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Thanks in part to the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a small force of Spartan soldiers stayed behind to fight to the death against a vastly larger Persian army, the warriors of Sparta have long been famous for their military prowess and tenacity. Even today, the word “Spartan” conjures up an image of an awesomely fit, skillful fighter, indifferent to pain and fear.
“Other [Greek] city states had fine armies,” explains Kimberly D. Reiter, an associate professor of ancient and medieval history at Stetson University. “Sparta was recognized by most as the best.”
How did the Spartans become so awe-inspiring? One factor was the agoge, the Greek city-state’s educational and training system, which used harsh, extreme and sometimes cruel methods to prepare boys to be Spartan citizens and soldiers.
“The agoge aimed to instill soldierly virtues: strength, endurance, solidarity,” as the late Canadian historian Mark Golden wrote. But it accomplished all that at great cost, by turning Spartan boys’ childhood into what today would be seen as a traumatic experience.
According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who wrote several centuries after Sparta’s heyday in the 400s B.C., Spartans began developing soldiers shortly after birth, when male infants were evaluated by Spartan elders. 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 article from: www.history.com
