Expert: Maria - 10/3/2010

Question
I really need to know about a historical fact... Because in the Spartan
High School Musican Song on Horrible Histories -- some of the lyrics say:
"I`m wondering about love, but it`s banned until your Third. High school
doesn`t teach romantics, it teaches fighting dirty.."
I wondered if this was historically accurate that Spartans were banned from
having relationships until their "third" & and even so, which year does
"third" mean in that context? I mean, in UK years at least. How old would
they have been until romance was allowed?

Answer
Hello,

First of all I have to point out that in the strophe:” I’m wondering about love? It's banned until you’re thirty. High school  doesn't teach romance, it teaches fighting dirty” (Spartan High School Musical song from the Horrible Histories TV series ) there is the word  “thirty” (30), not “third”.

Anyway it is not historically  correct that Spartan boys were banned from  having relationships until age  "thirty”, unless this song wants to point out that they  were allowed to live with their wife and children  only at the age of 30.
Men were in fact encouraged to marry at age twenty,  but could not live with their families until they left their active military service at age thirty.

In short, male Spartans began military training at age seven.
At the age of eighteen, Spartan boys became reserve members of the Spartan army.
At the age twenty, the Spartan citizen  could marry.
At the age of 30 he was allowed to live with his family, but continued to train and remained in the active reserve until the age of 60 when he retired from military service.

To conclude, Spartan boys were allowed to have romance only after their 18 years just for wedding, after they had passed a difficult test of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills, since -given its military purpose- Sparta aimed at producing great soldiers and thus the students were taught how to read and write, but these skills did not compare or hold much value within the ancient Spartan civilization where  survival and warfare were the most important aspects drilled into the heads of the Spartan  boys from their earliest youth.

Bye,
Maria