Description
Toughened by years of training within the agoge, Spartan youths were moulded into warriors from the age of seven, becoming 'paidiskoi', or Spartan reserves, in their later teenage years. Separated from their mothers, the first stage of their training was the 'paides', in which they lived communally in one of the Spartan syssitia mess halls. Here they trained and exercised together, learning from their elders, and were purposefully underfed to toughen and accustom them to hunger, and teach them resourcefulness. This extended to depriving them of clothing too, providing only their red cloak each year. This taught the boys to steal, for which they were severely punished if caught, but for being caught, not for stealing from the helot slave population. At eighteen, they became paidiskoi, joining the army as reservists for two years. Armed with the hoplite spear and hoplon, and armoured in cloth, they would support the older Spartan men in battle. A chosen few would also be inducted into the krypteia, a secret organisation that were expected to spy on, steal from and kill the helots. Seen as both a test of ability and a necessary means of keeping the helots submissive, a declaration of war against the helots was made each autumn, effectively legalising the krypteia’s activity.
