And now for somthing completely different... Sparta.

Greetings everyone, sorry for the less than usual updates unfortunately my computer has been rather poorly as of late but now its back on its feet and ready to bring completely unusual and bizarre information to the masses via blogs just such as this one. (A complete lie there, this is the second time of writing this blog since my computer decided to die while typing 10 minutes ago.)

But hey ho, since I've actually had a while to think about this, rather than just jumping around on popular culture and video games, let's get a bit historical (Dont worry there will still be plently of shenanigans along the way.)

Hop in the DeLorean and backtrack all the way to 650bc and onwards, chances are if fate dumps you in the area of Greece you will probably hear somthing about some chaps called the Spartans or Lakonians if they are speaking in the native tongue.

 

 

What the musical with John Travolta had to do with this I'll never know.

In a nutshell the Spartans were hilariously good at beating up everyone around them and taking their nicest things. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in superious weapons, training and tactics.

Now don't get me wrong, despite their massive military prowess the Spartans were most certainly not barbarians, for example, Spartan women could own and inheret land something very uncommon for the era, they also had (albeit limited) say in how the country was ran and its politics.

Unfortunately... or fortunately depending on whose side you were on, the Spartans could never really follow a dream of world domination, VERY long story short, they simply did not have enough guys.

You see for a Spartan it was pretty tough straight out the starting gate, when they were born they were examined for any symptoms of physical or mental disability, if they showed any sign of being weaker than the rest of the pack they were left in the fields to either die, or be taken on by the locals as farmhands and such.

Assuming they passed the first test, at the age of 7 Spartan boys were sent to the Agoge, a military training school where they were taught everything from stealth and assassination, to pain tolerance and brutal close quarters combat.

Girls had a slightly easier ride, when they turned 7 they were taught arts, culture and diplomacy, they also threw in some sports and gymnastics to keep the ever famous Spartan competitive spirit alive, and as with the boys they were taught in military tactics and some combat training.

Anyway I have gone waaaaay over my word limit for this blog, so I will have to call it a day for now, tune in next time to read about the Spartans finest hour and the famous 300.

If you'd like to see the closest possible thing to REAL LIFE Spartans, why not check out this re-enactment group http://www.facebook.com/SpartaMora lots of wonderful pictures depicting Spartan life.

And contanct info if you'd like to get involved.

This blog has been a MeTimeGifts presentation.