The History of the Spartan Youth Festival

In this episode, we discuss the inner-workings of Sparta's unique political, economic, and social system; included are the diarchy (dual hereditary kingship), the gerousia (council of elders), the apella (assembly), and the ephors (judicial overseers); the so-called Lykourgan land reform and the devolution of Sparta's economy; the roles of the helots (slaves), the perioikoi (non-citizens), and Spartan women; the various steps of the agoge (Sparta's education and military training system) which created spartiatai (full-citizen males); and why this unique system ultimately failed

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2016/09/023-this-is-sparta.html