Spartiate
- Ancient Greece
- 1 min
By Crusader1307
The Ancient Spartans were famed Warriors of The Ancient World. As we have seen, they were divided into various Castes, even among their Military. As with The Perioeci (near the lowest), The Spartiate were above them. Excluded from manual labor, The Class was the Elite few, trained ruthlessly in The ''Warrior Arts'' and mentally conditioned to perform under any conditions – flawlessly.
Assigned as Soldiers from the age of 8, Spartiates were sent to Training Schools known as ''Agoges''. Here, life was brutal and unforgiving. A Spartan Warrior was exposed to rigorous physical training and ''real life'' battle conditions – to condition them to the ''real thing''. In The Agoge System, Spartiates formed Companies and lived their entire Military Career with that Group.
Traditionally, Spartans remained with Their Companies, even with Marriage and Family, visiting them when not training or in ''The Field''. Only when a Spartan was too old to fight (or otherwise injured beyond His control), was He allowed to leave and ''retire''. By the 4th Century BC, less and less Spartan Males were living to fill their decimated ranks (thru War). As only Spartan Citizens could serve in The Spartan Army, no provisions were ever made for other types of recruits (foreign). Less Agoges were formed and poorer training became standard until the ''glory that was Sparta'' vanished.
