Conversation:

I enjoyed that thorooughly. My only criticism would be that you hint at, but don't actually explain, the reason for the inevitible decline in the numbers of the Spartiate.

Good point, actually. From what I know it was mainly due to the death toll in battle. Because of the laws regarding marriage (only a marriage between pure-blooded Spartans was acceptable) it became harder and harder to replace these deaths. Glad you liked the entry.

That's what I was taught too.

Congrats for finally getting this on the FP, laconian! I thought it had been already, I could have sworn I'd seen it. Double congrats on getting Editor's Choice, especially considering there are 5 entries on the Front Page today!

It's possibly a bit bulky. When it was in PR someone suggested I turn it into a University project, but I decided against that because I was a little strapped for time then. It would have made it easier to read if there had been multiple entries.

I've learned a heck of a lot about Sparta in writing this. When I started I had an interest in it, lots of books and not much else, but now I find I can actually describe the main points of the entry off by heart. In fact, I reckon writing an entry is one of the best ways of learning. Since I'm revising for my AS-levels at the moment, I might try it.

I was going to do that, but I didn't have time really!

What AS levels are you taking? I did Ancient History (you could probably have guessed that one, right? ), English lit, Psychology, Spanish, and General Studies.

I'm doing Physics, Maths, Geography and Computing. All great except Computing, which is a tad dull (and very, very similar to GCSE, actually). Too much IT and not enough about the programming and suchlike.

I have gone the sciencey way, as you can see . But I would have also liked to have done English Literature, French and probably History, as I have an interest in all of those fields. Shame we don't have an Ancient History course at our school, come to think of it. But then it really is too small to offer anything other than the core subjects.

And, contrary to popular belief, Maths can be easy (if you are as lucky as me in getting a great teacher) . He maintains a little website for us and everything (http://www.tejmaths.co.uk/). Plus he tells us mathematical jokes (being able to understand them feels like a privelige).