Could Spartans marry foreigners?

Could Spartans marry foreigners? Spartans were not allowed to marry foreigners or to travel outside Laconia except on official business or for panhellenic festivals. Also, from the time of the changes attributed to Lycurgus, foreigners were generally unwelcome in Sparta.

Did Sparta allow foreigners?

There were foreigners (xenoi) in Spartan society but these were not as welcome as in other city-states, and those that did live in Sparta were sometimes forcibly expelled by their overly suspicious and at times positively paranoid hosts.

Were Spartans allowed to marry?

Marriage was very important in Sparta. Spartan women and men were encouraged to marry and would be shamed if they did not.

At what age could a Spartan man live with his wife?

7. Spartan men were not allowed to live with their wives until age 30. Spartan society didn't discourage romantic love, but marriage and childrearing were both subject to some peculiar cultural and governmental constraints. The state counseled that men should marry at age 30 and women at 20.

What age range did Spartan laws forbid a girl's marriage?

Spartan women even competed in sports. Most important, rather than being married at the age of 12 or 13, Spartan law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in her late teens or early 20s.

Why Men Refuse To Marry Modern Women And Go ABROAD For Love

How did Sparta treat girls?

Spartan women had a reputation for being independent-minded, and enjoyed more freedoms and power than their counterparts throughout ancient Greece. While they played no role in the military, female Spartans often received a formal education, although separate from boys and not at boarding schools.

What happens to a Spartan male at age 30?

A Spartan man was considered to have graduated from the agōgē at age 30, at which time he was expected to have been accepted into a syssition and was permitted to have a family. He would also receive a kleros, an allotment of land farmed by helots.

Did Spartans respect their wives?

In reality, Sparta was at its best when men and women were regarded as equals. The female Spartan was honored as the equal of the male in her own sphere of power and authority and, even in the accounts of detractors, performed admirably.

What age did Spartans have children?

Spartan girls were not allowed to join but were educated at home by their mothers or trainers. Boys entered the agoge at the age of 7 and graduated around the age of 30 at which time they were allowed to marry and start a family.

How common was adultery in ancient Greece?

This seems to have been rare in practice, and adulterers were more commonly prosecuted, ransomed for money, or physically abused. The physical abuse and humiliation of adulterers is depicted in several surviving ancient Greek comedies.

Was homosexuality law in Sparta?

To put it bluntly, homosexuality was illegal in Sparta, but not for the reasons you'd think. The Spartans didn't have religious or cultural objections to same-sex relationships. They did not have the same negative attitudes toward homosexuality that some people in the modern world do.

Did any Spartans fall in love?

Spartan-II's and love. Otto-031 and Margaret-053 had a secret relationship. And Victor-101 was jealous of them. Randall-037(or Randall Aiken) had a wife and also a child.

Did Spartan men live with their wives?

Spartan men under the age of thirty were not permitted to live with their wives, instead they were expected to live communally with other members of their syssitia. Due to the husband's absence, women were expected to run the household largely alone.

What was forbidden in Sparta?

Spartan Society

They were forbidden to possess gold and silver, and their money consisted only of iron bars. War songs were their only music, and their literary education was slight. No luxury was allowed, even in the use of words.

What was illegal in Sparta?

The Spartans had no historical records, literature, or written laws, which were, according to tradition, expressly prohibited by an ordinance of Lycurgus, excluding the Great Rhetra. Issuance of coinage was forbidden.

What is Sparta called now?

Sparta (Greek: Σπάρτη Spárti [ˈsparti]) is a city and municipality in Laconia, Greece. It lies at the site of ancient Sparta. The municipality was merged with six nearby municipalities in 2011, for a total population (as of 2011) of 35,259, of whom 17,408 lived in the city.

How were Spartan girls raised?

In Sparta, girls were started their education around the same age as boys (between 6-7 years of age). The education system was concentrated on military preparation and girls had a similar education. They also received physical education, which combined wrestling, gymnastics and combat skills.

What did Spartans do for fun?

Granted, Spartan citizens also pursued rugged pastimes such as equestrianism, but their love of poetry and dance belies a contempt of pleasure.

Why were Spartans so feared?

Spartan warriors known for their professionalism were the best and most feared soldiers of Greece in the fifth century B.C. Their formidable military strength and commitment to guard their land helped Sparta dominate Greece in the fifth century.

What age were Spartans allowed to retire?

“No man was allowed to live as he pleased, but in their city, as in a military encampment, they always had a prescribed regimen,” he wrote. As Cartledge writes in Spartan Reflections, it wasn't until age 60 that Spartans finally were allowed to retire from the army—provided that they lived that long.

What happened to sick babies in Sparta?

“Fit and strong” babies survived, but those found to be “lowborn or deformed” were left outside to die, Plutarch wrote, “on the grounds that it is neither better for themselves nor for the city to live [their] natural life poorly equipped.”

What caused the fall of Sparta?

In fact, the Spartan state was eventually brought down by a number of factors, including internal strife, economic decline, and foreign invasion. Sparta's military dominance came to an end with its defeat at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC.

At what age did most girls get married in ancient Greece?

Most young Greek women would be married at about the age of fourteen to a man roughly twice their age. Prior to the marriage ceremony the couple would probably have met only a few times, and while the bride would normally be a virgin, the husband almost certainly was not.

Were there black Spartans?

By the mid-19th century, the Black Spartans numbered between 1,000 and 6,000 women, about a third of the entire Dahomey army. Under King Gezo's rule, female troops lived in his compound and were kept well supplied with tobacco, alcohol and slaves–as many as 50 to each warrior.