page_title: Spartan army
section_title: Spartan education
hierarchical_section_title: Spartan army / Philosophy, education, and the Spartan code / Spartan education
caption_attribution_description: English: Disputed interpretation: Achilles watching out for Troilus (Louvre notice) or Cadmus fighting the Theban dragon (C.M. Stibbe, Lakonische Vasenmaler des sechsten Jahrhunderts vor Chr., Amsterdam, 1972, p. 170). Detail from a Laconian black-figure cup, ca. 550 BC–540 BC. Français&#160;: Interprétation disputée&#160;: Achille guettant Troïlos (cartel du Louvre) ou Cadmos combattant le dragon de Thèbes (C.M. Stibbe, Lakonische Vasenmaler des sechsten Jahrhunderts vor Chr., Amsterdam, 1972, p. 170). Détail d'une coupe laconienne à figures noires, v. 550–540 av. J.-C.
context_page_description: The Spartan army stood at the center of the Spartan state, citizens trained in the disciplines and honor of a warrior society. Subject to military drill from early manhood, the Spartans became one of the most feared military forces in the Greek world. At the height of Sparta's power – between the 6th and 4th centuries BC – it was commonly accepted by other Greeks that "one Spartan was worth several men of any other state". According to Thucydides, the famous moment of Spartan surrender on the island of Sphacteria, off Pylos, in 425 BC, was highly unexpected. He wrote that "it was the common perception at the time that Spartans would never lay down their weapons for any reason, be it hunger, or danger."
  Tradition states that the semi-mythical Spartan legislator Lycurgus first founded the iconic army. Referring to Sparta as having a "wall of men, instead of bricks", he proposed to reform Spartan society to develop a military-focused lifestyle in accordance with "proper virtues" such as equality for the male citizens, austerity, strength, and fitness. A Spartan male's involvement with the army began in infancy when he was inspected by the Gerousia.
context_section_description: The Spartan public education system, the agoge, trained the mind as well as the body. Spartans were not only literate, but admired for their intellectual culture and poetry. Socrates said the "most ancient and fertile homes of philosophy among the Greeks are Crete and Sparta, where are found more sophists than anywhere on earth." Public education was provided for girls as well as boys, and consequently literacy rate was higher in Sparta than in other Greek city-states. In education, sports was given the most emphasis in teaching.
  Self-discipline, not kadavergehorsam (mindless obedience) was the goal of Spartan education. Sparta placed the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity at the center of their ethical system. These values applied to every full Spartan citizen, immigrant, merchant, and even to the helots, but not to the dishonored. Helots are unique in the history of slavery in that unlike traditional slaves, they were allowed to keep and gain wealth. They could keep half their agricultural produce and presumably sell it; thus accumulating wealth. There are known to have been some occasions that a helot with enough money was allowed to purchase their freedom from the state.
caption: Mythological scene inside a black-figure cup (550–540 BC) by the Spartan artist known as the Rider Painter
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