The Spartans (documentary) the Spartan constitution into the militarised state we know of today. Homosexuality among men and boys was mandatory. The training of Spartan youths is explained, from their enrollment in the Agoge system right through to their attainment of citizenship. The class structure of the Lacedaemonian state (Helots, Perioeci, and the soldier-citizens themselves) is also covered. The episode ends with the battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans, including their king, Leonidas, were killed in action defending Greece from a Persian invasion. Part 2 opens with the retreat of the Persians, after Thermopylae and the battle of Salamis. Athens, which had
Thermopylae Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: ("Thermopylai") , Demotic Greek (Greek): , ("Thermopyles") ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. The Hot Gates is "the place of hot springs" and in Greek mythology it is the cavernous entrances to Hades". Thermopylae is world-famous for the battle that took place there between the Greek forces (notably the Spartans) and the invading Persian forces, commemorated by Simonides in the famous epitaph, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here obedient to their