This. Is. SPARTA!
What is Mount Taygetus?
The peak that dominates the Laconian landscape
Who are the helots?
State-owned serfs
What is the agoge?
The place boys went when they turned 7
What is a kleros?
An allotment of land given to Spartan citizens
What is the Battle of Thermopylae?
Famous battle where King Leonidas and his 300 men were killed
Who is Lycurgus?
The probably lawgiver who created Spartan society as we know it
What is the syssitia/syssition?
The public mess where men would take their meals
What was the exercise completed by girls called where they would kick their heels to their buttocks?
Bibasis
Who are the Perioikoi?
The 'dwellers around' freemen of Sparta
What is the Krypteia?
The Spartan secret police
What is the Great Rhetra?
The laws outlining how Spartan society should function and how Spartans should live
What is the Gerousia?
Council of elders plus both kings
What is the 'kidnapping of the bride'?
This ritual associated with marriage is often referred to in a particularly unusual way
What is the iron bar economy?
This was supposed to discourage Spartans obtaining wealth and engaging in any form of 'mechanical art' (Plutarch)
What is the Peloponnesian League?
Military alliance of city-states headed by Sparta
Who are the Agiads and Eurypontids?
The ruling families in Spartan society from which the kings came
Who are Tyrtaeus and Alcman?
Spartan poets who wrote about life in Sparta
What is the main role of women?
Having babies and raising healthy children
What is the Vix krater?
It is a Large bronze object found far away from Sparta which provides evidence of trade, cultural and military life
What is murex?
The famous red cloaks of Spartan hoplites were made with murex the natural dye
What is the Hyakinthia?
A religious festival dedicated to the god Apollo and his lover (who was killed when he was hit in the head with a discus)
What are votive offerings?
Artefacts found in and around the remains of shrines and temples in Sparta
Who is Xenophon?
The ancient Athenian writer who admired the Spartans so much he adopted the nickname they gave him as his real name
Who are Castor and Pollux?
Legendary twins and brothers of Helen; also known as the Dioscuri
What is the Karneia?
The religious festival that seemed to often prevent the Spartans from participating in major conflicts