Ancient Greece: Sparta's Military Culture, Society, and Government

Vocabulary flashcards covering Spartan military training, social structure, political institutions, cultural differences with Athens, and warfare tactics.

Sparta

An inland city-state located less than one hundred miles southwest of Athens that structured its entire society around military training and raising children to be warriors.

Spartan Infant Inspection

The official examination of newborn boys by a government committee; healthy infants were permitted to live, while weak or unhealthy infants were left outdoors to die.

Barracks

Buildings where soldiers live; Spartan boys were required to live in barracks starting at age seven, and men continued sleeping there until reaching age thirty.

Spartan Women

Female citizens who did not fight in wars but held more political rights than Athenian women, owned land, trained in footraces and sports, and raised sons to be warriors.

Lycurgus

The legendary Spartan leader who argued against constructing a brick wall around the city, asserting that a "wall of men" would protect Sparta more effectively.

Helots

Enslaved people captured in war and tied to state-owned farms who owed a portion of their harvest to masters, outnumbered Spartan citizens by roughly twenty to one, and occasionally revolted.

Spartan Dual Monarchy

A government structure led by two kings simultaneously to prevent tyranny and to command the army.

Aristocratic Council

A group of people from the upper class or nobility (council of elders) who helped govern Sparta alongside the two kings.

Spartan Assembly

A legislative body where Spartan citizens voted on proposals and elected candidates by shouting in an open field, without the right to debate.

Symposiums

Banquets with fine food and wine enjoyed by Athenians, contrasting with the simple and intentionally unappealing meals of Sparta.

Laconic

An adjective meaning concise or of few words, derived from Laconia and used in ancient Greece as a synonym for Spartan speech.

Laconia

The territory in ancient Greece where the inland city-state of Sparta was located.

Iron Bars

The heavy currency used by Sparta instead of gold or silver coins to prevent foreign trade and preserve traditional ways.

Landlocked

An adjective describing an area cut off from the seacoast and surrounded by land, such as the inland city-state of Sparta.

Phalanx

A military formation of soldiers moving together in a tight, dense group, armed with spears and overlapping shields.