What is the Spartan society known for?
Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. At age 7, Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance.
What type of society did the Spartans have?
Sparta was an oligarchy. The state was ruled by two hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontid families, both supposedly descendants of Heracles and equal in authority, so that one could not act against the power and political enactments of his colleague.
What was Sparta social structure?
The society of Ancient Sparta was divided into three main classes. At the top of society were Spartiate. Following the Spartiate were the perioeci and at the bottom, were the helots. The Spartiate were like the native Spartans in Sparta.
What was the significance of the inferiors in Spartan society?
Hypomeiones ‘inferiors’ They would be people who dropped their shield in battle. They were not banished – perhaps as a warning or means of humiliation. Other inferior people in Spartan society were the parthenai, the children of unmarried Spartan mothers and, probably, Spartan fathers.
How did Spartan society thrive and prosper?
Trade amongst the various Greek city states helped ensure mutual prosperity, and alliances helped to establish a balance of power that kept the Greeks from fighting too much amongst themselves, although there were conflicts.
Why is Sparta important in history?
In antiquity, it was a powerful city-state with a famous martial tradition. Ancient writers sometimes referred to it as Lacedaemon and its people as Lacedaemonians. Sparta reached the height of its power in 404 B.C. after its victory against Athens in the second Peloponnesian war.
Why did the Spartans make the army the center of their society?
The Spartans built a military society to provide security and protection.
What was the society like in ancient Greece?
Greek society was comprised of independent city-states that shared a culture and religion. Ancient Greeks were unified by traditions like the panhellenic games. Greek architecture was designed to facilitate religious ceremonies and common civic spaces.
What are three facts about Sparta?
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Sparta
- The first female Olympic victor was Spartan.
- 298, rather than 300, Spartans, died at Thermopylae.
- The Spartans enslaved an entire population, the Helots.
- Spartan hoplites probably didn’t have lambdas on their shields.
- They used iron rods, rather than coins, as currency.
What was their role in Spartan society helots?
The helots were in a sense state slaves, bound to the soil and assigned to individual Spartans to till their holdings; their masters could neither free them nor sell them, and the helots had a limited right to accumulate property, after paying to their masters a fixed proportion of the produce of the holding.
What does evidence reveal about the structure of Spartan society?
Conclusively, the evidence reveals that Sparta’s societal structure ensured that Spartiates remained an exclusive elite. Spartan social hierarchy was divided into three distinct classes: Spartiates, non-citizens, and helots.
What effect did Sparta’s commitment to the military have on other aspects of its society and culture?
A lifelong dedication to military discipline, service, and precision gave this kingdom a strong advantage over other Greek civilizations, allowing Sparta to dominate Greece in the fifth century B.C.