The Warriors of Sparta

In the heart of the Peloponnesus, just north of Mistras is the area where the Spartans built their community. It is a rugged and mountainous region with rich fertile valleys. In this ancient civilization there were three distinct classes: the peasants, the tradesmen/artisans and the landowners/warriors. Those chosen to be warriors were forbidden to work for the rest of their life. Training constantly the art of war would start at the age of 7. They ate and slept communally with the barest essentials. Hence the modern term “spartan conditions”. At age 20, all of that training would be put use by a series of initiation tests. Part of that ultimate test included being flogged within an inch of your life. The military officers would abandon the warrior in training in the wilderness and instruct them to kill any peasant they came across who were outside after dark. It was not unheard of for the trainee to die in the initiation process. And if the testing didn’t kill you, the fighting probably would. In battle, you were expected to give your life without hesitation. In 580 B.C. only 300 of these fierce warriors stood up against the entire Persian army. Isn’t there a Hollywood movie about this famous battle? After holding off the Persian army, Sparta’s reputation as warriors grew to heroic proportions. For centuries it was thought that a Spartan would never be taken alive.