Spartan warriors are famous for military excellence, but what's less discussed is their diet.
— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) November 18, 2025
Spartans ate the "black broth" which was primarily pork blood with vinegar, salt, and pork meat.
Their diet was heavily meat-based compared to other Greek city-states that relied more… pic.twitter.com/n9fTBN5Ffr
Spartan warriors are famous for military excellence, but what's less discussed is their diet. Spartans ate the "black broth" which was primarily pork blood with vinegar, salt, and pork meat. Their diet was heavily meat-based compared to other Greek city-states that relied more on grain, olives, and fish. This wasn't accident, it was policy. Sparta deliberately structured their economy to ensure warrior-class citizens had access to meat and dairy while helots provided the agricultural labor. The result was that Spartan warriors were consistently described by other Greeks as being larger and more physically impressive than soldiers from other city-states. When Athens and Sparta fought in the Peloponnesian War, Athenian observers noted that Spartan hoplites were "exceptionally strong" and "tireless in battle." The difference wasn't just training, both sides trained rigorously. The difference was also nutrition. Athens eventually defeated Sparta not through military superiority but through naval dominance and economic warfare, specifically because they couldn't beat Sparta in land battles where individual physical capability mattered. Within a few decades of losing the war, Sparta's military dominance evaporated as their economy collapsed and they could no longer maintain the meat-heavy diet. Once Spartans started eating like other Greeks, they started looking like other Greeks. Diet created military capability. Remove the diet, remove the capability.
