The Spartan Army
Known to be one of the greatest
The beggining of the Spartan Army
The Spartan army was one of the greatest and most strong army's in the world in their time period. The citizens of Sparta obligated them selves on being killing machines. From infancy the Spartan boy was taken into military training, being trained at such a young age made them great warriors. It was known that one Spartan man was equal to several other men from another state. The army was first recognized by the philosopher Lycurgus with his famous quote of Sparta's army being like a "wall of men, instead of bricks". This is what influenced Sparta initially to create a military focused lifestyle.
Going through the ranks
The Spartans were a very tough group of citizens with the strict rule of going into the army. From the age of seven they were taken from their mothers and went through training for the next several years. They would not be voluntarily put into the military school it was by force, the only children who would not go is the parents first child. The military school that the boys were put in was called the Agoge, which enforced rigorous and painful training. Those who passed the Agoge by the age of 30 were given full Spartan citizenship and were prepared for battle at any given moment.
Military tactics
Spartans were a strict group of people especially when it comes to army tactics. They did not allow any mess-ups or out of order actions in war. Such as a typical Greek formation the Spartans used a phalanx to attack their enemies. A phalanx is a rectangular or other shaped formation with shields covering the front and all sides. It was said that if one man is penetrated, the whole group is penetrated. The phalanx moved like the human body, as one unit, and if one part of you is gone the rest of the body will fail. The Spartans used spears, spikes, and sarissas to equip the phalanx to get maximum distance from their enemy. They also used the traditional shield and sword, but the shield was the most important part of a Spartan warrior. It was expected to loose their spear or sword in battle but when they loose their shield it was a sign of disgrace in Sparta, sometimes people were even banned from the Spartan state. Spartans said it was disgrace because it holds the symbol of Sparta on the front called the Lambda, which represents Spartan freedom and justice when they created the state.