All Of The Intense Ways The Spartans Maintained Discipline

The Spartans were so invested in making sure they produced the very best warriors that they were even willing to sacrifice their children if they weren’t considered fit. Several ancient historians allude to the practice of exposing babies, in which a weak or deformed child would be left on a hillside. Very often this was a death sentence, as the child would usually die of either exposure to the elements or be devoured by wild animals. Sometimes they would be adopted by strangers, but this tended to be in the realm of myth rather than reality.

If a baby was fortunate enough to not be left on a hillside to die - hardly a guarantee in the very eugenics-minded Spartans - they still had to endure a number of tests before they were allowed to actually mature. Among other things, according to some stories of the ancient world, they were essentially immersed in wine to see if they would cry; if they did, they would be exposed. Spartan children also endured what those in the modern world would no doubt see as neglect, since they were not attended to when they cried.

The Spartans went to extraordinary lengths to make sure the Helots were kept under tight control. Unsurprisingly, young men in military training were key to these efforts, and they were often organized into bands called the Krypteia, who were essentially a secret police force. The most promising young warriors were given a knife and then set free to essentially kill any Helot with whom they came into contact. It was yet another brutal way in which the Spartans not only ensured they created a class of men utterly devoted to killing but also made sure their underlings were kept in their appointed place.

The Spartans excelled at making sure punishments were popular, in the belief public shaming would help to enforce their militaristic norms. In one particularly notable ritual, young men were actually beaten at the altar of Artemis Orthia. In some cases the beatings would be so severe the youths died from the violence, even as they were also encouraged to see this as an opportunity to show off their fortitude to the masses. The practice proved remarkably enduring, and it was still going on during the time of the Romans, when it became something of a blood sport, devoid of its earlier didactic purpose.

For the Spartans it wasn’t enough to keep the Helots in a perpetual state of subservience and slavery; they also had to make sure they remembered their inferior status. To this end, they would often force their Helots to get drunk and behave like fools. This particular practice also served as a salutary lesson to young free Spartans of the dangers of overindulgence. The Spartans were also quite willing to kill their Helots, often for minor infractions or for simply being too talented, strong, or intelligent (and thus a danger).

Even though modern popular media likes to talk a lot about how the Spartans fought for freedom, the reality was more complicated. Their warrior class was maintained at the expense of the freedom of an entire class of people, known as Helots. The Spartans kept a stranglehold on this population, in part because they lived with the constant fear they might revolt. In fact, the Ephors - magistrates - declared war on the Helots every year, which essentially meant they could be hunted and killed without legal recourse and without drawing the ire of the gods. Moreover, the Spartans even had a corps of secret police whose duty it was to keep an eye on these serfs to make sure they didn’t rebel.

Much of the training of young Spartan men revolved around making sure they were physically fit to fight in battle. However, those tasked with training young men also made sure their fledgling warriors were able to answer questions quickly and to the point. If they did not do this in the approved way, punishment was the answer. They would either be bitten or, in the case of worse infractions, beaten on the legs (which would in turn mean they wouldn’t be able to hunt or train, thus doubling the humiliation).

Even though the boys and young men of Sparta were thrown together, this didn’t mean they were encouraged to get along. Indeed, in an effort to cultivate the martial spirit they were often pitted against each other in very brutal contests of strength and endurance. Among other things, they were often put on an island, where they would attempt to knock the others off by any means necessary. This was yet another way in which Spartan boys were encouraged to abandon any trace of weakness or mercy.

The Spartans were notoriously frugal when it came to feeding their young men. In part this was because such poor feeding would enable them to become taller (at least according to Xenophon). Just as importantly, however, this practice also meant the boys and young men would have to steal in order to eat, a key part of making them more suitable and effective warriors. The caveat, of course, was that they would also be beaten if they were caught, which is very much in keeping with the general Spartan ethos.

As cruel as Spartans could be toward external enemies and the Helots, they could also be very unpleasant to their own. This was particularly true with those men who, for one reason or another, didn’t marry. Marriage, like so many other aspects of Spartan culture, was understood to be a key means of producing new warriors. As a result, anyone who didn’t marry was subject to public ridicule. In fact, bachelors were made to walk around the square naked while being ridiculed with songs. As if this weren’t enough, women were also known to chase and beat those who weren’t married.

Spartans of any age were absolutely committed to militarism and success on the battlefield. Thus, it makes sense that they were particularly averse to suffering defeat at the hands of an enemy, and surrender was essentially anathema to any good Spartan warrior. As Spartan mothers were known to say to their sons: “return with your shield or on it.” This belief in the absolute value of dying in battle was so pervasive it even extended to death. Those who died in battle - along with mothers who died in childbirth - were allowed to have their names engraved on their tombs.

The Spartans were very adept at encouraging certain sorts of behavior among young trainees, usually with the purpose of encouraging them to discipline themselves. Most notably, they were very straightforward in encouraging young men in the agoge to actually taunt and tease and torment those who were showing any kind of weakness or fear. Though this was especially rife among the men who comprised the agoge, sources indicate it was also normal for Spartan girls - who had their own rigorous training to go through and their part to play in the rigid nature of their society - to hurl insults at the young men in order to toughen them up.