re: #49 calochortus

Or actual productivity. Everyone’s life was funneled into supporting the military, which may or may not be necessary but isn’t particularly productive.

Every so often wingnuts bring up the glory that was Sparta until someone clues them in to a.) the moral difficulties and b.) their fairly short run as a successful society.

also: helots

the entire population of a neighboring province existed in a state of semi-slavery providing food for sparta. every year the spartans would declare a kind of ceremonial war on them so that spartan males could complete their coming-of-age ceremony by killing a helot

eventually other greek states subverted this arrangement by convincing the helots to revolt, which was carried out successfully