When one hears the word Sparta, images of elite soldiers fighting the forces of Persia usually come to mind. However, few know of the home life of Sparta or how they became the ancient military powerhouse they’re remembered as today. 

Spartan militarism began with the invasion of Messenia in the 8th century BC. After conquering Messenia, Sparta enslaved the inhabitants and gave its own citizens use of Messenian lands. The slaves were treated poorly by their Spartan captors, a situation which boiled over and eventually resulted in a mass slave revolt. The Spartans quelled this rebellion, but to prevent such an uprising from happening again Sparta became much more militaristic in order to keep the Messenians in subjugation. Moving forward, this is why Sparta would have such an intent focus on military strength. 

At age seven, Spartan males left home for 13 years of military training. The boys were given one cloak, no shoes, and just enough food to keep them alive. The winters were cold and the food was barely enough to live off of, so they had to steal or forage extra to survive. However, if they were caught stealing, they would be harshly punished. 

After this arduous training at age 20, these soldiers entered into the citizen army and were allowed to marry. At age 30, they became citizens but despite this achievement still had to eat at public mess halls. This helped to enforce the idea that the State and Sparta were more important than one’s own family. Even though the quality of each individual soldier was far superior to that of Athens or the other Greek city states, the Spartans did have two significant challenges. Firstly, Sparta did not have a strong navy to rival the Athenian navy. Secondly, fears of slave revolts forced Sparta to keep a significant amount of troops in the homeland. These disadvantages would become evident in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Nevertheless, on land Sparta’s military was unmatched. 

While Sparta’s military prowess is often discussed, life in Sparta is relatively unknown by most people. Even though certain aspects of their history, such as their treatment of the Messenians, were abhorrent, we still must learn what led up to them being the Greek superpower they would eventually become.