Krissy Wetzel
The Spartan Hegemony and Their Fierce War Tactics
The Spartans have long been fantasized as fearsome great warriors throughout history. They were known for their brutality in war and never giving into defeat. They were also feared and revered by all and most of the other societies would not dare cross their path. The other societies knew not to mess with the Spartans because of how fearsome their reputation was. The Spartan hegemony became so successful due to its innovations in military training, prowess, and discipline. Furthermore, the hegemony benefited from its core belief in starting young, using children as the source for this prowess and skill. Overall, the Spartan hegemony reached its peak after defeating Thebes, thus
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They only wanted fit and healthy children that would one day benefit the army. One way that the Spartans did this was by having every man and woman stay physically fit. While the men trained for the army the women stayed fit by doing physical exercise and activities. The Spartans wanted the women to be fit so that they would produce fit and healthy children. It was sort of taboo to them if anyone in their society did not fit these standards, which is partially why they would throw the babies over a cliff if they did not fit these standards. Throughout Spartan history there was only one account of a lame king and that was Agesilaus. According to Livius, “an oracle had warned against a lame king” that would bring the defeat of Sparta. Agesilaus was physically disabled. This was an argument before Agesilaus took kingship because the people were unsure of having a lame king. Being disabled in any way was a sort of taboo to the Spartans. So Agesilaus’ brother was supposed to take the throne but was claimed illegitimate. When the people were concerned of their possible future king being lame and with the prophecy overhead, Agesilaus’ commander Lysander stood up for him. He said that “lame king” meant the king who was a bastard. Agesilaus turned out to be a great king. He was a very “successful general” and lead the Spartans in many battles, but “was unable to prevent the slow decline of Sparta from its position of dominance at the end of the Great Peloponnesian war”. Agesilaus led many raids in the Asia Minor area and won the battles but Lysander was also a great help. The two went into several battles together. “Lysander, the man who had done the most to found the Spartan hegemony” was a big help because he started the Spartan hegemony by recruiting men to join in. Agesilaus sent Lysander to surrounding places to recruit men to join the