FISTULA FIRST PRACTITIONER EDUCATION COALITION

In the last few centuries, quite a few societies have been constructed by committees, and there have been many more failures than successes. The history of Sparta can serve as an example of both a success and a failure, and it would be helpful to remember these ancient people whenever we opt to design anything, such as a business or family.

In a time when cities were typically surrounded by walls to protect them from the latest conquering horde, Sparta needed none. Each and every male citizen was trained literally from birth to be a hardened, world-class soldier.

In English, the term "Spartan" has connotations of discipline and frugality. A Spartan room, for example, might contain nothing but a table and chair. This is an accurate description of the Spartan way of life. In the mind of a historian, however, the meaning of "Spartan" leans more towards "brutal" and "militaristic." Sparta was a society designed to dominate its neighbors: A warrior culture.

Sparta was a considerable military power for over a thousand years. Their system of warfare based on hoplite spearmen was copied by every army in the Mediterranian region. Their soldiers' prowess was demonstrated most vividly in 480 B.C. at Thermopylae, a narrow stretch of land between cliff and sea where only 300 Spartan hoplites held off an entire Persian army numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

This power dearly cost the Spartan citizens, and their unusual society eventually garnered a more humble status as a Roman tourist attraction.

• Sparta took common Greek practices to extremes, even ones which would seem brutal to modern people. For example, it was acceptable in most of Greece to abandon an unwanted newborn in the woods. There was a chance that someone would find and adopt such a baby. In Sparta, babies were a communal asset, unless they were considered a liability due to being somehow weak or deformed. These infants were thrown over a cliff!
• Every day of a young boy's life was a struggle for survival. Boys lived as members of small bands, living off the land and raiding farms and villages. They were punished for stealing from other Spartans, but more for getting caught than for the act itself.
• Surviving teenagers were each assigned a mentor/lover (homosexuality was considered necessary for a soldier far from home). They were put through a coming-of-age gauntlet during which a significant percentage were mortally wounded.

Marriage was a contract between two families. Young women were trained for marriage and child rearing as young men were trained for war. Women were responsible for controlling all aspects of sex and reproduction. This was often a jolting experience for the man who had seen few women during his short life.

• When it came time for war, Sparta was always ready. However, they were spread very thin. The number of slaves and serfs in the wide regions around Sparta was hundreds of times the number of Spartan citizens. Sparta controlled vast wealth, but its citizens never enjoyed any of it.

Eventually, all of Greece was absorbed into the Roman empire. They were spared most of the downsides of conquest faced by the "barbarians" of places such as Gaul. Romans respected Greek culture, and even believed that Rome was founded by Greeks. Therefore, they left Greek society very much intact, including Sparta.