Battle of Thermopylae and Spartan Army

The Fall Spartan Military Power

A garrison society along with built up tension will result in the inevitable fall of one of the most notorious nations of all time. Sparta was a place, a people like no other. The way in which they managed their daily affairs lead to restriction of rights. The Spartan Idealism and Spartan Law aided in the collapse of Sparta. " Sparta stood for the complete antithesis to Athens, with here brilliant culture, freedom-loving but fickle democracy and cult of the individual. Sparta was a model of stability, order and discipline or of reaction, regimentation and repression. ‘ The organization of your state is that of an army camp, not of people who live in a town' Plato"#. Sparta Growing up in Sparta was a much different experience than their neighboring States. A Spartan was brought up in a very regimented lifestyle taught that the greatest glory was death in battle#. The life of a Spartan from birth until death is an intriguing story filled with excitement, danger, and pride. Spartan citizens would participate in mock battles, deal with the political matter of the state, and training young Spartan boys into Soldiers#. Every infant was examined shortly after birth by the elders do the tribesman who either passed it or, if the baby was weakly or deformed, ordered it to be thrown over a special cliff. At the age of eight the boy would be enrolled in a ‘herd' under supervision of a senior Spartiate. When the boy reached the age of thirteen he would move on to another ‘herd'#. The training was mainly centered around athletics and military. Sparta was not known for their arts but the young men would study literature learning how to read. The boys lived a very hard regimented lifestyle living in dormitories, only receiving one garment a year, and where not aloud to bathe. They where fed meager rations and where encouraged to steal yet punished if they where careless and got caught.# The boys would be put through relentless