A Cut Above: Agoge, the Ancient Spartan Entry Test
Of all the city states of ancient Greece it is Sparta who stands out as the home of the most formidable fighting force. Athens may have been more powerful and more prosperous, but it was Sparta who bred the best warriors.
Soldiery, and physical toughness were an intrinsic part of Spartan life. Famous legends of this abound: Spartans were said to cast any baby born with a physical defect to their death, and the very word Spartan has become a byword for self-imposed hardship and a rejection of luxury in all forms.
But such was the price for this potent a military; only through this cultural devotion to warfare could such effective fighters come to be. The Spartans were proud of this tradition, but it was more than this: it was a test.
Ancient Sparta, through this pursuit of physical perfection, became something of a meritocracy, albeit a brutal one. To become a Spartan, you had to pass their trials, a test that took decades.
The trials were famous throughout Greece, and the other city states saw them as extremely violent, even at a time when life was cheap compared to our modern day views. But, for those who survived what was known as the Agoge, the Spartan test of manhood, an exalted position awaited.
Only those would be known as Spartan warriors.
Twenty Three Years of Trials
They started them young in Sparta. In order to become a citizen of Sparta, or “Spartiate” you entered the Agoge program at age seven. You would not complete the tests until you were 30 years old.
Candidates had to come from the Spartiate class and only those whose father was himself a Spartiate could enter. Only about a tenth of the population were permitted to take the trials and achieve the exalted position of citizen of Sparta.
The Agoge was divided into three sections, based on age. Upon entering the trial, the boys were classed as “paides” until adolescence, when they became “paidiskoi” at around the age of twelve.
At twenty years old they would pass into the most senior age group, the “hebontes.” For the next decade they would then train themselves to a peak of physical fitness and martial prowess, before finally becoming a Spartan.
The reputation for violence and danger that the Agoge held was entirely justified. Aside from the physical hardships the entrants had to endure, there are records of violent acts being commonly performed by older candidates upon the younger boys. The trials could be fatal.
In many ways, it was the paides who had the hardest time of it. Separated from their families at a young age, they were expected to rely on themselves, starved and encouraged to steal food. Any of the paides caught stealing in this way could expect a beating, however, the intent being that such a threatened punishment would teach the boys to be resourceful.
The boys were barefoot to toughen their feet, and only received a single item of clothing, usually a cloak, every year. They had to make their own bedding and slept in communal dorms without any contact with their loved ones.
Much of their training focused on the physical, but there were other aspects to the Agoge too. They would be taught reading and writing, but also how to sing and dance. Also, amazingly, they were taught how to insult opponents; Spartans were expected to have a ready wit and to master the art of the cutting phrase. The very word “laconic” in reference to an effortless putdown comes from Laconia, the region around Sparta.
At puberty, when the paides became paidiskoi, each boy would enter into a relationship with an adult Spartan. There is much debate about what this relationship entailed, with some believing the relationship was sexual (and to an extent involuntary) and others that it was merely a mentoring system.
The focus of the paidiskoi, already cunning youths after years as paides, was integration into Spartan society. They were moved to adult accommodation and ate with the adult Spartans. There was no slacking on the physical training, however, which only increased in intensity with this new phase.
At the age of 20, the applicants entered the final stages of the trials. They became hebontes, “grown men” and were given certain limited rights within Spartan society.
Hebontes, although not yet full citizens, were given the right to vote for the first time. They also became true warriors at this time, part of the Spartan military. Particularly promising candidates were either made leaders of a group of their peers, or inducted into the shady Crypteia, state sponsored thugs who controlled Sparta through fear and intimidation.
The very best candidates would join one of three infantry regiments, each with one hundred men hand-picked by their three Spartan commanders. Rivalry between the three cohorts was intense and encouraged, and their reputation was second only to full Spartan warriors.
Only at age 30, once the hebontes were accepted into a “syssition” (a sort of communal fraternity built around a shared mess hall) did they become full Spartans. Only then were they permitted to marry, and they received a gift of land which would be worked by those denizens of Sparta would were not citizens.
It was possible for a Spartan youth to reach age 30 and not be accepted, failing to become a Spartan even after completing all the trials. It is not known what happened to such unfortunate individuals.
Throughout the 23 years that these boys and men would spend in the Agoge system, the paramount emphasis was on hardship and physicality. They were denied all comforts and expected to fend for themselves, all in preparation for the role they would adopt as men: that of the Spartan soldier.
But these hardships had another purpose. In testing the boys in this way Sparta ensured that its citizens were made up of the physically finest candidates, around whom they built a cult of personality. The harder the test, the greater the pride of those who passed it.
Even the cruelest aspects served a purpose. Separating the boys from their parents replaced the family unit with that of the city itself: they were loyal to Sparta and all her peoples, not just to their own flesh and blood.
In creating this strong, tough, resourceful class, one who could cut you to pieces or flay you with insults, Sparta had engineered herself into a city state built around their best. These boys, bonded to their city and each other first and foremost, proud of their abilities and in keen competition with each other, produced arguably the best warriors of the ancient world.
But perhaps it is their laconic qualities which provide the greatest anecdote about ancient Sparta. When Philip II of Macedon, the famous and bellicose father of Alexander the Great, invaded southern Greece in the fourth century BC, his armies conquered all the city states who opposed him, save one.
He sent messengers to Sparta, asking if he should approach as a friend or enemy. The Spartans sent a single word by way of reply: “neither.”
Enraged, Philip sent another messenger who told the Spartans in no uncertain terms that “If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out!” Again he received a one word answer, which was enough to dissuade him from facing the Spartans in open combat.
“If.”
Top Image: It took 23 years to become a Spartan warrior, and many failed or even died during the trials and training known as the Agoge. Source: Olivierbertrandsculpture / CC BY-SA 4.0.
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