Spartan women had cultural, economic, military and social roles similar to Spartan men. For Spartan men and women would have heeded the warning of the statement, A house divided against itself cannot stand. The reality was that they were vastly outnumbered, most likely at the rate of 8:1 or more, by the native peoples that they had conquered and enslaved. So it was Spartans against their own country's enslaved majority, and also Spartans against the differently organized, male-dominated Athenian powerholders of ancient Greece. Spartan survival therefore depended upon a strong sense of Spartan identity, and upon Spartan teamwork. So both men and women had to know how to defend, and perpetuate, their way of life. That meant athletic and military training, and reading and writing skills, for Spartan boys and girls. And that also meant Spartan men and women capable of defending themselves and their country, eligible for owning property, and skilled in running their estates. In essence, it was all Spartans for Sparta, and Sparta for all Spartans be they men or women [except in the case of officeholding, which wasn't open to women].
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