It All Makes Perfect Sense Now

Since today's UFR is themed "Obvious in Retrospect", I thought I'd play along and share a little history lesson I learned today. Just as a Michigan Wolverine plays football with the fierceness of his namesake, so the Michigan State Spartans have adopted the customs and traditions of their namesake tribe:

Every autumn, according to Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus, 28, 3–7), the Spartan ephors (classical Greek Ἔφοροι) would pro forma declare war on the helot population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood guilt. Unarmed, the kryptes were sent out into the countryside with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered at night and to take any food they needed. This could be used to remove any helots considered troublesome and provide the young men with a manhood test and experience of their first kill. Such brutal oppression of the helots permitted the Spartans to control the agrarian population and devote themselves to military practice. It may also have contributed to the Spartans' reputation for stealth.

This sounds.....familiar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypteia