Epic Moments in History - Top 10 Spartan One Liners

Epic Moments in History – Top 10 Spartan One-Liners The Golden Age of Greece. A time of great thinkers and speakers. Confucius and Buddha in the East, Socrates and Plato in the West. Amongst these titans of rhetoric stood the Spartans. We remember them as great warriors, but their voice could be every bit as biting as their spears. Theirs was a terse, blunt style, relying on an economy of words to deliver a barbed message. Even 2,500 years later we refer to this speech as laconic. Today we'll be looking at the 10 best Spartan one-liners in recorded history. The Quintessential Spartan For 40 years Agasoleus II ruled Sparta. A beloved statesman and brave warrior-king, he was admired by historians Plutarch and When a visitor asked Agasoleus how far do Sparta's borders stretch, the king thrust out his spear. As far as this can reach. When questioned about the lack of walls around the city, he simply pointed to his troops. These are Sparta's walls. Such was Agasoleus' disdain for those who measured safety in bricks rather than bravery that when given a tour of a neighbouring city's new defences, he merely remarked, Ein Quarters for women. The Hollywood Moment If you're a fan of Hollywood action films, you've no doubt heard these famous one-liners before. This is Sparta! No, not that one. It was during the Greco-Persian Wars that Sparta achieved its legendary status. King Darius' Achaemenid Persians knocked on the doors of Greece in 490 BC, his emissaries presenting a simple demand, bend the knee or face conquest. The messengers arrived in Sparta demanding earth and water. Negotiations proved swift. Dig it out for yourselves, the Spartans roared as they threw them down a deep well. Peaceful relations did not follow, surprising absolutely no one. Ten years later, Darius' son Xerxes set out to finish what his father had started. With him came armies so large they were said to drink the rivers dry, so numerous their arrows were said to blot out the sun. This terrifying boast caused the Spartan Dioneches to rejoice, so much the better, we'll fight in the shade. The Persian host soon overran northern Greece and turned south where they saw themselves funneled through the narrow pass at Thermopylae. Here, at the hot gates, King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans and 7,000 Greek allies stood in stoic opposition. Flanked by the sea on one side and hills on the other, they were an immovable object to match Xerxes' unstoppable force. The Persian king offered to spare the hopelessly outnumbered defenders if they gave up their arms. Leonidas replied simply, Molon labe, come and take them. These famous last words would be the rallying cry of ancient Greece and are invoked to this day. The Spartan Ethos Soon after, Spartan rose to challenge Athens for dominance of the region. This rise to power was in part owed to the martial values drilled into all Spartan citizens. Plutarch wrote that mothers would send their sons off to war with the simple line, with it or on In other words, victory or death. Duty to the state was paramount and consequently Spartan women played a much larger role in society compared to their neighbours. The stark difference led an Attican woman to question Queen Gorgo. How is it you Spartan women are the only ones who could rule men? Gorgo quipped, we are the only ones who give birth to men. Indeed, the Spartan ego often manifested itself in the state's diplomacy with others. When the King of Macedon Demetrius I received embassies in his court, he flew into a rage when only a single Spartan envoy arrived. What, have the Lacedaemonians sent no more than one ambassador? He received the dry response. Aye, one ambassador to one king. Years passed and Sparta was but a pale shadow of its former self. Yet still the old lion held great respect. After suppressing the southern Greek city-states, Philip II sent a message of intimidation to the Spartans. If I invade Laconia, you will be destroyed, never to rise again, the Spartans replied with a single word, if. Neither Philip nor his son Alexander the Great would attempt a conquest. The Spartans have been forever immortalised in history. Millennia after their rise and fall, we still remember their heroic deeds and bold words. However, we must be wary that much of what has been written is subject to hyperbole, bias and propaganda. Were the Spartans really the legendary figures we remember them as? What, if anything, set them apart from their peers? These are questions we will discuss in the videos to come, so come and claim them.