Movie Description:
The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the mostextreme civilizations the world has ever seen, acivilization that was founded ondiscipline, sacrifice and frugality, where the onus was on the collective andthe goal was tocreate the perfect stateand theperfect warrior. Classicalhistorian Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life: homosexuality was compulsory, money was outlawed, equalitywas enforced, weak boys were put to death and women enjoyeda level of social and sexual freedom that was unheardof in the ancient World. Afterdecades of war with Athens, Sparta finally emerged victorious as the most powerful city-state in Greece and an imperial power. But a collapsing birthrate, too few warriors, rebellious slaves and outdated attitudes to weaponry and warfare combined to sow theseeds of Sparta`s destruction, untileventually the once-great warrior state was reduced to a destination for Roman tourists who came to view bizarre sado- masochistic rituals.