To begin with, Sparta had an advanced military for it’s time.“The most stunning example was the 480 BCE battle of Thermopylae, in which several hundred Spartans stood shield to shield against tens of thousands of attacking Persians. Every Spartan died, but the Persian invasion never reached the Spartan homeland.” (Background Essay) No other city-state in the area could be Sparta. One of Sparta’s biggest advantages was their battle formation called the phalanx. The phalanx was a formation were Spartans would interlock their shield with their neighbor, so they …show more content…
“Xenophon was a famous Athenian general. Xenophon credited Sparta’s power to a prince named Lycurgus, who was regarded as the founder of formal Spartan education.” Also, Lycurgus encouraged the boys to steal, but if they were caught they would be whipped, therefore making them become sneaker which can help them if they are ambushing, or sneaking in for a surprise attack. “Someone may ask: But why, if he believed stealing to be a fine thing, did he have the boys who was caught beaten with many stripes? I reply: Because in all cases men punish a learner for not carrying out properly whatever he is taught to do. So the Spartans chastise those who get caught for stealing badly.
Although, Sparta had many strengths they also had some weaknesses. For example, they only learned the basics of reading and writing. Sparta’s strengths still outweighed the weaknesses that are listed above they had, an advanced military, they respected women, and they trained their soldiers at a young