Sparta1 ESO

Winter 2015

Government•Oligarchy•Elements of Monarchy (2 Kings)•Elements of Democracy (election of Council & Senators)•Elements of Aristocracy (rule by the upper class)

Government•2 Kings: generals in command of the armies, some

religious duties.•5 Overseers (ephors): elected every year, ran the day-

to-day operations of Sparta.•Council/Senate: 28 councilmen and the 2 kings. They

acted as judges and proposed laws.•Assembly: all Spartan males aged 30 or over could

support or veto the council's recommendations.

Social Structure•3 Classes•1st = Spartiates: military professionals who lived

mostly in barracks and whose land was farmed by serfs; they served in the army and could vote.•2nd = Perioeci: "neighbors/outsiders" who were

freemen.•3rd = Helots: serfs descended from those peoples who

had resisted enslavement by Sparta. They were treated like slaves.

Everyday Life•Militaristic values. •Children of citizens were raised to be "Spartan",

taught to get along with almost nothing. • Spartiate citizens were not permitted to own gold or

silver or luxuries. • Spartan children were taught to respect elderly,

women, and warriors.• Spartan mothers would say to their sons, "Either

come back with your shield or on it“.

Family• Children were children of the state more than of their

parents. They were raised to be soldiers, loyal to the state, strong and self-disciplined.•When a Spartan baby was born, soldiers came to the house

and examined it carefully to determine its strength. • The baby was bathed in wine to see its reaction. If a baby

was weak, the Spartans exposed it on the hillside or took it away to become a slave (helot).

Family/Education• Soldiers took the boys from

their mothers at age 7, housed them in a dormitory with other boys and trained them as soldiers. • The boys endured harsh

physical discipline. • The marched without shoes

and went without food.

Family/Education• They learned to fight, endure pain and survive with their minds. • The older boys beat the younger boys to toughen them up. • Self-denial, simplicity, the warrior code, and loyalty to the city-

state.• Spartan children were taught stories of courage and fortitude.

Family• At 20, the boys had to pass a hard test to graduate and

become full citizens.• If they failed their tests they never became citizens, but

became perioeci. • Soldiers lived in the barracks and trained as soldiers but were

required to marry to produce new young Spartans. • The state gave them a piece of land which was farmed by

slaves and which they did nothing to tend. • At 30 they were allowed to live with their families, but kept

training until they were 60.

Role of Women• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX9spQBSLVo&list=W

L&index=189•Women enjoyed much greater freedom and independence

in Sparta than in other Greek city-states. • Because mothers had little responsibility for the care of

their children, they were not as tied to the home as most Greek women were. • They were allowed to walk abroad in the city and transact

their own affairs. • They owned their own property. Their husbands were only

a minor part of their lives.

Role of Women/Family/Education• Girls were removed from the home at 7 and sent to school.

They learned wrestling, gymnastics, fighting, and other physical training. • If girls passed their citizen tests, they were assigned a

husband at 18-20. •Men and women did not live together, but met occasionally

for procreation. • There were more women than men in Sparta and women

often had more than one father for their children, and a several men might share a wife.

Education• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEItBM1dc9o&index=16

6&list=WL

Diet and Dress• Spartan Broth consisted of pork, blood, salt and vinegar. • Spartans were trained to dislike luxuries and fancy foods. • The Spartan way of dressing was very much like their

attitude to life, simple, organized and uncluttered. • The Spartans were known in Ancient Greece for liking to

not wear any clothes at all.

Diet and Dress• The most common form of

dress in the Spartan society was the Chiton or Doric, a type of tunic.• They liked to use the color

red.• Footwear for all Spartans

was a sandal or boot.

Sparta• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSLmYg1nJ7A&index=165&list=

WL