Spartan Agoge Extended Beyond Warfare

The agoge was Sparta's state-controlled education and training system, which Spartiate boys typically entered at age seven and continued through early adulthood as preparation for full citizen status. Training went far beyond warfare and athletics, including dancing, singing, rhetoric, social discipline, stealth, and intense lessons in loyalty to Sparta. Boys were deliberately underfed and expected to steal food but were punished if caught, supposedly teaching them cunning and resourcefulness.

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