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Aristotle claimed that many women in Lacedaemon were wealthy and lived luxurious lives, despite the traditional austerity of Spartan society. Females became wealthy, but they also lent money, and many citizens became indebted to them.<ref> Aristotle, Politics, 1269 </ref> Therefore, a class of Spartan women became extremely wealthy, which led to growing inequality in the citizen body. According to Aristotle, this undermined the city-state. As women abandoned motherhood to pursue wealth and luxury, the birth rate fell.<ref> Aristotle, Politics, 1269 </ref> This led to a decline in the number of Spartan citizens and a reduction in their army size, which led to defeats such as Leuctra. However, it should be noted that Aristotle, like many of his contemporaries, was influenced by a misogynistic culture and distrusted any independent or strong women.

Sparta was a different society, one that developed a socio-economic and political system focused solely on military success. This emphasis on the army meant that a premium was placed on the number of warriors available. As a result, in that society, despite its innate conservatism, women had more rights as they were the mothers of warriors. The role of women as mothers of Spartan citizens made them invaluable, and as a result, they had a great many more opportunities than Greek women elsewhere. For example, they received some education.