We have heard of the Spartans, but we have not heard much about the others who lived among them. They often told their sons to “return with the shield or on it.” Those who surrendered in battle were an ultimate disgrace.
So, it could be that the use of iron currency was only because it was valuable and Sparta was a producer of iron and did not want to import other metals like copper or silver which were not produced within the country. Lycurgus’ life and deeds are mentioned in various works belonging to Herodotus, Plato, Xenophon, Pluta… The child’s father would bring the baby to them and they would declare if the child was fit for rearing and, in the future, fit to be a Spartan soldier. Between 492 and 449 BC the Spartans fought the Persians, leading the Greek city states because of their military strength. They were trained in casting the dart, running, wrestling, and throwing the bar, among other skills. Shortly before Philip of Macedon (Alexander’s father) invaded Laconia, he wrote a letter to the Spartans saying, “If I invade Laconia, I will drive you out.” The Spartans wrote a Plutarch wrote that Spartans do not say much, but what they say grabs the listener’s attention and they go straight to business (“Life of Lycurgus”: 19). Ancient Sparta was located in a region known as Laconia in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese. Their training became even more intense at age 20. As a result, young married couples were forced to live their marriage as a sort of illegal and secret affair. At least, this is what the official genealogy of the Spartan kings claimed.The existence of two ruling houses was in direct contradiction with the idea of a common ancestry, which led to an imaginative explanation: During the fifth generation after Heracles, twin sons, Agis and Eurypon, had been born to the king. Before we can start analyzing Spartan politics and society, we must first talk about Lycurgus, the man who made it all possible. And you were an accident And you were an … His social and political reforms revolved around the highly-admired Spartan virtues of equality among its citizens, physical fitness, and austerity. When a king went to war, two of the ephors would join him to supervise his actions. This This was a routine check performed every 10 days, and they were expected to display a healthy and strong physique. They were trained to survive in starvation. After returning to Sparta, he was known as “the coward Aristodemus.” One year later, Aristodemus fought and died bravely in the Battle of Plataea and regained his honor. He left and voluntarily exiled himself, ultimately sacrificing his life at Delphi by starving himself to death. On 10 Facts About Artificial Intelligence That’ll Leave You with Mixed Feelings on 12 Interesting Facts You are Definitely too Lazy to Google! In 480 BC King Leonidas of Sparta led a small army of 300 Spartan warriors and about 1000 other soldiers against the large Persian army. Iron was the only metal allowed for coinage gold and silver were forbidden. Then, after almost 400 years under Turkish rule, Greece won independence in 1832.Any kind of weakness was not tolerated in ancient Sparta. Greece was ruled by foreigners for over 2,000 years beginning with the Romans conquering the Greeks in the 2nd century. The games were banned by the Romans in A.D. Only men could compete in the events such as sprinting, long jump, discus, javelin, wrestling, and chariot racing. The first Olympic Games were held in the southern city of Olympia in 700 B.C. But during that time, only men could vote! They were often at war with each other.Īthens became the most powerful, and in 508 B.C., the people instituted a new system of rule by the people called democracy. Each state controlled the territory around a single city. The largest were Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth. The Minoans were conquered by the Myceneans from the mainland in 1450 B.C.ĭuring ancient times the country was divided into city-states, which were ruled by noblemen. Wall paintings found at the ruins of the palace Knossos show people doing backflips over a charging bull. The first great civilization in Greece was the Minoan culture on the island of Crete around 2000 B.C.