The Rise of Athens

…and moderate laughter.

Festivals allowed an opportunity for dancing and singing. The Gymnopaideia, the Festival of Naked Boys, was one of the state’s most solemn celebrations during which young Spartans danced in the nude in the main square (also referred to as the Dancing Floor). Three choirs would perform. Old men would begin, singing “We once were valiant young men”; then men in their prime would respond: “That is what we are now: look and learn”; and, finally, teenagers chanted: “One day we will be better men than all of you.”

The poems of a patriotic general called Tyrtaeus were learned by heart and used as marching songs. They called for valor in the field, as these typical lines make clear.

For a good man to die in the vanguard is a fine thing

Doing battle on behalf of his native land.

But to leave his city and rich fields,

To go begging is the most miserable of fates.

Spartans did not enjoy gossip and could not stand having to listen to long speeches. They were men of few words—hence our “laconic.” Fellow-Greeks loved collecting specimens of their down-to-earth brevity, as when a Spartan king was asked what type of training was most practiced at Sparta. He replied: “Knowing how to take orders. And how to give orders.”

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Adult male citizens—the Spartiates or “Equals”—joined a military mess, a syssitia (literally, a “common meal”). It had about fifteen members, who spent most of their time together and shared everything in common.

Around the age of eighteen a trainee entered the army reserve and two years later was eligible for election to a syssitiai by its members. He had finished the agogē,

but went on living with his comrades. At the age of thirty he became a full citizen, but only if he was a member of a syssitia—not necessarily a simple matter, for one vote was enough to blackball a candidate.

An Equal owned farming land, which was tilled by helots, or serfs. Its produce enabled him to make a contribution to the costs of the syssitia. Apparently, this would include for every month seventy-four liters of barley, thirty-six liters of wine (not too bad a ration), about two kilograms of cheese, one of figs, and a small sum of money for cheap “relishes” (namely, flesh or fowl). In this way he was freed from working for his own living and enabled to spend his active life as a soldier, in training or on campaign. If he could not afford the contribution, he was dismissed from the mess.

All contributions were equal and the same standard of living was intended for all. Young Spartans were not to be tempted to make money. They were forbidden to engage in business or to own silver or gold. Gold and silver coins were not struck, and instead only iron bars were used. These were given a very low financial value, so that a substantial sum of money was inconveniently heavy and large to transport easily or to store. There was little point in receiving cash in this form as a gift or a bribe or in stealing it.

Cowardice was punished by social ostracism. Mothers and wives would tell their menfolk to return home victorious or dead: “Come back with your shield or on it.” In fact, on the rare occasions that an army lost a battle the Spartan soldier was better advised to give his life than save it. If he was injured, it was essential that his wounds were on the front of his body. Cowards could not hold public office, were expelled from their mess, had to wear a cloak with colored patches, and were not allowed to marry.

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Women in ancient Greece spent much of their lives in discreet seclusion, and above all were banned from taking part in public sports, riding, or hunting. In Sparta it was quite the opposite. Girls were brought up like their brothers to excel physically.

They were made to harden their bodies through exercise. They ran, wrestled, threw the discus, and hurled the javelin, just as the boys did. Motherhood was to be their main purpose in life and the theory was that in this way they would be able to manage the pangs of childbirth and give birth to healthy and strong sons.

Although this was shocking to other Greeks, who expected the opposite sex to be modestly clothed, Spartan girls wore only a scanty tunic or even went about naked. Makeup, long hair, or gold ornaments were barred. Women were not shy at coming forward and enjoyed engaging in hostile banter with men, but, if there was no prudery in Sparta, flirtatious and conventionally feminine behavior was discouraged.