In Sparta baby boys were examined by its elders at birth. Those considered too weak were cast from Mount Taygetos, but the worthy faced a childhood designed to condition them for the physical demands of war. The 'agoge' training program was the most demanding in the ancient world and bred a hugely efficient and universally feared fighting force. If a boy survived to the age of thirteen he was subjected to a further seven years of formal military training until finally, aged twenty, he would be considered to have reached manhood, ready to become a true warrior of Sparta.
