Sparta Revisited

Much as the way of womens' lives in Sparta was admirable, there were factors that were less than desirable. For one, the relatively poor education of the people led to a batch of rather poor tacticians and diplomats. Military might can only take a country so far before its numbers wear thin and the helots began to revolt.

In fact, it was very sad that a militaristic state could be so poorly versed in advanced battlefield tactics. While the other states of the time were relatively rigid in their tactics, it seemed unusual that a state serving as a huge military camp could fail to continually innovate its tactics rather than to concentrate purely on the training of its troops.

Finally...I'd say: Field the women. How unusual that, in Sparta's last days, its able-bodied womenfolk were not brought to the field. In their pride, Spartan men scorned ranged weapons as womanly devices. What better troop to wield those...than women? Of course, this could all be due to the strange fixation on maintaining walls of phalluses.