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12 - Professionalism, Specialization, and Skill in the Classical Spartan Army?

from Part V - Case Studies of Professions 3: A Profession of Arms?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Stephen Hodkinson
Edited by
Edmund Stewart ,
Edward Harris  and
David Lewis
Edmund Stewart
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Edward Harris
Affiliation:
University of Durham
David Lewis
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Summary

Contrary to orthodox views, Sparta’s full citizens, the Spartiates, were not professional or specialized full-time soldiers and, apart from practice in elementary drill, their training focused mainly on physical fitness. In so far as Sparta’s armies excelled in technical proficiency, it was through their tight-knit organization and hierarchical command structures and their methodical, if often inflexible, implementation of set manoeuvres.

Keywords

professionalismskillSpartan armyspecialization
Type
Chapter
Information
Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome , pp. 335 - 361
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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