Isolated men could not
resist such a body. The other Greeks understood this, and all, as far
as they were able, imitated the Spartans; everywhere men were armed
as hoplites and fought in phalanx.
=Gymnastics.=--To rush in orderly array on the enemy and stand the
shock of battle there was need of agile and robust men; every man had
to be an athlete. The Spartans therefore organized athletic exercises,
and in this the other Greeks imitated them; gymnastics became for all
a national art, the highest esteemed of all the arts, the crowning
feature of the great festivals.
In the most remote countries, in the midst of the barbarians of Gaul
or of the Black Sea, a Greek city was recognized by its gymnasium.
There was a great square surrounded by porticoes or walks, usually
near a spring, with baths and halls for exercise. The citizens came
hither to walk and chat: it was a place of association. All the young
men entered the gymnasium; for two years or less they came here every
day; they learned to leap, to run, to throw the disc and the javelin,
to wrestle by seizing about the waist. To harden the muscles and
strengthen the skin they plunged into cold water, dispensed with oil
for the body, and rubbed the flesh with a scraper (the strigil).
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