Inspected at Birth

In Sparta, your future was decided before you could walk. Every newborn was carried before a council of elders for inspection. A baby judged weak or sickly was reportedly left to die of exposure on the slopes of Mount Taygetus. Only the strong were thought worth raising. From your first breath, your body belonged less to your parents than to the state.

Historians still argue over how often this really happened — whether it was routine or rare. But the principle behind it is not in doubt: Sparta had no room for weakness. A child was state property from birth, and the state wanted one thing from it. Not a scholar. Not a craftsman. A soldier.