36Chapter 2
government. They conducted foreign policy, watched
over the helots, and could, if necessary, override the
military decisions of the kings. Both groups were
elected by an assembly composed of all Spartan males
over the age of thirty, the ephors for one-year terms,
the councillors for life. Though the assembly voted by
acclamation on all important matters, decisions were
usually negotiated in advance and presented at meet-
ings by the ephors.
The system struck other Greeks as old-fashioned,
but they admired its effectiveness and stability. The so-
cial system over which it presided was far stranger.
From the sixth century B.C. onward, everything in the
Spartan’s life was subordinated to the security of the
polis (see document 2.6). Infants who appeared physi-
cally unfit were killed. At seven, males were taken from
their mothers and trained to fight, endure pain, and sur-
vive without supplies in a hostile countryside. At
twenty, they entered a phiditia,a kind of barracks where
they would live for most of their lives, taking their
meals in common. Though allowed to marry, younger
Spartans could visit their wives only in secret, and fam-
ily life in the ordinary sense was discouraged. Their
military obligation ended only at the age of sixty. To
the Spartan, eternal vigilance was the price of survival.
Foreigners were periodically expelled. Trade and agri-
cultural work were forbidden; fitness, discipline, and
courage were prized.
The Spartan warrior paid dues to his phiditiafrom
the proceeds of land worked by the helots. That work
was supervised to some extent by the Spartan women,
who were renowned throughout Greece for their inde-
pendence and assertiveness. Though not expected to
fight, they received extensive physical training on the
theory that a strong mother produces strong children.
Spartan women dressed simply and wore no jewelry.DOCUMENT 2.6
A Spartan Childhood
This is one of several descriptions of Spartan values as perceived
by other Greeks, many of whom were both attracted and repelled
by them. It is taken from Xenophon’s The Constitution of the
Lacedaemonians.
In other Greek cities, parents who profess to give their
sons the best education place their boys under the care
and control of a moral tutor as soon as they can under-
stand what is said to them, and send them to a school to
learn letters, music, and the exercises of the wrestling
ground. Moreover, they soften the children’s feet by giv-
ing them sandals, and pamper their bodies with changes
of clothing; and it is customary to allow them as much
food as they can eat.
Lycurgus, on the contrary, instead of leaving each fa-
ther to appoint a slave to act as tutor, gave the duty of
controlling the boys to a member of the class from which
the highest offices are filled, in fact to the “Warden” as he
is called. He gave this person authority to punish them se-
verely in case of misconduct. He also assigned to him a
staff of youths provided with whips to chastise them when
necessary.... [I]nstead of softening their feet with sandals
he required them to harden their feet by going without
shoes. He believed that if this habit were cultivated it
would enable them to climb hills more easily and descend
steep slopes with less danger. [A]nd instead of letting
them be pampered in the matter of clothing, he intro-
duced the custom of wearing one garment throughout the
year, believing that they would thus be better prepared to
face changes of heat and cold. As to the food, he required
the prefect to bring with him such a moderate amount of
it that the boys would never suffer from repletion and
would know what it was to go with their hunger unsatis-
fied; for he believed that those who underwent this train-
ing would be better able to continue working on an empty
stomach if necessary, and would be capable of carrying on
longer without extra food....
[H]e allowed them to alleviate their hunger by steal-
ing something. It was not on account of a difficulty in
providing for them that he encouraged them to get their
food by cunning.... [O]bviously, a man who intends to
take to thieving must spend sleepless nights and play the
deceiver and lie in ambush by day, and moreover, if he
means to make a capture, he must have spies ready. There
can be no doubt then, that all this education was planned
by him in order to make the boys more resourceful in get-
ting supplies and be better fighting men.
Xenophon. “The Constitution of the Lacedemonians.” in Scripta Mi-
nora.Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1925.