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Line 23: − ==Equality of women== − Spartan women enjoyed a status, power and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army. It is estimated that women were the sole owners of at least 35% of all land and property in Sparta.<ref>Pomeroy, 1975</ref> The laws regarding a divorce were the same for both men and women. Unlike women in Athens, if a Spartan woman became the heiress of her father because she had no living brothers to inherit (an [[epikleros]]), the woman was not required to divorce her current spouse in order to marry her nearest paternal relative.<ref name=Pomeroy1995>Pomeroy, Sarah B. ''Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity''. New York: Schocken Books, 1995 p. 60-62</ref> Spartan women received as much education as men, as well as a substantial amount of physical education and gymnastic training. They rarely married before the age of 20, and unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased. It was possible for them to appear entirely nude even publicly, which they did customarily only at festivals, as did the men.<ref name=Stark/><ref>Guttentag and Secord, 1983; Finley, 1982; Pomeroy, 1975</ref> − Women, being more independent than in other Greek societies, were able to negotiate with their husbands to bring their lovers into their homes. According to [[Plutarch]] in his ''Life of Lycurgus,'' men both allowed and encouraged their wives to bear the children of other men, due to the general communal ethos which made it more important to bear many progeny for the good of the city, than to be jealously concerned with one's own family unit. However, some historians argue that this 'wife sharing' was only reserved for elder males who had not yet produced an heir.<ref> − Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History -page 150 − by Sarah B. Pomeroy - 1999,"Despite these exceptions, and despite the report about wife sharing for reproductive purposes, the Spartans, like other Greeks, were monogamous.",ISBN 0195097424 </ref> − − Many women played a signifiant role in the [[history of Sparta]].<ref>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/spwomen.html</ref> [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta]], heiress to the throne and the wife of [[Leonidas I]], was very powerful within the government, a top adviser to her husband and the elders<ref>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/spwomen.html</ref>, and, as a young girl, to her father, another [[King of Sparta]].<ref>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/spwomen.html</ref> Gorgo addressed the Spartan council, advised politicians at all levels, before and after her husband's death<ref>http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_herodotus_7_12.htm#Gorgo</ref>, and influenced her husband, father, and son (all three ruled as kings).<ref>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/herodotos.html</ref> She was responsible for Sparta recieving the warning the Persian forces were about to invase following the [[Battle of Thermopylae]] when, after Spartan generals could not decode a wooden tablet covered in wax, she ordered them to clear the wax, revealing the warning.<ref>http://www.elysiumgates.com/~helena/Women.html</ref> She played an important role at war time.<ref>http://www.elysiumgates.com/~helena/Women.html</ref> When asked by a woman from [[Attica]] why Spartan women were the only women in the world who could rule men, she sated, famously, it was because only Spartan women gave birth to men. <ref>http://www.elysiumgates.com/~helena/Women.html</ref> − − There were women, such as [[Arachidamia]] and [[Chelidonis]], who led commanded army troops. Arachidamia of Sparta was famous for leading female troops and fighting against [[Pyrrhus]] during the seige of Sparta in the [[third century BC]].<ref>www.militaryglobal.com/forum/index.php/topic,2979.msg%25msg_id%25.html </ref> Princess Chelidonis also led female warriors.<ref>www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Chelidonis.html</ref> [[Hydna]] was an athelete and swimmer who destroyed the Persian navy in battle.<ref>www.fjkluth.com/hetaera.html</ref> The first woman to win the [[Anienct Greek Olympic Games]] was a Spartan, [[Cynisca]]<ref>www.fjkluth.com/hetaera.html</ref>. Female philosiphers such as [[Axiothea of Phlius]] also came from Spartan rule.<ref>www.women-philosophers.com/Axiothea-of-Philesia.html</ref>
→Equality of women
The roles of the Spartan army, were to put it simply, to protect the state of Sparta, both from external threats as well as internal threats. The influence of the army was gained through a rigorous education system that raised the Spartans into full time warriors. Their attitude towards war ensured that the army would remain a force throughout Greece as well as feared within their own backyard through the terrorization of helots.
The roles of the Spartan army, were to put it simply, to protect the state of Sparta, both from external threats as well as internal threats. The influence of the army was gained through a rigorous education system that raised the Spartans into full time warriors. Their attitude towards war ensured that the army would remain a force throughout Greece as well as feared within their own backyard through the terrorization of helots.
== See also ==
== See also ==