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Ethan Butterfield


 * The Spartan Agoge**

As customary by Spartan law all spartan men must serve in the military, at birth this brutal life of war begins. when a Spartan boy was born the father must take the child to the council of elders. These men would then look at the infant and carefully search for any birth defects or the slightest sign of weakness or sickness. If they deemed the crying baby to be unworthy of carrying a Spartan shield it would be taken immediately to a nearby cliff off Mt. Taygetos and cast over it's edge. However should the child pass it's inspection the boy would be returned home where he would live for six years. Then at the age of seven the next phase of the childs life would come and the Agoge would begin.



The child was placed in a communal barracks with others his age, the boy was placed in one of the many troops called Angelei, supervised by an older boy referred to as an Eirena who had been the strongest in his class, and was undergoing something like officer training. For the next five years these Spartan boys were conditioned. Physically and Mentally.  Mentally the boys were prepared for the atrocities of war. taught to ignore pain and any discomfort, to not know pity, and to understand there is no higher greatness than maintaning his honor. As for proper education, they were taught only the basics of how to read and write and to waste no words speaking to the point. Mathamatics was limited to counting out soldiers in formation. They also learned military poems, war songs, how to dance and recited Homer.

Physically they were drilled in gymnastics, running, jumping, throwing of spear and discus, and also taught to endure pain and hardship. Every Spartan boy was forced to face hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue and lack of sleep. Given one piece of cloth to wear, issued by the state once a year. Their main meal was a broth called “ melanas zomo s”, but they were encouraged to steal food, to compensate for what little they were given, but if they were caught, they were punished. The ability to scavenge is a valuable skill when at war for years far from home.

At age twelve the boy was taken from the barracks and made to eat, live and sleep in wilderness for one year, exposed to the beasts and the weather. This yearlong exercise taught survival and field skills that he would need in war. From age thirteen until he reached what was considered manhood at twenty the Spartan child played serious war games that often left the contestants dead or injured and would include armed invasions on Messenian agricultural slaves called helots and other non Spartans living nearby.



At the age of twenty the Agoge ended, and the Spartan was then placed in the Spartan standing army. He would be placed in the public barracks and join one of the dining messes or clubs (//pheiditia, syssitia//), which were composed from about fifteen members, he will eat and sleep at these barracks, until At the age of thirty, then the Spartan will become a citizen with full rights and duties and he would be able to take part in the assembly of the people (the // Apella //) and hold public office. It was only then that they were granted the privilege to live in their own house and not in the barracks and take a wife. A Spartan soldier would still remain in the army however until age sixty when they were finally allowed to retire. 

Any male who did not successfully pass through the Agoge would be denied Spartan citizenship. This part of Spartan Law was a burden of the nation. It made for a major lack in the number of Spartan citizens. This actually is mainly what ended practice in the 3rd century B.B., in the 2nd century B.C. Cleomenes III reinstated the system. Again after a short forty years it was abolished by Philopoemen. The fading in and out of this system continued until the fall of Greece. Yet other military training systems like it have sprung up in many cultures throughout history, such as in Rome, and Modern day Special Forces programs in many nations. ​ One little known aspect of the Spartan Agoge is the relationship between a boy going thorough the Agoge and an older sort of mentor. This Mentor does everything expected that a mentor would that we think of in our culture. But In Spartan culture there was what is called pederasty, which is the developement of an intimate relationship between the man and boy. It was beleived that this love between the two was necessary for the boy's fromation as a free citizen. The alleged sexual indulgence of Spartan pederastry was a common gag in the repertoire of Athenian comedians.



Below is a video protraying the process of training a young Spartan boy.

media type="youtube" key="iu4BX5JJvro" height="344" width="425"

Bibliography of refrenced web sites.

ancient-military-history.suite101.com/.../**agoge**_**spartan**_military_training [|www.sikyon.com/] **Sparta**/agogi_eg.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Agoge** www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/.../**sparta**culture.html ancienthistory.about.com/od/**sparta**/a/MilitaryState_2.htm www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/**sparta**-c.html www.**sparta**.markoulakispublications.org.uk/index.php?id=94