Spartan Army
By:Austin Anthony
Intro
The citizens in the city state Sparta primary obligation was to be good soldiers. the Spartans were one of the most feared military forces in world history. Know as the best soldiers in the world they were born to be Spartans. They were known as fearlessness, harsh and cruel life, bland and lacking creativity. In battle they would never retreat if they lost a battle they all died it was their idea of a perfect death to die in battle.
Early life
The males were were born to be Spartans If the baby was found to be weak, he was left at Mt Taygetus to die. When they were young children they were kept under intense and rigorous military training. The Spartans encouraged athletic completion their own education focused primarily on War tactics. They married the strongest boys with the strongest girls and the fastest boys with the fastest girls in order to bread the best warriors. Infamously, the Spartan elders would inspect new born infants and any found to be imperfect
Early training
The training of Spartan warriors started when they were boys about 7 years old. Their education emphasized physical, mental and spiritual toughness and could be quite brutal. They where taught to endure hardship and pitted against each other in fights by their instructors.
Spartan Military Duty
At age twenty the men of Sparta moved into their homes and became full time soldiers. Even if they married, which they were expected to Military service lasted until the age of forty, duty in the reserves lasted from forty to sixty years of age. In desperate time’s men as old as sixty-five could be called up to protect supplies. And in battle every men's duty was to protect the man to the left because of the battle formations they were in. They were to show no mercy to enemies and fight their hardest, to fight till death.
Rulers
Sparta consisted of two kings the ones with the most power were called Greek warrior kings known for fighting in battle in the front instead of watching from the back. The kings were also the Spartans best warriors. The most well known one is King Leonidas I from the battle of Thermopylae where he led exactly 300 Spartans which was a very small amount and also led and 700 Thespiae which were sort of allies that were against the Persians. They defended the pass at Thermopylae for 3 days against a massive Persian army on the last day Thespias retreated and the Spartans stayed and fought because they never backed out of a fight. The Persian immortals splayed the 300 Spartans including King Leonidas himself which put the whole Spartan army at war against the Persians.
Lifestyle
When the Spartan soldiers were not in battle they were being taken care of at home by their wife and usually they would help their boys with the early training. And also since they had to stay in shape they would keep training until they were called up for battle
Famous battles
Battle of Aegospotami last battle between Athens & Sparta
Battle of Thermopylae
Weapons
7-9 feet spear
Short but deadly sword about 2 feet
Shield weighing about 30 pounds can be deadly ,They were constructed out of wood with an outer layer of bronze.
Shield
Spartan shield made out of Bronze
Spear (Dory)
Long spear used to stab enemies in defensive formation.
(xiphos) Spartan Sword
Sword they used in battle