One of the most famed classes of soldiers from antiquity, the Spartan warrior has been immortalised in media today. Characterised as super soldiers, formidable fighters who would rather perish than surrender - their reputation truly did proceed them. But how accurate is this image - and does it correlate with what the ancient sources actually tell us? In this filmed episode of The Ancients podcast Sparta mini-series, host Tristan Hughes welcomes Dr Roel Konijnendijk from the University of Oxford, to take a deep dive into the life of a Spartan w Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsely, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and iOs & Android. We're offering a special discount to History Hit for our subscribers, get 50% off your first 3 months with code YOUTUBE: http://www.access.historyhit.com/ #historyhit #spartans #spartanwarrior 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:12 Early Days of Sparta 00:08:27 Training and Education 00:19:48 Hellenistic differences 00:21:37 Did Sparta have an army? 00:28:25 Spartan Fighting Styles 00:38:25 Spartan Armour 00:44:23 Spartan Command Structure 00:46:44 ‘The 300’ 00:51:32 Spartan Burials 00:55:50 Was Sparta actually a Military Society?