023 THIS IS SPARTA
The History of Ancient Greece
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The Spartans and Xenophobia
With their conquest of Lyconian Messenia, the Spartans created a situation where they never constituted more than a small faction. Xenophobia also restricted Sparta's numbers. In addition to male infanticide, there are limited opportunities for intercourse with wives during her peak childbearing years and Spartan soldiers' obligation to die on the battlefield rather than surrender a flea. The Greeks even had an adjective for it, laconicos or laconic in English.
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