what was sparta's focus as a city state

Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. One factor was the agoge, the Greek city-states educational and training system, which used harsh, extreme and sometimes cruel methods to prepare boys to be Spartan citizens and soldiers. The Spartan hoplite army, however, showed the rest of Greece the way forward towards a greater military professionalism and considering the iconic image of fearless and disciplined hoplites with red cloaks and lambda-emblazoned shields, for the Greeks, admiring Romans and even 21st century film-goers, this is Sparta. The Battle of Salamis (480 BCE), one of the battles in the Greco-Persian Wars, revealed the magnitude of Athenian naval power and set in motion the deadly struggle between the two powers. For full treatment, see Ancient Greek civilization: The Peloponnesian War. On April 26 the three students, all girls, ages 14, 15 and 16-years-old began assaulting a 15-year-old student, Atlantic City police said. These youths pursued rigorous athletic and military training which became even more demanding from the age of 20, when they joined common mess halls (syssition) where they often formed homoerotic relations with older, more experienced citizens. The Spartans even turned it into an annual ritual, in which boys tried to steal cheeses from a temple altar, which required them to evade guards armed with whips. Being a militaristic state, Sparta's primary focus was on its land-based army, composed of armoured hoplites. Although an Athenian, Xenophon was a friend of Sparta and, in fact, served the state as a mercenary. Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. "He's an impactful player; he's a home run hitter," said Smith of Robinson. Sparta prohibited any new ideas while Athens accepted it. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/sparta/. What was the focus of Spartan culture? World History Encyclopedia. It was the ancient capital of the Laconia district of the southeastern Peloponnese, Greece. Describe Sparta as a city-state? Spartan men devoted their lives to military service, and lived communally well into adulthood. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). A Spartan was taught that loyalty to the state came before everything else, including ones family. The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta: The Persian Challenge, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Thank you! Each stood at the head of alliances that, between them, included nearly every Greek city-state. Cite This Work 29, 2023. These were the landed aristocracy, and following reforms credited to Lycurgus in the 6th century BCE (or even earlier), citizens could not indulge in agricultural activities - this was the lot of the helots - but they had to devote themselves to athletic and military training and politics. This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region. PUBLISHED 7:07 AM ET Apr. One of Spartas allies, Corinth, had directly engaged the Athenian army. JoDee Kenney sits down with Troy Mayor Patrick Madden to talk about balancing a city budget, while still providing necessary services to residents. What was Sparta's focus as a city-states? Sparta was one of the most well known city states in ancient Greece. A Spartan woman saying goodbye to her young son who is going off to war.  Epaminondas' Echelon formation in the Battle of Leuctra. Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Reputedly founded in the 9th century bce with a rigid oligarchic constitution, the state of Sparta for centuries retained as lifetime corulers two kings who arbitrated in time of war. The understanding that ones life was not ones own to do with as one pleased but belonged to the state which had given that life was inculcated for women through the examples of their mothers and their tutelage and, for men, through the Spartan training program of the agoge. As in antiquity, it is served by the small port of Githion (Ythion), 28 miles (45 km) southeast, to which it is linked by a paved road. A peculiar feature of the Spartans and their military was the great importance given to matters of religion. The prior financial year she was awarded a salary of roughly $1 million, in addition to about $4 million from mostly stocks and options, an annual incentive plan, and covered expenses, like access . For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. The agoge of the Classical Period continued producing its elite warriors up through 371 BCE when Sparta was defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra and still continued on in some form until 396 CE when Sparta was sacked and fell to the Visigoth king Alaric. Spartan Soldier From Birth: Growing Up In A City of Warriors Xenophon, a philosopher and historian who lived from the late 400s to mid-300s B.C., noted that one purpose was to keep them slim, which Lycurgus, the founder of the Spartan system, believed would make them grow taller. Patrick J. Kiger has written for GQ, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, PBS NewsHour and Military History Quarterly. A second and lower social group was the helots, semi-enslaved agricultural labourers who lived on Spartan-owned estates. This defeat led to Athenian surrender. He's the co-author (with Martin J. Smith) of Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America. One such type of governing body was the city-state or polis. . Originally Sparta was not that different from other Greek city states. The well-built and sturdy children were allowed to live, while those who were deemed unhealthy or deformed were left at the foot of a mountain to die. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Last modified June 15, 2021. Athens vs Sparta Differences and Similarities: A complete list From 1460 until the War of Greek Independence (182129), except for a Venetian interlude, the region was under Turkish rule. All Rights Reserved. Sparta focused on producing good . (17.2-3). The agoge aimed to instill soldierly virtues: strength, endurance, solidarity, as the late Canadian historian Mark Golden wrote. The Spartans spoke Greek. Thus, the Athenians had the stronger navy and the Spartans the stronger army. It was a period in which diplomatic maneuvers gradually gave way to small-scale military operations as each city tried to win smaller states over to its side. Sparta fought both foreign and neighboring adversaries. At the end of 411 the rebuilt Athenian navy, fresh from several victories, acted to restore democratic rule. Urged on by the demagogue Cleon, the Athenians voted to massacre the men of Mytilene and enslave everyone else, but they relented the next day and killed only the leaders of the revolt. Lazenby writes in his book The Spartan Army. During this final period of the agoge, a man might marry but most did not until they graduated at the age of 30. Sparta's focus as a city-state was military. Sparta was a powerful city-state in ancient Greece. The Spartans conquered their neighbors and forced them to live as slaves, providing agricultural labor. Although a Spartan woman did not have much to do with the day-to-day raising of their sons, boys were still expected to recognize and honor their mothers through displays of courage, skill, and military victory. Hostilities resumed between Athens and Sparta with an assault launched by the Athenians at Sicily. The problem with Xenophons claim, however, is that the relationship between lover and beloved anywhere - was intended to enrich the soul, and relationships which were pursued purely for sexual gratification were disapproved of in Greece generally, so Sparta would not have been an exceptional case. READ: Greco-Roman (article) | Khan Academy Also known as: Lacedaemon, Na Spart, Spart. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/342/agoge-the-spartan-education-program/. The treaty stated that Athens and Sparta would defend each other for the next 50 years. Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance. The walls helped protect Athens from direct assault, and its leader, Pericles, urged Athens not to engage in direct land battles with the Spartans. The next 11 years made up the wars second period of fighting. Athens believed that power should be used for the individual's benefit. Unlike such Greek city-states as Athens a center for the arts, learning and philosophy Sparta was centered on a warrior culture. Athens defeat was perhaps the worst casualty in a war that crippled Greek military strength, and thus the most culturally advanced Greek state was brought into final eclipse. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Sparta - National Geographic Society HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The modern-day term laconic, meaning to express much in few words, comes from Laconia, the home of the Spartans. Bibliography Help our mission to provide free history education to the world! With your support millions of people learn about history entirely for free, every month. Cartwright, M. (2013, May 28). The main meal was held after dark and no torches were allowed for lighting the way to or from the mess hall in order to encourage the mens skill in navigating terrain in the dark and, so, the enable them to gather and eat when in the field without alerting an opposing force to their location. Plutarch notes: The boys make such a serious matter of their stealing, that one of them, as the story goes, who was carrying under his cloak a young fox he had stolen, suffered the animal to tear out his bowels with teeth and claws, and died rather than have his theft detected. Neither view captures the complexities not to say conflicting accounts of the city-state known anciently as Lacedaemon. Mayor Jones State of the City Address 2023 Apr 25, 2023: Full text of the State of the City Address given at Saint Louis University on April 25, 2023 City of St. Louis Opens Application Portal for Charter Commission to Review City's Founding Document Apr 17, 2023: The commission will empower St. Louisans to modernize and streamline city government in a transparent, citizen-driven way. Sparta was a warrior society in ancient Greece that reached the height of its power after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.). Xenophon, however, denies there was any sexual element to the relationships of the boys in the agoge. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Plutarch writes: Under [the direction of the paidonomos] the boys, in their several companies, put themselves under the command of the most prudent and warlike of the so-called Eirens. The decisive event was the catastrophe suffered by the Athenians in Sicily. (This practice was also intended to demonstrate to young people how an adult Spartan should never act, as self-control was a prized trait.) Both city-states educated their citizens in order to become productive members of society. From the age of 7, Spartan children were trained to fight. To the Spartans, women had the most important responsibility of all: giving birth to warriors.

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