The Ancient Greeks

Greece is found to the East of Italy and nowadays it is a popular tourist destination, famous for it's beaches and friendly resorts and people. Two thousand years ago, it was a very different story.

In the time of the Ancient Greeks, the country of Greece was divided into 'City States' These states did not always get on very well together and fighting was common. The city state of Sparta was particulary powerful and trained young boys to be soldiers from a very young age. Life was hard for a young Spartan child, they would be required to run and train every day. Young soldiers were even encouraged to steal their own food and fight among themselves. The Spartan leaders though this would make the boys better soldiers. Even worse, if a baby was born in Sparta that looked weak, it would be left on a mountain to die.

We often call the Ancient Greeks 'civilised' because they had Governments, Education and Literature. But were they really?