How did Spartans treat 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.

Did Spartans live with their wives?

In preparation for marriage, Spartan women had their heads shaved; they kept their hair short after they wed. Married couples typically lived apart, as men under 30 were required to continue residing in communal barracks.

What did Spartans do with baby girls?

Infanticide was a disturbingly common act in the ancient world, but in Sparta this practice was organized and managed by the state. All Spartan infants were brought before a council of inspectors and examined for physical defects, and those who weren't up to standards were left to die.

What were Spartan marriage practices?

Spartan marriage lacked the ceremony of Athens. Spartan women would be willfully captured and dressed as a man, also having her hair shaved as a man would. In this attire the bride would be laid alone in the dark where a sober groom would sneak in, remove her belt, and carry her to bed.

What age did girls marry in Sparta?

While Athenian women might have expected to marry for the first time around the age of fourteen to men much older than them, Spartan women normally married between the ages of eighteen and twenty to men close to them in age.

Spartan Women - What was it like to be a woman in ancient Sparta?

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.

What happened when a Spartan girl turned 18?

At age 18, if a Spartan girl passed her skills and fitness test, she would be assigned a husband and allowed to return home. If she failed, she would lose her rights as a citizen, and became a perioikos, a member of the middle class.

Did Spartan wives shave their heads?

4. Even More Marriage. Before marrying, it was the custom for Spartan women to shave their heads and keep their hair short throughout their marriage.

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.

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.

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.

How did the Spartans bathe?

The Spartans developed primitive vapor baths, a forerunner of our steam showers. Hot-air baths were heated by coal-burning fires or by hot rock method, heating rocks outside the chamber.

What happened to Spartan boys 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.

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.

How did the Greek female slaves wear their hair?

Hairstyles in ancient Greek

If a woman had short hair then she was a slave or in a time of mourning. They would pin their hair up and put them in bonnets. Women also wore fake hair and waved and crimped their hair with oils.

Were Spartan soldiers allowed to marry?

Because they were not chattel slaves and could marry and have children of their own, they lived in their own houses surrounded by their own families, including fathers and brothers.

What did the Romans do with unwanted babies?

ROME — In the Middle Ages, new mothers in Rome could abandon their unwanted babies in a "foundling wheel" — a revolving wooden barrel lodged in a wall, often in a convent, that allowed women to deposit their offspring without being seen.

Did Spartans sleep on a hard bed?

The Spartan government wanted to make the boys tough. To do this they were given little clothing and no shoes. They slept on hard beds made of reeds and were not given any covers.

What did life look like for Spartan girls?

Spartan women were expected, like men, to be physically fit. They received training in athletics and dance, and some Spartan women are known to have competed in early Olympic games. While they received rudimentary military training, there is no record of a female Spartan warrior participating in military combat.

At what age did most girls get married in Greek?

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.

Why were Spartan boys starved?

The reason for this strange custom was this: the Spartans were often engaged in war, so they had to depend entirely upon the provisions they could get on their way. If the Spartan soldiers had not been trained to steal, many of them would have starved during campaigns.

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 did Spartan men do after age 60?

A man could not live at home with his wife and family until he was 30 years old. At the age of 60, Spartan men could retire from the army.

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.