Historical reference for the film “300″

Sources Herodotus Thucydides

Sparta was common as a city-state. They had beautiful singing choruses, and pottery. Much like their fellow Greeks. (Greek meaning those of the Peloponnesian peninsula. IE Alexander of Macedon was NOT considered Greek) After all, the supposedly most beautiful woman ever was a Spartan named Helen.

A population explosion took place in the city-state and in order to feed the populace, the Spartans looked to their borders. Consequently, the neighboring city-state was Messenia (Where Columata olives come from). Messenia was subjugated, but not without a fight. After some time there was a rebellion that was almost successful. In response to this change in events, Lycurgus (the law-giver) traveled the Ancient world in search of the best of military statecraft.

Thus Sparta (as you saw it) came about. ANYTHING that was not conducive to service to the state was abolished and abandoned. Service to the state was paramount and, the ultimate service was death on the battlefield in DEFENSE OF SPARTA. I highlighted this as it’s become fashionable to use the department of defense for offense. As a result, Homoioi farms were inevitably the same size, the same everything right down to the amount of cups in the cupboard. Citizens weren’t allowed to stand out as in wearing fine jewelry. They had coinage made from iron. Everything about Sparta was…Spartan.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The Spartans you saw were called the Homoioi (Literally the Equals). All the Homoioi males did, literally, was train. There was no job choice for these guys. The Spartiate women ran the household.

At birth the government sent overseers to inspect the baby of a Homoioi couple. An infamous test was called the Wine test. A baby’s skin is extremely sensitive. As such the proposed baby would be dipped head first into a vat of wine. (Spartan wine wasn’t all that great) If the baby wailed, it got left in the wild. They were sometimes tossed aside like in the film. There were some VERY good reasons for this cruelty. It destroyed the weaklings. A Homoioi could NOT be weak. Period. It goes without saying that asthma was probably non-existent in Sparta. The basis of this is the concept of phalanx warfare. In a phalanx the hoplite’s shield had to protect the man to his left. The shields were large enough to be used as a litter, thus the line from the film “Come home with this shield or upon it.” This was said by a Spartan mother to her son, and it meant come home victorious or dead. Either way was honorable for a Homoioi, anything else was dishonorable.

AGOGE

The Agoge was the academy which would make the child into a Spartan. Entry age was seven, and there were two phases of training. First phase was learning about hoplite warfare and the phalanx, as well as basic literacy, and athletics. Girls didn’t go to the Agoge, but were educated and very athletic as well. After two years the boys would enter the final phase of their Agoge training.

NOTE*** Literally everything done within the Agoge was a test. How fast you shat, how fast you ran, how strong you were once you were woken via a pitcher of ice water and got jumped by five classmates. If you can picture it, it was most likely done to these kids.

Discipline was meted by older Agoge trainees. This is likened to the class bully of eighth grade beating your ass when you’re in the second grade. It took advantage of the innate cruelty kids show. You were encouraged to forage for yourself, or steal. This produced warriors that were self sufficient, but not greedy. For example, if the Spartan steals too much he is caught and beaten. Gluttony wasn’t their cup of tea. If you stole (not from the Spartans of course) and got caught you were whipped. If you didn’t steal you were a coward…and well this was much much worse. Thucydides tells a tale of a Spartan boy that had stolen a fox cub, and hidden it underneath his cloak. When asked, he denied it, and was made to stand until the cub could be found. The animal ate away at his chest until he died. He never moved and never cried. One should bear in mind this was most likely an exaggeration, but Thucydides was not a Spartan so he had no reason to lie.

At the Agoge you were issued the only piece of clothing the State would ever give you…a Scarlet cloak. No sandals or cold weather gear. All for toughening the boys up. The main dish the Spartans ate was called “Blood soup”. It consisted of salt pork in blood with a little water. Not enough food to be satisfied, but just enough to survive. again, toughening up. They trained in phalanx warfare by pushing trees down. wrestling each other and their teachers, or their Pietnomos. After seeing what the Spartans ate Thucydides remarked that he now knew why they were so eager to die in battle. The student was mentored by an older Spartan and yes, this relationship often consisted of sexual love. After all, Ancient Greece didn’t have the sexual hang-ups we do today, Victoria hadn’t been born yet. Lol Truth is who would you fight harder to keep at your side, a man whom you had known or a man you knew? I’m sure the answers will remain silent.

Upon graduation from the Agoge the Spartan would join the unit that would be his for life. Unless, that is, he was a particularly good warrior. In such cases the Spartan would be offered a position within the Krypteia. This was a secret society that lived in the wilderness. IF a helot (see below) was a handsome, or highly intelligent, or really good at farming innovation, or stood out in any way, that Helot had to watch out for these guys. For they would strike in the night, and the only requirement to become Krypteia was to kill a helot. The Krypteia was what kept the Helots in check. That and the possibility of having to fight against a war machine that Emperors feared.

Marriage among the Spartans was weird to say the least. Marriages were arranged often by the use of the “parade of nudes”. (No I’m not making this stuff up) All the eligible young Spartans would hold a parade, nude. Parents of potentials would then view them and try to figure out who would make the best partner for their offspring. This isn’t entirely alien to us today if you truly think about it. Look at the TV, hell go to a high school football game and you can basically see a gang load of potential Spartan youths vying for the affections of another. The difference between then and now is that they did it so another Spartan could be born to serve the State. Once a young man was married he didn’t “consummate” but stayed away. (Here’s where it gets weird) He would actually break into his own house, and a simulated rape would occur. This was their honeymoon. Lol

After the age of 25 Spartan men were allowed to live in their own homes. The Homoioi numbered 10,000

PERIOKOI- literally the “dwellers around”. These were the artisans that did the work that allowed the Homoioi to train. They made the bronze hoplons (shields) etc. They were freedmen, yet they were not allowed to participate in the governing of the State. (They numbered around 50,000)

HELOTS- These were the Messenians. They vastly outnumbered the Homoioi, yet they never rebelled. Why? They would have incurred the wrath of the world famous Spartan war machine. Nevermind the Krypteia. They weren’t slaves in that they could be bought and sold. But they were indigent to the Homoioi farm which they belonged. Sort of tenant farmers with negative bonuses. They numbered about 100,000.

GOVERNMENT- The purpose of Spartan government was to NOT get anything done. No progress is good for the status quo. Power was never concentrated in one office, man, or wing of the governmental structure.

There was a dual kingship. Each had veto power over the other. Both came from aristocratic Homoioi families. The Kings of Sparta did NOT govern the State however. They commanded the army in the field, and presided over religious ceremonies.

Ephors- WERE NOT misshapen creatures, but senators of sorts. Five were elected annually, and were immediately put on trial after their terms of office were over. (Something we should adopt) This is akin to impeaching a President upon completion of term(s). heh

Gerousia- Were the Councilors. They held the powers of exile and death sentences. These were lifetime appointments and were made up of 30 Spartans, Kings included.

Apella- Consisted of everyone else. Spartan males over the age of 30 that is. It could only consider matters submitted by the Ephors or the Gerousia. Voting was by shouts. The Apella’s business included treaties, wars, and succession of the Monarchies. It named commanders, elected elders and ephors, and voted on changes in the laws.

A FEW INACCURACIES

I’m going to run these from memory of the film. Ephors weren’t misshapen/ in the Agoge they didn’t fight a massive wolves to graduate/ A Spartan woman would NEVER offer herself even to save her love (king) period that was straight up bullshit and I cheered when dude got waxed…fuggin sleaze./ There was no “pit” into which the Persian emissary was kicked. He would have just gotten waxed.

THERMOPYLAE

Ephialtes was a regular guy. A shepherd. Though he did betray the Greek nation (today in Greece the name is synonymous with nightmare) he was not misshapen. His parents would have done what every Spartan did if they had a misshapen baby. Forgotten it. Remember love of State precludes everything else.

Persians didn’t have grenades, elephants, or rhinos. Well, not at Thermopylae they didn’t.

The “Immortals” were so named because when one died there was another waiting to take his spot in this elite guard. And they didn’t wear masks and also weren’t misshapen.

Xerxes asked Leonidas to surrender his sword near the end, not the beginning. As they’d fought with obvious valor. His response was akin to the American general’s “Nuts”. MOLON LABE (come get them) Leonidas was SENT to Thermopylae as it was already a given that the Oracle at Delphi had said “Either Greece will burn, or a Spartan King must die.” Also said, “Pray to the winds” and “make walls of wood” The last of which Themistocles correctly interpreted to mean build a big navy, not actual walls of wood (as they’d burn). Praying to the winds was because the Persians had planned a dual approach. All the way around the Aegean the army would march, alongside the navy which held the supplies for the army. The navy was partially destroyed in storms, totally destroyed at the battle of Salamis (Themistocles).

Finally, the very last scene of Plataea. The man that carried the message of Leonidas was killed because he came back. So no it’s bullshit that he would lead a charge (as there was the other king remember?) being a coward that left a battle.

The main reasons I’ve said were it not for these guys we’d be speaking Persian isn’t’ because I’ve lost my head and gone all Ephialtes on you guys. It’s simply because it’s true. The Thespians, Athenians, Thebans etc that also went to Thermopylae that fought had the confidence that because of the Spartan presence, they actually had a shot. Thermopylae was a doomed mission. They all knew it which is why they all had sons that would live to fight too. It was a delaying tactic agreed upon by the whole of Greece to allow time to mount a proper defense. It became the war cry for the rest of the Persian War.

I’ve a vast amount of respect for what those men did. It was unselfish mortally. Without the promise of enshrinement in the memory of all Western Civilization, IE glory, would they have done it again? The answer is a simple yes, and I say it’s simple because it should be a no-brainer among Americans. We were built on a certain set of ideals. That freedoms from oppression means freedom from oppressing. That one’s soul may be in the hands of Divinity, yet their fate is their own. That self-respect shines far beyond the things we create everyday, but it also affects our fellow citizens. These reasons, among many others, are why I joined the Marine Corps. Why Fred is now in the Army. Why my brother is in the Navy. Opportunity for side ventures after our commitments end aside. We took our oaths, and I have no doubts that each of them had the very same chills up their spines as I did. The possibility that, yes indeedie you may die, the big question is “why”? I joined with the presumption of faith in my commanders, Commander in Chief, but most importantly that if my fellow citizens needed the strongest, bravest, and most intelligent among its’ youth to stand up and fight, that I would have the honor and privilege of doing just that Yet, what if those components simply do not take their responsibilities as seriously as the Soldier or Marine or Sailor does? Where does that leave the young warrior, with his ideals of honor that are laughed at by his civilian peers? I once heard a phrase that has rung true time and again. “Freedom has a price the protected will never know.”

This film, but much more importantly the actual history, exemplifies some of the most basic tenets of our lovely Republic. That while there are selfish pompous loud mouths, one can take comfort that they are most likely the quickest to become cowardly turncoats. The very formation of a phalanx is exemplary of us. With one hole in the shield wall, the phalanx would fall. And so it is with our Republic. If we allow ourselves to be picked off by the arrows of our enemies then we will most certainly die alone.

Those enemies being the ones that would distort truths for what is expedient, lie to make money, lie to OUR FACES.

With one hand they slap us on the backs every four years and fill our egos with “backbone of America” rhetoric, yet one fine November evening a knife appears in that same hand, and is plunged.

Look to your left, look to your right. Those are your brothers and sisters. The people you meet everyday. It is up to you to do right by them, every time, everyday. It may not be requited; they may hate you even though you never did them any wrong. These excuses will not suffice once held accountable for your own actions. For when it is time for you to leave here, you will inevitably think back to your time here.

I myself do not enjoy regret. More strongly though, I detest fear. I cannot stand it when folks are simply scared. Scared to walk across the street, to smoke a damn cigarette, or eat a burger, or stand up when one is wronged, more importantly stand up when another is wronged.

I live by a tenet that EVERY religion has interwoven into their respective moral codes. That is to treat another the way I’d wish to be treated.

The only way for our nation to realize the dreams of a “more perfect union” is through co-operative efforts. Even though they may hate you, even though it may not be requited. lol (getting the point yet?)

Sparta was a fascinating experiment in social engineering. They were the most backwards assed group in all of Hellas. However, they did have the most stable government for over 400 years. Bear in mind that the government was designed NOT to get anything accomplished. Thus is the opposite of Progress, thus a Conservative’s wet dream. However judging from the Conservatives I’ve met, I doubt they would have made it past the wine test. lol I hope this has been helpful, thanks for reading, and being patient.

Namaste