01-04-2008, 08:08 PM
Quote:Having been in an elite fighting force, I can say there was a definitive lack of British Officer Pomp; we were more much like the what was portrayed by Pressfield for the most part... however we were extremely disciplined when it came to the battlefield or on parade.
I think you are falling into the same trap as Pressfield. Spartiates were not an elite fighting unit, they were an elite class. That they were a fighting force is very much secondary to the fact that they were the overlords of Laconia. As such we would expect, and in fact are told, that they displayed some of the behaviors and manners common to over-classes such as European gentry or Samurai.
Paul M. Bardunias
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"