WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Sparta was a warrior society in ancient Greece that reached the height of its power after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.).

Detailed explanation-2: -Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance.

Detailed explanation-3: -Fearing uprisings from the large population of slaves, called helots, Spartans created an extremely militaristic society. Men devoted their entire lives to serving the army, beginning at age seven, and women were responsible for raising physically fit children to serve as future soldiers.

Detailed explanation-4: -The reason for all of this militaristic mania was simple: Sparta was a slave society. Approximately 90% of the population of the area under Sparta’s control were helots, serfs descended from the population conquered by Sparta in the eighth century.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Athenian defeat established Sparta and its military forces in a dominant position in Greece.

Detailed explanation-6: -Around the year 650 BC Sparta was thoroughly reorganized by Lycurgus, who came to power after the city was humiliatingly defeated by its neighbor Argos. Lycurgus turned Sparta from a city ruled by an aristocratic elite into a far broader oligarchy dedicated solely to warfare.