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The Spartan lifestyle was very different than any other [[Greek]] [[city-state]]. Instead of teaching their sons the arts of reading and writing they set up a system dedicated to producing warriors. Every male Spartan had to become a full time soldier and spent his life training and fighting. From the age of 7 they were trained for war. These boys were placed in groups of 15, the bravest of the company would be made captain. They were kept under very strict rules. The captain of the of the group would give out punishments as he saw fit. This made all Spartans tough, proud, and disciplined. By the [[Classical Period]] [[Sparta]] had become the strongest military power in all [[Greece]], and its soldiers were famous for their bravery. However, this was achieved at the expense of her cultural development. There were now no philosophers, or artists, or anything else in [[Sparta]], just soldiers.
'''Thermopylae'''
----In 480 BC Persian [[King Xerxes]] was planning to carry out his father's intentions to conquer [[Greece]]. To do this he created a tremendous army consisting of 1,700,000 infantrymen, 80,000 in the cavalry, and the fleet had 1,207 ships in it with 200 men on each ship. Now at this time there was a Spartan oracle which said,
''Hear your fate, O dwellers in [[Sparta]] of the wide spaces;''
Leonidas seemed to believe that he was this king.
To stop this invasion the Greeks held counsel and resolved to send A Greek force to Theropylae. This force consisted of 4,200 Greeks and 300 Spartans, and at its head was Leonidas.
