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The relationship between men and women played a crucial role in Spartan culture.
Ancient Sparta is often depicted as a Greek city-state of strong and fearsome warriors, raised under strict military laws, where there was no place for weakness.
However, few people realize that Sparta was actually quite progressive for its time, where men respected the rights and freedoms of their wives more than in other prosperous Greek city-states.
Yes, Spartans respected women so much that many men not only granted their wives equal property rights but also allowed them to choose other partners to conceive and bear children.
But why did Spartan men share their wives with others? And most importantly, why were many men legally required to share their wives under Sparta's strict laws?
Let’s take a deeper look into this.
At the age of seven, all Spartan boys were taken from their families to undergo the mandatory military training program known as the "Agoge" to earn full citizenship.
From ages 7 to 30, these boys lived together under extremely harsh conditions, similar to military barracks. For instance, they were rarely given food unless they learned to steal—an essential skill in military campaigns. While successfully stealing food undetected was encouraged, any boy caught stealing was severely punished.
At 20, a Spartan man was considered an adult soldier and gained full citizenship rights: he could fight, marry, and have children. However, he was not allowed to live with his wife and children until he turned 30, as he was still required to share barracks with his fellow soldiers.
During this time, Spartan women were educated in reading and writing and were considered equal to men (though separate from them) until the age of 15. They did not play any role in military life.
It was believed that Spartan women needed to be strong and healthy to give birth to powerful warriors and should also be capable of using weapons.
With a highly militarized society, Sparta needed a constant influx of young people to maintain its military strength. As a result, both men and women were encouraged to marry as early as possible. Those who did not were looked down upon by society.
For this reason, all women were required to bear children (mainly sons), as this was seen as their central role and duty within Spartan society.
Compared to women in Athens and other Greek city-states, Spartan women married much later in life and enjoyed more freedom.
Because women often did not live with their husbands until the men turned 30, they were allowed to own and manage their own property. In this sense, they had legal status equal to men, unlike Greek (and later Roman) women, who had no right to own property independently.
For example, an Athenian woman needed her husband's, brother's, father's, or guardian's approval for any commercial transaction worth more than a bushel of barley. Likewise, female heirs had no control over who managed their inherited property. Any inheritance automatically transferred to their sons upon reaching adulthood.
In contrast, Spartan women had equal inheritance rights to men. Since Spartan men spent most of their lives in military barracks or on the battlefield, they had little time to manage their homes. Thus, women were often free to oversee their own affairs as they saw fit.
Due to the large number of slaves (called helots) who performed household labor, Spartan women could participate in government, agriculture, urban planning, and more.
When a Spartan man died, any farmland he received from the state was returned to the government. However, his private land was inherited equally by his wife and children—both sons and daughters.
This occurred frequently, as many Spartan men died at a young age due to the constant wars of their militaristic culture.
According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, by his time, nearly two-fifths of all land in Sparta was privately owned by women. Some of the wealthiest Spartan women even owned most of Sparta’s horses.
One of the more unusual aspects of Spartan life was the practice of "wife-sharing," which was legally established in Sparta.
This tradition is frequently cited in the works of Polybius, Xenophon, and Plutarch.
According to historical records—particularly from the ancient Greek historian Xenophon in his work The Constitution of the Lacedaemonians—the law of wife-sharing in Sparta worked as follows:
Xenophon wrote that this law allowed three or even four blood-related brothers to share a single wife, thereby preventing the division of their inherited property into smaller portions. It also ensured that their land (a symbol of status in Sparta) remained within their family rather than passing to men from other families and their descendants.
Children born from these relationships were considered equally shared among all the brothers. Since paternal lineage could be uncertain, both the woman and her children benefited from having multiple men contribute to their well-being.
Unmarried men who wanted children but were unable to find a wife outside the barracks were legally allowed to "borrow" a wife from a married comrade they had served or fought alongside, so the woman could bear them a child. By law, the married husband was obligated to fulfill this request, provided his wife also agreed.
Older men without children—or those unable to have children—were legally required to share their wives with younger, healthier Spartans if they could not fulfill their marital duties and obligations to the state (i.e., fathering children).
If a man did not wish to marry but wanted to have children to take pride in, he had the right to select a woman from a noble and prestigious family. If her husband consented, she could bear the child of the chosen man. (The Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 1.8, Xenophon).
However, if anyone attempted to take another man’s wife—whether by force or without the husband’s consent—he was punished by death or exile.
The fact that a Spartan woman could bear children with one man while remaining married to another led to severe criticism from other Greek city-states.
Spartan women were widely known among Greek men—not just because Spartans were legally required to share them, but also due to their clothing, marriage customs, and culture.
Spartan women wore short dresses and Doric peplos (long robes) with high side slits that exposed much of their bodies, allowing for greater mobility and displaying their strong, athletic physiques. Many Greeks considered this highly inappropriate.
Bronze statues often depict Spartan female athletes competing in long tunics that left one breast exposed.
Historian Plutarch wrote about Spartan girls performing ritual dances naked in public. He also mentioned that girls and boys frequently competed against each other in sports while unclothed.
Euripides once wrote: "Spartan girls cannot be modest even if they wish. They leave their homes in short dresses, sway their bare hips, and train alongside young men."
For Athenians, the idea of a woman attending secondary school with boys or playing sports in front of men was unimaginable.
Athenian playwrights often mocked Sparta in their works, portraying the wives of their enemies as frivolous and their men as "lovesick fools"—a common yet elegant way of undermining the reputation of their rivals.
Ancient Sparta is often depicted as a Greek city-state of strong and fearsome warriors, raised under strict military laws, where there was no place for weakness.
However, few people realize that Sparta was actually quite progressive for its time, where men respected the rights and freedoms of their wives more than in other prosperous Greek city-states.
Yes, Spartans respected women so much that many men not only granted their wives equal property rights but also allowed them to choose other partners to conceive and bear children.
But why did Spartan men share their wives with others? And most importantly, why were many men legally required to share their wives under Sparta's strict laws?
Let’s take a deeper look into this.
A Short Trip into History
At the age of seven, all Spartan boys were taken from their families to undergo the mandatory military training program known as the "Agoge" to earn full citizenship.
From ages 7 to 30, these boys lived together under extremely harsh conditions, similar to military barracks. For instance, they were rarely given food unless they learned to steal—an essential skill in military campaigns. While successfully stealing food undetected was encouraged, any boy caught stealing was severely punished.
At 20, a Spartan man was considered an adult soldier and gained full citizenship rights: he could fight, marry, and have children. However, he was not allowed to live with his wife and children until he turned 30, as he was still required to share barracks with his fellow soldiers.
During this time, Spartan women were educated in reading and writing and were considered equal to men (though separate from them) until the age of 15. They did not play any role in military life.
It was believed that Spartan women needed to be strong and healthy to give birth to powerful warriors and should also be capable of using weapons.
Marriage Was Crucial in Sparta
With a highly militarized society, Sparta needed a constant influx of young people to maintain its military strength. As a result, both men and women were encouraged to marry as early as possible. Those who did not were looked down upon by society.
For this reason, all women were required to bear children (mainly sons), as this was seen as their central role and duty within Spartan society.
Compared to women in Athens and other Greek city-states, Spartan women married much later in life and enjoyed more freedom.
Because women often did not live with their husbands until the men turned 30, they were allowed to own and manage their own property. In this sense, they had legal status equal to men, unlike Greek (and later Roman) women, who had no right to own property independently.
For example, an Athenian woman needed her husband's, brother's, father's, or guardian's approval for any commercial transaction worth more than a bushel of barley. Likewise, female heirs had no control over who managed their inherited property. Any inheritance automatically transferred to their sons upon reaching adulthood.
In contrast, Spartan women had equal inheritance rights to men. Since Spartan men spent most of their lives in military barracks or on the battlefield, they had little time to manage their homes. Thus, women were often free to oversee their own affairs as they saw fit.
Due to the large number of slaves (called helots) who performed household labor, Spartan women could participate in government, agriculture, urban planning, and more.
When a Spartan man died, any farmland he received from the state was returned to the government. However, his private land was inherited equally by his wife and children—both sons and daughters.
This occurred frequently, as many Spartan men died at a young age due to the constant wars of their militaristic culture.
According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, by his time, nearly two-fifths of all land in Sparta was privately owned by women. Some of the wealthiest Spartan women even owned most of Sparta’s horses.
So Why Were Spartan Men Legally Required to Share Their Wives?
One of the more unusual aspects of Spartan life was the practice of "wife-sharing," which was legally established in Sparta.
This tradition is frequently cited in the works of Polybius, Xenophon, and Plutarch.
According to historical records—particularly from the ancient Greek historian Xenophon in his work The Constitution of the Lacedaemonians—the law of wife-sharing in Sparta worked as follows:
Xenophon wrote that this law allowed three or even four blood-related brothers to share a single wife, thereby preventing the division of their inherited property into smaller portions. It also ensured that their land (a symbol of status in Sparta) remained within their family rather than passing to men from other families and their descendants.
Children born from these relationships were considered equally shared among all the brothers. Since paternal lineage could be uncertain, both the woman and her children benefited from having multiple men contribute to their well-being.
Unmarried men who wanted children but were unable to find a wife outside the barracks were legally allowed to "borrow" a wife from a married comrade they had served or fought alongside, so the woman could bear them a child. By law, the married husband was obligated to fulfill this request, provided his wife also agreed.
Older men without children—or those unable to have children—were legally required to share their wives with younger, healthier Spartans if they could not fulfill their marital duties and obligations to the state (i.e., fathering children).
If a man did not wish to marry but wanted to have children to take pride in, he had the right to select a woman from a noble and prestigious family. If her husband consented, she could bear the child of the chosen man. (The Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 1.8, Xenophon).
However, if anyone attempted to take another man’s wife—whether by force or without the husband’s consent—he was punished by death or exile.
The Reputation of Spartan Women
The fact that a Spartan woman could bear children with one man while remaining married to another led to severe criticism from other Greek city-states.
Spartan women were widely known among Greek men—not just because Spartans were legally required to share them, but also due to their clothing, marriage customs, and culture.
Spartan women wore short dresses and Doric peplos (long robes) with high side slits that exposed much of their bodies, allowing for greater mobility and displaying their strong, athletic physiques. Many Greeks considered this highly inappropriate.
Bronze statues often depict Spartan female athletes competing in long tunics that left one breast exposed.
Historian Plutarch wrote about Spartan girls performing ritual dances naked in public. He also mentioned that girls and boys frequently competed against each other in sports while unclothed.
Euripides once wrote: "Spartan girls cannot be modest even if they wish. They leave their homes in short dresses, sway their bare hips, and train alongside young men."
For Athenians, the idea of a woman attending secondary school with boys or playing sports in front of men was unimaginable.
Athenian playwrights often mocked Sparta in their works, portraying the wives of their enemies as frivolous and their men as "lovesick fools"—a common yet elegant way of undermining the reputation of their rivals.
