The Spartans, a recent popular topic and culture for movies and spoofs, have created interest in the warrior society of ancient Greece that reached the height of their power after defeating the rival city Athens in the Peloponnesian War. But how much of what we see in the movies can actually be relied upon as true facts about the Spartan people and culture? Were they really great warriors, and how much of their home life was dedicated to military service?

The Spartans were in fact a culture that was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. Male Spartans citizens were allowed only one occupation: soldier. Sparta was an ancient Greek city located in the present-day region of southern Greece, called Laconia In this society, there were three groups, or classes, of people: the Spartans (full citizens), the Helots (serfs or slaves), and the Perioeci (neither slaves nor citizens). The Perioeci, whose name meant “dwellers-around,” worked as craftsmen and traders and built weapons for the Spartans.

The Helots, whose name means “captives,” were fellow Greeks, originally from Laconia and Messenia, who had been conquered by the Spartans and turned into slaves. The Spartans’ way of life would not have been possible without the Helots, who handled all the day-to-day tasks and unskilled labor required to keep society functioning. Spartans, who were outnumbered by the Helots, often treated them brutally and oppressively in an effort to prevent uprisings. Spartans would humiliate the Helots by doing such things as forcing them to get drunk on wine making fools of themselves in public. This practice was intended to demonstrate to young people how an adult Spartan should never act. Spartans were even allowed to kill Helots for being too smart or too fit.

As far as education was considered, all healthy male Spartan citizens participated in the compulsory state-sponsored education system, the Agoge, which emphasized obedience, endurance, courage, and self-control. Spartan men devoted their lives to military service, and they lived well into adulthood. A Spartan was taught that loyalty to the state came before everything else, including family. Starting at the age of seven, Spartan boys entered the rigorous state-sponsored education, military training, and socialization program. At age 20, Spartan males became full-time soldiers and remained on active duty until age 60. The Spartans’ constant military drilling and discipline made them skilled at the ancient Greek style of fighting in a phalanx formation. In the phalanx, the army worked as a unit in a close, deep formation, and made coordinated mass maneuvers. No one soldier was considered superior to another.

Although Spartan women were not active in the military, they were educated and enjoyed more status and freedom than other Greek women. Spartan women had a reputation for being independent-minded. Female Spartans often received a formal education, although separate from boys and not at boarding schools. In part to attract mates, females engaged in athletic competitions, including javelin-throwing and wrestling, and also sang and danced competitively. As adults, Spartan women were allowed to own and manage property. Marriage was important to Spartans, as the state put pressure on people to have male children who would grow up to become citizen-warriors and replace those who died in battle. Men who delayed marriage were publically shamed, while those who fathered multiple sons could be rewarded.

However, the supremacy of the Spartans was short-lived. In 371 B.C., they suffered a defeat at the hands of the Thebans at the Battle of Leucra. In the following year, there was also an invasion into Spartan territory, in which the Helots were liberated from slavery. Though the Spartans continued to exist, they began to decline.