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>When that happens, they will realize that the low merit ideas of authors such as this guy are useless. Which ideas are you specifically talking about? >The d

by brazzy 3y ago

>When that happens, they will realize that the low merit ideas of authors such as this guy are useless. Which ideas are you specifically talking about? >The decline of Sparta was due to the greed of the elite, who became self-serving at the expense of the rest. Not because of the merit of Spartan soldiers. Did you even read the article? Spartan soldiers were the elite. One major reason why Sparta declined was that this severely limited the size of armies they could field. And, as the article argues (supported with lots of hard historical facts), their military merit was, overall, rather mediocre.

29athrowaway 3y ago
> Sparta declined was that this severely limited the size of armies they could field. Agreed. That is a scalability problem, it does not mean they were a failure at large in every aspect. Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Lamborghini products also don't scale as much as Toyota products but many people aspire to have them. > their military merit was, overall, rather mediocre. Their merit is studied in military academies around the world. Those are the types of studies that actually matter and can be tested in real situations of life and death.
- brazzy 3y ago
  > Agreed. That is a scalability problem, it does not mean they were a failure at large in every aspect. No, but the fact that they weren't actually winning most of their battles means they were not exactly a success in the military aspect, which was kind of the only thing they had going for them, seeing as their society was otherwise pretty shit (admittedly, their upperclass women had a few more freedoms than those in other Greek states). > Their merit is studied in military academies around the world. Those are the types of studies that actually matter and can be tested in real situations of life and death. Excuse me, which military academies these days are fighting battles using spears and shields? Please tell me you're not talking about Steve Pressfield "Warrior Ethos" bullshit.
  - orwin 3y ago
    Their upper class women had more than 'a few more freedom', especially after their husbands died: they basically controlled merchants and foreign policy.

by brazzy 3y ago

29athrowaway 3y ago

> Sparta declined was that this severely limited the size of armies they could field. Agreed. That is a scalability problem, it does not mean they were a failure at large in every aspect. Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Lamborghini products also don't scale as much as Toyota products but many people aspire to have them. > their military merit was, overall, rather mediocre. Their merit is studied in military academies around the world. Those are the types of studies that actually matter and can be tested in real situations of life and death.

brazzy 3y ago
> Agreed. That is a scalability problem, it does not mean they were a failure at large in every aspect. No, but the fact that they weren't actually winning most of their battles means they were not exactly a success in the military aspect, which was kind of the only thing they had going for them, seeing as their society was otherwise pretty shit (admittedly, their upperclass women had a few more freedoms than those in other Greek states). > Their merit is studied in military academies around the world. Those are the types of studies that actually matter and can be tested in real situations of life and death. Excuse me, which military academies these days are fighting battles using spears and shields? Please tell me you're not talking about Steve Pressfield "Warrior Ethos" bullshit.
- orwin 3y ago
  Their upper class women had more than 'a few more freedom', especially after their husbands died: they basically controlled merchants and foreign policy.