Even by classic Greek standards, Spartans were kind of lame (as far as we can tell nowadays). Their fighters weren’t even that good, they were never able to obtain hegemony in Greece because no one wanted to ally with them (everyone fucking hated them), they didn’t have the necessary economic power to buy themselves to the top, and their numbers dwindled to nothing because of their extreme classism - they would literally rather die out than allow people of lesser social status to become full citizens and thus allowed to become Spartan warriors.
And yet somehow, it was the classic Greeks themselves who started the Sparta fetishization.
It would seem that both people with very little agency over their own lives and people with unfettered access to multiple types of agency (money, power, influence) love the idea of a society of “strong-men”.
For the first group it’s an escapist “utopian” fantasy to them and for the second it’s a high-risk high-reward strategy to make their numbers go up.
AFAIK, they didn’t consider themselves greek (and possibly weren’t). They were surrounded by enemies outside the walls, and their slaves, the majority of the population, came from outside their walls. The superiority complex coupled with the paranoia didn’t make them great neighbors.
Even by classic Greek standards, Spartans were kind of lame (as far as we can tell nowadays). Their fighters weren’t even that good, they were never able to obtain hegemony in Greece because no one wanted to ally with them (everyone fucking hated them), they didn’t have the necessary economic power to buy themselves to the top, and their numbers dwindled to nothing because of their extreme classism - they would literally rather die out than allow people of lesser social status to become full citizens and thus allowed to become Spartan warriors.
And yet somehow, it was the classic Greeks themselves who started the Sparta fetishization.
“Wow, they REALLY oppress the poors, even more than we do! So cool! I wish our poors didn’t have any rights!” - Other Greek Aristocrats, Probably
It would seem that both people with very little agency over their own lives and people with unfettered access to multiple types of agency (money, power, influence) love the idea of a society of “strong-men”.
For the first group it’s an escapist “utopian” fantasy to them and for the second it’s a high-risk high-reward strategy to make their numbers go up.
Yeah, it makes total sense for today’s toxic “alpha” males to rever them.
AFAIK, they didn’t consider themselves greek (and possibly weren’t). They were surrounded by enemies outside the walls, and their slaves, the majority of the population, came from outside their walls. The superiority complex coupled with the paranoia didn’t make them great neighbors.