Spartan Agoge, Kings, and 300
300 is, by and large, a fantasy and this is one of the fantasy elements, but when I watched it, it bothered me because Paul Cartledge's The Spartans was fresh in my mind and he had said that Cleomenes I (Leonidas' predecessor) probably did not experience the agoge because he was the heir apparent to one of the two Spartan hereditary thrones. Cartledge also said that the marital arrangement between his daughter Gorgo and Leonidas was probably arranged because Leonidas had a reasonable claim to the throne. That is, Leonidas did not become king at age 10 and did not win his right to the throne by besting a beast, but by marrying the king's daughter. (Sparta wasn't Egypt, men didn't marry until mature.)
Is it true that Cleomenes I probably would not have gone through the agoge? A forum poster was having trouble finding source material that backed up this bit of "common knowledge." Paul Cartledge came to the rescue. Read: Who Said the Spartan Heirs Apparent Did Not Undergo the Rigorous Agoge Training?
Comments
ALL spartan boys regardless of line of heritage experienced the agoge as that was Spartan law. Ancient writers acknowlede this as well as Leonidas being heir to the thrown not by marriage but by blood line.
The article “Who Said the Spartan Heirs Apparent Did Not Undergo the Rigorous Agoge Training?” cites Cartledge and Plutarch. I know neither Cartledge nor Plutarch is infallible, but who are your authorities?
Reality dictates that the children of royalty would receive preferential treatment. The very concept OF kingship is one of preferential treatment. The king, by definition, would have the prerogative to decide for himself whether any of his sons would be subjected to the agoge. The underlying point of the agoge, after all, was to mold men into fanatical killing (and dying) machines for their rulers. So why would a ruler himself want that sort of training?
This is to reply to the last comment made.
I believe all spartans went through Agoge, because remember.. No one, not even King nor spartan citizen is above the law which means all boys must go threw agoge