I’m not sure where he’s getting the age of nine; all the historical resources I have seen state the age of seven was the time when the boys were removed from their mothers’ care.
Moreover, has he considered Aristotle’s criticism?
“It is the standards of civilized men not of beasts that must be kept in mind, for it is good men not beasts who are capable of real courage. Those like the Spartans who concentrate on the one and ignore the other in their education turn men into machines and in devoting themselves to one single aspect of city’s life, end up making them inferior even in that.”
(As quoted in Forrest, W.G. (1968), A History of Sparta, 950–192 B.C., New York: W. W. Norton & Co. p.53 )
Allan, oh please don’t go there.
This is a terrible thing. There’s a reason why the Statue of Liberty is the one she is, and that has to do with Athens.
Sparta was their mortal enemy.