(socio-military education & training) – PART I
"The Spartan or Laconian ‘agoge' (socio-military education and training) had been formed at the end of the Archaic period (7th cent – 479 BC). The Spartan/Lacedaemonian tradition claims that this system of civic and military education was contrived by the famous Spartan statesman Lycurgos. In fact, Lycurgos established in the 8th century an early form of the agoge, which went through various phases of development and improvement to get its final classic form. The Spartan education had much in common with that of several Doric/Dorian city-states of Crete. Apart from their common Doric origins, some Cretan cities were Spartan colonies and it is generally considered that there was regular interaction between the two regions, Laconia and Crete.
For a predominantly militaristic state as it was the Spartan state, military training was particularly important. If the young Spartan did not manage to go through its stages, he could not enter the social class of the ‘omoioi' (meaning ‘akin', and in the case of Sparta meaning the ‘equals') who were the Spartan full citizens, and he could not participate in the ‘Apella', the Spartan House of Citizens (parliament). Additionally, later in his life, he could not be a member of the ‘Gerousia' (Spartan Senate) and could not be elected as one of the five ‘Ephoroi' (Curators). This extremely hard training that reached the limits of human endurance since the childhood of a Spartan, has been the subject of criticism, positive and negative, already from the ancient times.
Aristotle in his "Politics" criticizes the Spartans for their educational system, believing that they treat their children like animals because of the brutal and hard training in which they put them to. But we should not forget that Aristotle was an Athenian citizen (and born in the Ionian colonies of the Northern Aegean). On the contrary Xenophon, an Athenian by birth, pointed out the virtues that the laws and the educational system of Lycurgos ensured for the Spartans. The admiration of Xenophon to the Spartans/Lacedaemonians brought about his rejection by many of his fellow countrymen…"
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