Women in Ancient Greece
After many years of war in the 4th century BC, Spartan women owned between 35% and 40% of all Spartan land and property. By the Hellenistic period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women. They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army. Unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased. Spartan women rarely married before the age of 20: this was unusual in the ancient world. Girls as well as boys received an education, and young women as well as young men may have joined in the Gymnopaedia ("Festival of Nude Youths").