Spartans were good at war
Spartans loved smashing ass
Therefore smash ass to be good at war
Spartans were kind of shit at war.
Now, the Theban Sacred Band? THEY were good at war and smashing ass
Sure, but if the Spartans were shit at war they wouldn’t have had the century and a half of being undefeated in decisive battle that would form the Peloponnesian League from their conquered subjects in the first place.
The League that then led the war against Xerxes, and eventually conquered Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, a hegemony that would only be broken by the man whose tactics would teach Phillip II and his son what’s-his-name how to conquer most of the ancient world.
That simply is not being shit at war, even if a critical analysis shows the Spartans did not perform notably better 1:1 than anyone else without trading on their reputation.
That, supposedly, is a bit of misinformation spread by NAMBLA types. The Greeks apparently didn’t care for too large an age gap in pederastic relationships, and 16 was roughly considered to be the socially acceptable age to begin one.
Not great by modern standards but certainly better than some, and better than they treated women who were often considered marriable at 14. Though at least that was better than the Roman 12, and Aristotle even argued that 21 was the most appropriate age for healthy children (fertility periods being their primary concern)
I saw an interesting video on this just recently, actuality:
Facebook Twitter Pinterest reddit Blogger Tumblr Earlier this year, a theory began to circulate online that a company was deliberately adding glitter to their products to make them harder to use and so customers would have to keep buying more. This so-called “glitter conspiracy” had many people outraged, imagining companies secretly laughing as they watched ... Read more