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For many decades’ Sparta, was the greatest power in Greece, this power was based on its well-disciplined and much-feared army. The Spartan Hoplite were considered the best soldiers in the Greek world <ref>Hanson, Victor Davis. A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. (New York: Random House, 2005), p. 56</ref> The state was focused on the development of fine and brave warriors. The need to produce outstanding soldiers shaped Spartan history and society. The origin of the Spartan probably lay in the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ in 2 century BCE.<ref> Hanson, p. 57</ref>  During this time, Greek invaders from the north who spoke a variant of Greek known as Doric invaded the Peloponnesian. They overthrew the Mycenaean Kingdom and established their own state. The new state was ruled by a Doric-speaking elite who enslaved many of the existing population. These were the helots, a large population of people who were the serfs of the Spartan elite.<ref> Cartlidge, Paul, The Spartans (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 6</ref> The helots had no legal rights and had to provide their Spartan overlords with food and labor. The need to control the helots shaped Spartan society.  According to Spartan mythology, Lycurgus, who was almost certainly a mythical figure gave them their unique constitution, that set out not only the state’s political system but also its social order.<ref>Plutarch. On Sparta (London, Penguin Books, 1994), p. 43</ref> The political system was headed by two kings from two royal families. They were advised by a council of elders and every Spartan citizen could vote in a general assembly. Every Spartan male citizen was expected to be a warrior and the duty of every Spartan woman was to bear a warrior.<ref>Plutarch, p. 56</ref>  Sparta was in many ways a totalitarian state, and the government oversaw every aspect of the lives of the citizens. Infants who were deemed unfit were killed soon after their birth. Young boys were taken from their families and enrolled in the Agoge.<ref> Plutarch, p. 67</ref> To ensure that the Spartans produced enough warriors they developed the Agoge system.

According to Spartan mythology, Lycurgus, who was almost certainly a mythical figure gave them their unique constitution, that set out not only the state’s political In this system but also its social order.<ref>Plutarch. On Sparta (London, Penguin Books, 1994), p. 43</ref> The political system was headed by two kings male children were trained from two royal familiesan early age to be warriors. They were advised by a council of elders exposed to many hardships and every Spartan citizen could vote privations to toughen them up. This education produced the finest soldiers in a general assembly. Every Spartan male citizen was expected to be a warrior Greece and the duty of every Spartan woman hoplite was to bear a warrior.<ref>Plutarch, pinvincible on battlefields all over Greece. 56</ref> Sparta was in many ways had traditionally adopted a totalitarian state cautious foreign policy and was happy to dominate the Peloponnesian League. In the government oversaw every aspect aftermath of the lives defeat of the citizens. Infants who were deemed unfit were killed soon after their birth. Young boys were taken from their families and enrolled in second Persian invasion of Greece they decided not to continue the war against the AgogePersians.<ref> PlutarchCartlidge, p. 6777</ref> To ensure that the Spartans produced enough warriors they developed the Agoge system.

In this system, male children were trained from an early age to be warriors. They were exposed to many hardships and privations to toughen them up. This education produced the finest soldiers in Greece and the Spartan hoplite was invincible on battlefields all over Greece. Sparta had traditionally adopted a cautious foreign policy and was happy to dominate the Peloponnesian League. In the aftermath of the defeat of the second Persian invasion of Greece they decided not to continue the war against the Persians.<ref>Cartlidge, p. 77</ref> Sparta was always conscious that the Spartan citizens were a minority in their own land , and they knew that if their army was defeated or lost that the helots would rise up and destroy Sparta. This changed during the Peloponnesian War when Sparta and her allies entered a life and death struggle with the Athenian Empire. The Spartans were able to prevail but only at a high cost. It could expand its influence across the Greek world in the aftermath of the defeat of Athens.<ref>Cartledge, Paul, Spartan Reflections (London, Duckworth, 2001), p.112</ref>

This new power disrupted Spartan society and over time undermined the unique system that had allowed the Spartans to become the finest soldiers in Greece.<ref>Thucydides 5. 6</ref> A little over thirty years after their victory over Athens , the Spartans were defeated by a new rising power in Greece, Thebes. The defeat at Leuctra was the first inflicted on the Spartan army. The Spartans lost control of much of their empire and no longer the greatest power in Greece, indeed . Indeed they were something of a backwater and entered in a period of profound decline, although they remained independent, until the rise of the Roman Empire, who annexed it in the 2nd century BCE.

Sparta was a society that was based according to many historians on a caste system. The Spartan citizens were the highest caste, and they dominated the other groups in society. The other groups in Sparta included the helots and the Pereoki; this was a group of freemen who were not citizens and were usually craftsmen and traders.<ref>Plutarch, p. 113</ref> Spartan citizens, a male or a female, had to be able to trace their ancestry back to the original Doric conquerors. They also could not be of helot extraction.<ref>Cartledge, 2001, p. 56</ref> To be a Spartan citizen, one had to undertake the Agoge's rigorous education of the Agoge. Only those who had completed their education in the Agoge was entitled to be a citizen.