BABY SPARTANS
Spartan babies were only allowed to live if they looked healthy – otherwise they were left to die. This was true of lots of other ancient civilisations too, so be glad you didn’t live in those days.
HARD NUT BOARDING SCHOOL
Assuming you’ve survived and you want to grow up to be a Spartan citizen (in which case you need to be a boy – sorry, girls), you’ll be sent away from your parents to a training school called the agoge when you’re seven years old. You’re divided into teams, and each team elects a leader – Sparta is a democracy, so this is a useful first lesson. By the way, you’re not allowed to whinge.
WARRIOR TRAINING
If you’re going to be a Spartan citizen, you’re going to be a Spartan warrior (there’s no choice about this). So you’re trained to be at the peak of fitness, and you’re taught how to fight. You’ll also be expected to put up with quite a lot of physical pain. Without whingeing.
SPARTAN COMFORTS
There aren’t any comforts. You have to make your own bed from reeds picked from the river by hand. From the age of twelve the only item of clothing you’re allowed is a cloak. You’ll be given one of these a year – and you’d better be grateful for it. The most common food is black broth, made from pork, blood and vinegar. As part of the training you won’t always be given enough to eat, and will be encouraged to steal food using stealth and cunning. But if you’re caught you’ll be severely punished (this might be useful if you’re ever stuck behind enemy lines).
GRADUATION
The agoge should turn you into a strong, fit, cunning, well-disciplined warrior. If you’ve done well in your training and passed all the tests, at the age of 20 you’ll become a Spartan soldier, expected to fight in the army. You’ll become a citizen when you’re 30.
SPARTAN GIRLS
If you’re a girl, your main responsibility in life is to produce good Spartan warriors. So girls have to make sure they’re physically fit too, so that they have healthy babies – they learn dancing and sports. Girls are also taught to read and write, a skill most other Greek states don’t bother teaching girls.
