Spartans were taken away from their families at age seven! The military training was cruel and harsh they had to do unimaginable things like walk around with no shoes, one pair of clothing, hunger, steal food, and were held in events in which they got beat and whipped.
Boys: Male Spartan children were sent to military school at the age of six or seven. They lived with their brotherhood. School courses were very hard and painful for boys, and school was described as a 'brutal training period.' Between the age of 18 and 20, Spartan males had to pass a fitness test that consisted of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills. If he didn't pass, he became a person who had no political rights and was not even considered a citizen called a periodos. If he did pass, he would continue to serve in the military and train as a soldier until he was 60, when the soldier could retire to live with his family.
Girls Girls were trained in their sisterhood, and were taught physical education. They also started school at the age six or seven. It is unknown as to whether their school was as rough and hard as the boys', but some historians believe the two schools were very similar in their objectives, to produce a strong group of women.
The one thing that was important to teach the youth in Sparta was strength. They valued strength because they used it to train in Ancient Greece for wars and battles. Which is the reason they were feared all throughout Ancient Greece. They also did not need walls because they were fierce in war and battles, they could defeat a lot of enemies. The Spartan education system is unique and revolved on war. Each child was expected to become a soldier by the age 20. They were taken from their families at age 7 and started school. They were treated and expected to think like an animal. They were in groups called herds, flocks, and herds. They also had one piece of clothing for the whole year, they could not wear shoes and certain events they were beaten to toughen them up if they died or begged they would be proven to weak.
Spartan education was cruel and revovled around war, and combat.
Parents would rather their child die in war without victory than survive a loss of war.
In 480 B.C Sparta joined Athens during the persian war. 300 Spartans held off thousands of Persian soldiers at the mountain of Thermopylae. Not a single spartan survived the war.
Girls were trained in their sisterhood, and were taught physical education. They also started school at the age six or seven. It is unknown as to whether their school was as rough and hard as the boys', but some historians believe the two schools were very similar in their objectives, to produce a strong group of women.
Girls: Girls were trained in their sisterhood, and were taught physical education. They also started school at the age six or seven. It is unknown as to whether their school was as rough and hard as the boys', but some historians believe the two schools were very similar in their objectives, to produce a strong group of women. Boys: Male Spartan children were sent to military school at the age of six or seven. They lived with their brotherhood. School courses were very hard and painful for boys, and school was described as a 'brutal training period.' Between the age of 18 and 20, Spartan males had to pass a fitness test that consisted of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills. If he didn't pass, he became a person who had no political rights and was not even considered a citizen called a periodos. If he did pass, he would continue to serve in the military and train as a soldier until he was 60, when the soldier could retire to live with his family.
At age 18, the Spartan girl also had to pass a fitness test. If she passed, a husband would be assigned to her, and she would be allowed to go home, however if she failed she would also become a perioidos. A woman in Sparta things were very different for citizen women than they were in other Greek cities, where women would stay home most of their lives and be controlled by their husband. In Sparta, women had a lot of free will and were almost as good fighters as the men.
They were taught reading and writing until the age 14 then they would have only military training. The boys were expected to think and act like animals. They were placed into groups called herds and flocks. They had to hunt and steal for food they were also starved and only allowed to wear one pair of clothing. They were aloud to, but if they were caught they would get beat.
This picture shows that not only were boys taught but so were girls. Girls were taught reading and writing just like boys but instead of going off to military training girls were trained by sports they were still taught reading and writing while doing sports. All spartan kids and teens participated in sports such as wrestling, boxing, running, and etc. They all competed in violent games and fights against other students.