Sparta was proud of its simple, tough life, with none of what they saw as the sloppiness of Athens. Sparta chose to have no city walls, so the Spartans put self-defence before other kinds of education. Spartans didn t believe they could support weak citizens of a city, so if a baby was weak it was allowed to die on the mountains or perhaps trained to be a slave.

Early schooling was done at home, as in Athens, but at about 6 years of age both boys and girls started school, living in army barracks. They were taught fighting and survival skills. Only after this were there extra classes in reading and writing. At about 18, when the Athenians were about to start army training, the Spartans would have been in the army for twelve to thirteen years and was ready to face his passing out test. Only those who passed this test became full citizens and Spartan soldiers. Spartan girls who passed the test could return home and become married to a Spartan soldier. Because of this schooling system, Spartan soldiers became the best trained and toughest of any soldiers and were feared throughout the ancient world. As a result, Spartan schools had fulfilled their purpose just as well as the Athenian schools.

2. Schooling in Sparta