Why Was Sparta Weak

It 's every Spartans favorite time of the year, the Flagellation. The Flagellation is a competition that is held yearly, where young Spartans get whipped repeatedly. Sparta is a Greek city-state that is located on a southern peninsula called Peloponnese. They were a strong military force, but nothing else. Sparta was weak because they had harsh military training for their young, they abused their children, and they lacked in education.

Firstly, Sparta had harsh military training for their children. In Sparta, you were taken away at the age of 8 and you would stay in training until you are 21. When you leave for training, you go into an agoge, which is a state controlled education. While in the agoge, you have a troop leader who is an older soldier. Young Spartans would be obedient to their leaders, and listen to everything that they said. In document A, it states that “Boys were encouraged to go out and steal food for the mess (outside dining area), but if caught stealing they were whipped. Also, document A

In document A it states that “ Only the rudiments of reading and writing were taught; instruction consisted for the most part in … obedience, bodily fitness, and courage to conquer in battle.” So if Spartiates only knew the basics of writing and reading, how were they able to sign treaties, or read laws? Adding to that, Sparta banned all education from outside of the city state. This includes books, plays, treatises, and foreign teachers. Without any outside knowledge, how is Sparta supposed to learn? While other city states were getting new technology and creating inventions, Sparta was stuck in there own world.

In conclusion, Sparta had multiple weak points in their civilization. But, it is true that Sparta had one of the strongest military force that existed in their time. Yet, having harsh military training, abusing children, and lacking in education shows that Sparta’s stregth’s outweigh their