Much of the Spartan agoge involved typical school subjects like reading, writing, rhetoric and poetry, but the training regimen also had a vicious side. Hazing and fighting were encouraged among Spartan children. While boys were readied for a life on campaign, girls practiced dance, gymnastics and javelin and discus throwing, which were thought to make them physically strong for motherhood. Spartan girls were allowed to remain with their parents, but they were also subjected to a rigorous education and training program.
Just as all Spartan men were expected to be fighters, all women were expected to bear children. To ready them for a life in the field, the boy soldiers were also encouraged to scavenge and even steal their food, though if detected they were punished with floggings. At age 12, initiates were deprived of all clothing save for a red cloak and forced to sleep outside and make their own beds from reeds. Separated from their families and housed in communal barracks, the young soldiers-in-waiting were instructed in scholastics, warfare, stealth, hunting and athletics.
Spartan children were placed in a military-style education program.Īt the age of 7, Spartan boys were removed from their parents’ homes and began the “agoge,” a state-sponsored training regimen designed to mold them into skilled warriors and moral citizens. According to Plutarch, these “tough love” parenting techniques were so admired by foreigners that Spartan women were widely sought after for their skill as nurses and nannies. They were also frequently ignored when they cried and commanded never to fear darkness or solitude. To test their constitutions, Spartan infants were often bathed in wine instead of water. Babies who passed inspection still didn’t have it easy.