What is the name of the Spartan who serves as Xeo's master?
Dienikes
How did Xeo initially meet Alexandros?
They were being whipped as punishment
What punishments are given during the eight-nighter for failure?
Boys are made to try to use their shields to push over a tree for an entire evening until they collapse or worse.
What crime did Xeo commit that had him being punished at the same time as Alexandros?
He incorrectly shaved the throat of a sacrificial goat
How does the concept of obedience appear in this chapter?
Polynikes brutally punishes Alexandros and his troop for failure to follow rules and Alexandros's troop accepts their punishment.
What is Dienikes's protege's name?
Alexandros
What is an eight-nighter?
An eight day regimental exercise designed to build stamina and battle ability.
What rations were the Spartans given to eat during the eight-nighter? (Food only, beverage does not count)
Linseed loaves and figs. Nothing warm or hot.
An eight-nighter does improve warrior's physical stamina but more important it does what?
Spartan's practice at night to prepare for the horrors of othismos. What is othismos?
Battlefield collusion and scrum - basically when two sides clash with each other
What is the name of the Spartan king mentioned in chapter 8?
Leonidas
How did Spartan Peers "bind" together Alexandros and Xeo's fate as Spartan and squire?
Alexandros had to beat Xeo in a fight and Xeo could not hold back or he would be beaten
Polynikes breaks what on every member of Alexandros's troop?
Their nose
Spartans know an eight-nighter is working when what happens?
Tempers run short and the joking stops.
How does Leonidas endear himself to not only the fighting men but all the men of Sparta?
He fights in the front line and isn't afraid to be seen laughing to the point of convulsions with his friends and fellow soldiers.
What Spartan punishes Alexandros?
Polynikes
How many men make up a mora or a division?
1,200 men including Spartans, helots, and squires.
Why did the Spartans believe keeping the boys awake for eight nights would make them stronger?
Battles are not finished until they are over - Spartans believed that battles were won and lost over endurance.
An Olympic champion and Leonidas's nephew
Who is Alexandros said to have descended from?
Herakles
Who is Olympieus?
Alexandros's father
The last two days of an eight-nighter, what are the men not permitted anymore?
Liquid of any kind - no water, no wine, no oil. Nothing
How does Alexandros compare to the other boys in his troop?
He does not have good fighting skills - he writes poetry and sings.
Alexandros etimasen his shield. What does etimasen mean?
He left it laying facedown on the ground, or defamed it.
Who is your shield for?
“This is my shield.
I bear it before me into battle,
but it is not mine alone.
It protects my brother on my left.
It protects my city.
I will never let my brother
out of its shadow
nor my city out of its shelter.
I will die with my shield before me
facing the enemy.”