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Well consider this- training started at the tender age of 5 providing you passed physical scrutiny upon birth as a prime specimen of a boy without defect. There were no fond farewells, boys were simply taken upon reaching this age to live in barracks as a pack or unit and encouraged from the start with competitive play against other packs. By age 10 they had been taught to read and write and their physical exercise was increased. An import...

Most, if not all, of the reasons for Spartan dominance on the battlefield can be attributed to their incredibly strenuous and brutal training regiment, the agoge. Even before beginning the agoge, newborn Spartan boys underwent a highly in-depth physical scrutiny to make sure the newborn was without flaws. Any that did not pass the examination were left out in the country to die. Then, between ages five to seven, the boy was taken to begin trainin...

Spartan ArmorTheir shields consisted of wood and leather with the face completely covered in a thin sheet of stressed bronze (881004), which was enough to strengthen the shield, but did not add so much weight as to make it useless. Each shield was round and approx 36 - 38 according to some unearthed examples. Legend says that a warrior was given his shield by his mother and instructed to come back with it or on it. The shield was considered th...