Zeus is scheduled for release fall 2000

As soon as a baby boy was born, the state sent officials to look at the child to decide whether he was suitable for future military service as a Spartan hoplite. Male babies which were deemed not viable were abandoned at the foot of the nearby Mount Taygetus, where nature was allowed to take its course. Suitable babies were allotted a certain amount of land by the state (this land was called the kleros), which would then revert to the state when the person to whom it had been granted died (until the laws were changed in the fourth century to allow land to be handed down in a will). Boys were forced to leave home at the age of 7, when they were put into groups (called "herds") where they were trained in matters such as conformity, obedience, group solidarity and military skills. Each boy was allowed only 1 coat per year, and sandals were not permitted (the feet needed to be toughened to allow the future hoplites to undertake long marches). Food rations were meagre, and the boys were encouraged to develop cunning by trying to steal food (anyone who was caught was severely whipped).

Another toughening ritual was that enacted yearly at the altar of Artemis Orthia. 1 group of boys would try to steal a piece of cheese from the altar, which was defended by a group of older boys brandishing whips. During Roman times, this sacred ritual had become something of a tourist attraction, and a theatre was built on the premises so that visitors could watch the bloody spectacle. And bloody it was - some people were quite literally flogged to death during this ritual, and the altar was invariably spattered with blood by the time it was over.

Between the ages of 14 and 20, the soldiers-to-be performed their preliminary military service, after which they were allowed to adopt the characteristics which set the Spartan hoplite apart from all other soldiers in Greece - his hair was grown long (in contrast to the short hairstyles preferred my most Greeks), and he had a long beard (but no moustache). Between 20 and 30, the hoplites were allowed to marry, yet had to remain with their army groups until the age of 30.

While they were still with their army groups, everything was done communally, supposedly to foster a sense of loyalty and solidarity. As with everything else in Sparta, food was usually purely functional - the main staple was probably "Black Broth" (pork cooked in blood and seasoned with salt and vinegar). Excessive drinking was discouraged - the dangers of such practise were shown to young soldiers by bringing before them helots who had been forced to over-drink who then made fools of themselves in their drunken stupor (this also serves to imbue the Spartans with a sense of superiority vis-à-vis the helots).

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