The Spartans could afford to be good soldiers; in fact it was a necessity. They had many [[slaves]] and a peasant class who outnumbered the Spartans themselves by a wide margin. It was only through having a regimented military that they could keep their subject peoples in check. | The Spartans could afford to be good soldiers; in fact it was a necessity. They had many [[slaves]] and a peasant class who outnumbered the Spartans themselves by a wide margin. It was only through having a regimented military that they could keep their subject peoples in check. |