Travel quietly into the Eurotas Valley and discover what life in ancient Sparta was really like.

Long before Sparta became a symbol of warriors, discipline, and the famous stand at Thermopylae, it was an entire society of families, farmers, craftsmen, children, citizens, kings, and communities living beneath a remarkably complex social order.

In tonight’s sleep story, we’ll explore the world behind the Spartan legend — from the small group of full Spartan citizens and the education of boys through the agoge, to the helots whose agricultural labor supported the system and the Perioikoi who worked, traded, and lived in the towns surrounding Sparta.

We’ll also spend time inside the Spartan household, looking at childhood, marriage, food, clothing, communal meals, religion, festivals, government, the unusual position of Spartan wome ...