Is This Sparta? Revisionists Get The Legendary Warriors All Wrong

[Kamaji]

Is This Sparta? Revisionists Get The Legendary Warriors All Wrong

The warriors from other Greek city-states were usually farmers first and soldiers second — but Spartans dedicated their lives to battle.

By: Elad Vaida
August 11, 2023

Bret Devereaux has a problem with the Spartans. He’s concerned that so much of U.S. culture admires ancient Greece’s most famous bronze-clad warriors. In a Foreign Policy article published this July, he claims ancient Sparta’s military reputation is a myth, and that the city-state was a “proto-fascist” entity “unworthy of emulation.”

The article completely ignores Sparta’s well-merited, legendary military reputation and falsely tars Sparta as “fascist.” This characterization is not only vague but also self-defeating. One of the standout characteristics of fascist regimes is their militarism, yet Devereaux describes Sparta as a pleasure-loving society of weaklings with an unmerited reputation for military might.

Devereaux also states that the Spartan brand has “become a political rallying cry, including by members of the extreme right who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.” Trying to tar and feather what he calls the “Spartan brand” by associating it with Jan. 6 makes as much sense as claiming that McDonald’s should be associated with the communist Soviet flag because of its red and yellow color scheme. 

He expresses special concern for the “U.S. military’s love of all things Spartan.” Perhaps the fact that some service members love watching “300” is less concerning than the military’s recruiting crisis, the result of its embrace of critical race theory, medical mandates, and drag shows.

Devereaux did not discuss Sparta’s sophisticated political system. The Spartans had a unique dual monarchy in which two kings from different dynasties shared their rule, limiting the power of both. The kings also shared power with an executive council of magistrates known as ephors, a Spartan “Senate” called the Gerousia that included Spartans over age 60, and the Apella, a democratic assembly representing Sparta’s free male citizenry.

It’s true that Spartan society had its difficulties and flaws. Life was harsh for Spartan citizens. They dedicated their lives to military discipline and ate food that would make many modern stomachs churn. The married men couldn’t even see their wives until the age of 30 due to the demands of life in the barracks, at which they were legally forced to spend years of their lives.

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Source:  https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/11/is-this-sparta-revisionists-get-the-legendary-warriors-all-wrong/

[PeteS in CA]

Sparta was a military-oriented society, and its reputation among contemporary city states was high and earned. From a very young age, Spartan boys' education was focused on athletic and military skills (the former, because strength, endurance, and agility were necessary for battle). Sparta took this military orientation to the extreme of Spartans not growing their own food, instead forcing a conquered people, who were called "helots", to grow/raise food for Sparta.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Yeah, the author being discussed unfairly maligns Spartan military prowess.  They absolutely deserve their reputation, and make an obvious exemplar of military virtue.

But their society was pretty scummy.  They not only held massive numbers of slaves, but it actually was legal for a Spartan proper to kill a Messenian any time they wished. And they had a much lower percentage of full citizens to overall population than did Athens.  Even at their height, the military caste had maybe 5-6,000 adult males. 

 They also very much abhorred commerce/trade, and considered productive labor beneath the average Spartiate.  It's great to value military service, but not so great to devalue anything that isn't military service.

That's kind of what did them in eventually.  More and more of the Spartiate class couldn't afford what amounted to dues necessary to remain in that class, so their numbers dropped.  Suppressing bloody helot rebellions didn't help.

But obviously, our military isn't emulating Sparta as a city-state.  It is emulating Spartan military virtue.