their physique. The nurses displayed care and skill: they did not use swaddling-bands, making the babies free in their limbs and bodies. They also made them sensible and not fussy about their food, not afraid of the dark or frightened of being left alone, not inclined to unpleasant awkwardness or whining. So even some foreigners acquired Spartan nurses for their children.”

Educational system: agoge

At the age of seven, a Spartan boy came directly under the control of the city, and remained so in effect until the time of his death. This education system was known as the agoge(or "training" - this was the Spartan name for their system of physical, social, intellectual and moral education of the citizen). From the age of 7, boys were brought up in "packs", which had a prefect system, and were under the supervision of the paidonomos.

The military emphasis is explained by Plutarch:

"They learned reading and writing for basic needs, but all the rest of their education was to make them well-disciplined and steadfast in hardship and victorious in battle. For this reason, as boys grew older, the Spartans intensified their training, cutting their hair short and making them used to walking barefoot and for the most part playing naked. When the boys reached the age of twelve, they no longer had tunics to wear, but got one cloak a year. Their bodies were tough and unused to baths and lotions. They enjoyed such luxury only a few special days a year. They slept, in packs, on beds which they got together on their own, made from the tops of the rushes to be found by the river Eurotas. These they broke off with their bare hands, not using knives."

The smallest offences were punishable by beatings; food was deliberately rationed so that the boys were forced to steal to get more. " If they are caught thieving, they are whipped severely, for stealing carelessly and unskillfully" (Plutarch). The packs of boys were matched against each other in violent games with a ball and in straightforward fights. As boys approached the age of 20 (when they were referred to as an eirene) and manhood, the Spartiati were expected to marry. It must be remembered that one of the duties of a Spartan was to have children. The maintenance of the Spartan population was always an issue. At this age, the eirene drove himself.... the training grew more and more severe and military in nature.

An interesting point to note, and certainly something that conflicts with views of the "rigidity of the system", is the point that, even though he was below the appropriate age, a youth might be permitted into the company of his elders.

At the festival of the goddess Artemis Ortheia, the older boys had to take part in a contest in which they snatched as many cheeses as possible from the steps of the altar to the goddess. To do so it was necessary to run the gauntlet of guards with whips, who were instructed to use them as hard as they could. Some youths died as a result.

Control of the helots: the military and krypteia

Another responsibility that formed part of the Spartan education system was participation in the Krypteia, or "period of hiding". At this time the boy had to live alone and under cover in the countryside. During this time in the Krypteia, groups of boys roamed the countryside living off the land, stealing, spying and "maintaining order". This keeping of order invariably involved the killing of helots. Strong or athletic helots, or those who showed qualities of leadership or arrogance, were the victims. The Krypteia kept order, toughened its members, taught them to be effective and ruthless fighters while further forging comradeship amongst its members.

Click here to read more on the Krypteia.

Click here for an account of the fate of the helots at the hands of the Krypteia.

What impact would events such as this have on the resolve of the helots to rebel against Spartan rule?

Despite modern teaching to the contrary, the boys were taught music and poetry as well, but these were mostly military in tone and based on religious or patriotic themes, in keeping with the rest of their education. The writings of the poets Tyrtaeus, Alcman and Terpander are important in constructing a view of Sparta at this time.

Click here for a link to a site that looks at some of the writings of the poet Alcman.

Adult life and syssitia

"The commander should outclass his troops not in fastidiousness and high living, but in stamina and courage"
Agesilaus (Eurypontid king of Sparta, 400-360 B.C.)

At the age of 20 came the most critical time in a Spartan man's life. At this age, he was permitted, for the first time, to marry. More importantly, he now tried to get elected to one of the dining clubs, rather like an army "mess", to which the men belonged. There were about fifteen members of each syssition, also known as a phydition. In order to gain membership of syssitia there was a ballot. In the ballot each member of the mess dropped a pellet of bread into an urn, and if a single man squeezed his pellet flat, the candidate was rejected. To fail to win election to any mess at all meant becoming a social outcast. Members of the mess ate all their meals communally, and each man had to provide, monthly, a fixed quota of barley, wine, cheese and figs that were grown on the Spartan's kleros, the plot of land alloted to each Spartan at birth and worked by helots. The diet was plain, including usually a type of broth, which was well-known outside Sparta for its "nastiness". The broth consisted of pork, blood, salt and vinegar. It was apparently dark in colour. The black colour was no doubt due to the blood that was an ingredient in the stew. Exaggerated sources suggest all nature of ingredients! Incidentally, this exaggeration about Spartan food is quite typical of the many exaggerations about Spartan life that circulated in the ancient world.

The syssition (syssitia in the plural) was a "military section", and the Spartan was now no less at the service of the state than he had been as a boy.

"Their training continued right into manhood, for nobody was free to live as he wished, but the city was like a military camp, and they had a set way of life and routine in the public service. They were fully convinced that they were the property not of themselves but of the state. If they had no other duty assigned to them, they used to watch the boys, either teaching them something useful, or learning themselves from seniors. For indeed one of the fine and enviable things which Lykourgos achieved for his citizens was a great deal of leisure. He forbade them to practise any manual trade at all. There was no need for the troublesome business and efforts of making money, since wealth had become completely without envy and prestige. The helots worked their land for them, supplying the fixed amount of produce." (Plutarch)

When it was necessary to fight, the effectiveness of years of training was proved many times. The army was not beaten in a strength fight from the period of the Messenian Wars (c. 800 B.C) until the Battle of Leuktra in 371 B.C.

Plutarch's account of their preparations and conduct in a battle makes it easy to see the results of Spartan training and why they were such fearsome opponents: Spartan Hoplite

"In times of battles the officers relaxed the harshest aspects of their discipline and did not stop the men from beautifying their hair and their armour and their clothing, glad to see them like horses prancing and neighing before races. For this reason they took care over their hair from the time when they were youths, especially seeing to it in times of trouble so that it appeared sleek and well-combed, remembering a saying of Lykourgos about the care of hair, that it makes the handsome better-looking and the ugly more frightening. They also had less rigorous exercises, and they allowed the young men a regime in other respects less restricted and supervised, so that for them alone war was a rest from the preparation for war... It was an impressive and frightening sight to see them advancing in time to the flute and leaving no space in the battle line, with no nervousness in their minds, but calmly and cheerful. For men in this frame of mind are unlikely to suffer from fear or excessive excitement, but rather to be steady in their purpose and confident and brave as if their god were there with them. The king, when he marched against the enemy, always had with him someone who had been crowned victor in the Olympic Games".

Above right: Spartan hoplite in distinctive red cloak and hoplon bearing the Greek letter "L"
(image courtesy of Martijn Moerbeek at Hellas.net)

Xenophon, too, had much to say about the fearsome Spartan war machine that was the result of Spartan training.

Click here to read what Xenophon wrote about the Spartan war machine.

At age 30 a Spartan male achieved full citizenship. By this stage he was expected to have married; to be single by this stage would make a Spartiati the subject of public ridicule. A Spartan male still continued to take his meals in his syssition.

At age 60 a Spartan officially "retired" to the task of being a military supervisor. Also at this age a Spartan male was eligible for election to the Gerousia. Although freed from the need to take communal meals, a Spartan male at this age still continued to take his meals in his syssition or military barracks.

It was an accepted part of Spartan society that relationships would be forged between the older men and the young Spartans. Relationships between males were not discouraged in ancient Sparta. Quite the reverse. They were encouraged and even celebrated, as was the case in the religious festival, the Hyakinthia.

Xenophon wrote..."I must also say something of the boys as objects of affection, for this likewise has some reference to education.... Lycurgus thought proper, if any man (being himself such as he ought to be) admired the disposition of a youth, and made it his purpose to render him a faultless friend, and to enjoy his company, to bestow praise on the boy; and he regarded this as the most excellent kind of education..."

Further reference to the love lives of the Spartans can be found in Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus, chapter 18, where he writes.... "Whether a boy's standing was good or bad, his lover shared it. There is a story that once, when a boy had let slip a despicable cry in the course of a fight, it was his lover whom the Ephors fined. Sexual relations of this type were so highly valued that respectable women would in fact have love affairs with unmarried girls. Yet there was no rivalry; instead, if individual males found that their affections had the same object, they made this the foundation for mutual friendship, and eagerly pursued their joint efforts to perfect their loved one's character...."

The role and status of Spartan women

The role of women was important in Spartan society. They certainly were not marginalised.

Plutarch tells us that, as far as girls were concerned, Lykourgos

" ..... took all possible care. He made the girls exercise their bodies in running, wrestling and throwing the discus and javelin, so that their children, taking root in the first place in strong bodies, would grow the better, and they themselves would be strong for childbirth, and deal well and easily with the pains of labour".

Young women, like girls, continued their physical and mental training. Like men of Sparta, women prided themselves on their fitness, their ability to endure pain and discomfort. In stark contrast to their counterparts in Athens, Spartan women were free to mingle with the men, often sharing their sports. In athletic activities and in processions the girls, like the boys, were nearly naked. One of the most strenuous athletic exercises Spartan women performed was the bibasis. It involved jumping up and down, touching the buttocks with the heel. Girls were brought up in an environment where they too were an integral part of this "military society". Just as with the boys, the girls were toughened physically and emotionally; Spartan women were expected to suffer the losses in battle just as strongly as the males in the society. There was no concept of the "lesser sex".

Spartan women might be expected to have babies to men other than their husband. Their training had aimed at ridding them of any emotional weakness. Women were expected to deliver their sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands to the service of the state and, if need be, to death in battle. According to Xenophon, it was a great act of friendship to offer one's wife to a comrade-in-arms for the purpose of siring further children.

Click here to read more of Xenophon's comments on Spartan women.

Lycurgus, it was said, saw jealousy as a curse on society. This extended to one's wife and even children.

Women, however, were excluded from holding public office and did not have the right to vote. Though Spartan women did not participate in government, Spartan women did enjoy considerable freedom, could accumulate property and exercise considerable power, even though they were deprived of a part in the actual government of Sparta. Women of Sparta enjoyed freedom and power unknown elsewhere in Greece at the same point in time.

Interestingly, Spartan women were forbidden to spin or weave. Such tasks were seen as tasks fit only for slaves.

Elsewhere in Greece, Spartan women were famous for their natural beauty, strength and grace. Lycurgus had forbidden women to wear jewellery, cosmetics and perfume.

In summary

Click on the underlined words for further information on the topic

Age group / activity

Purpose

Effects

Training:

10 days old: inspected by Council of Elders.

7-12 years old: training in physical fitness and obedience.

20-30 years old: At 20 years old the Spartiati became known as an eirene, permission was given to marry, but remained in barracks. Dined in "clubs" (syssitia.) Attendance was compulsory. Members had to be accepted by all other members. A potential member might be "blackballed".

30 years old: becomes a full citizen (or homoioi). Might sleep at home but eats in a common mess (phiditia). This mess was also the homoioi's tent in warfare. This eating in a common mess continued throughout a Spartan male's life.

60 years old: eligible for membership in the "Council of Elders" or Gerousia. At this age, many became involved in the training of younger Spartans. Frequently, relationships developed between these older men and the younger boys.

To produce strong, healthy children.

The training system was aimed at developing strong morale through association with peers and common experience. It instilled the Spartan with unquestioning loyalty to the state.

WOMEN also underwent a similar regime of rigorous training.

Training restricted the size of the homoioi population.

Spartan males lacked skill in most areas. They were largely illiterate.

They were restricted in outlook.

Spartans were never able to govern their conquests adequately.

Women:

Underwent similar training to their male counterparts. Spartan girls were often part of the rough and tumble games of Spartan boys.

Young Spartan women exercised rigorously and were inculcated with the same ideals of duty, loyalty and self-sacrifice as were young men.

To develop a deeply loyal female population who were responsible for maintaining the home while the adult male Spartans were away fighting.

The role of Spartan women as the bearers of children was paramount. Their training taught them to be tough, resilient and supportive of the State.

Spartan women had a role in the early education of infants prior to the State taking formal control at age seven.

Spartan women were an important part of Spartan society. They possessed incredible freedom when compared with their Athenian counterparts. Spartan women came to wield considerable power by virtue of their control of property.

Revision

Click on the underlined words for help in answering the questions

What took place in the first ten days of a Spartan child's life?
At what age did Spartans begin army training?
Describe the important stages in a Spartan's life
What was the Krypteia? Who formed the Krypteia?
Why were the helots "targeted" by the krypteia?
What was the name given to the system of training which Spartan males undertook?
In what ways did the education of Spartan boys differ from that of Spartan girls?
Read the extract of Plutarch on the military emphasis of Spartan education. What do you feel was the aim of treating young boys in this way?
What evidence is there that such training was effective in producing fearless warriors?
Who undertook the training of Spartan males?
What do we know about the lives of Spartan women?
What do the ancient sources say about the Spartan system of education?
Extended written response:
Explain the importance of education and training in the life of Spartan males and females.

Complete the following table:

Term	Definition / significance
agoge
paidonomos
eirene
syssition
bibasis
homoioi
kleros

Looking further

All of these books are easily obtainable:

Barrow, R.	Sparta, pp 21-38
Bradley, P.	Ancient Greece Using Evidence, pp 52-77
Bury, J. B. & Meiggs, R.	A History of Greece, pp 89-101
Ehrenberg, V.	From Solon to Socrates, pp 28-49
Hennessy, D. (ed.)	Studies in Ancient Greece, pp 57-78
Hurley, T. (et al)	Antiquity 2, pp 39-66
Koutsoukis, A. J.	History of the Ancient World - Ancient Greece, pp 44-50
Lawless, J. (ed.)	Societies from the Past – Part 4 Sparta, pp 146-205
Roebuck, C.	The World of Ancient Times, pp 198-203

The following Internet sites are excellent sources on many aspects of ancient Sparta:

Sourcebook of materials on ancient Sparta:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-sparta.html

A collection of materials on ancient Sparta: http://www.laconia.org/gen_info_literature/Web_sites%20all.htm

Another collection of materials for the study of Ancient Sparta: http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/sparta.html

A detailed bibliography on ancient Sparta:
http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/spartbib.html

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