What were the roles of Spartan women?

This is a very interesting question! As it turns out, Spartan women had much more freedom than their Athenian counterparts. Athenian women had very few rights, while Spartan women could own and inherit property. They could also participate in such pastimes as gymnastics, usually a male sport. The unusual freedom of Spartan women was probably due to their frequent role as estate managers when their soldier-husbands were on the battlefields.

Why is the Spartan king Leonidas still honored today?

The year was 480 B.C., and the massive Persian army was bearing down on Greece. With all the city-states in a state of terror alert, King Leonidas of Sparta gathered an army of 10,000 Greeks and marched to the 50-foot-wide pass at Thermopylae. He knew the lay of the land would allow his much smaller force to hold the Persians at bay, but a Greek traitor told the Persians of a secret path. When Leonidas learned of the treachery, he sent all but the 300 Spartan soldiers home. Two small contingents from other Greek city-states stayed as well. Leonidas took the lead, but soon fell, mortally wounded. Not one Greek retreated. Today, a marker testifies to their bravery. It says in Greek: "Go, tell the men of Sparta, passer-by, that here, obedient to their word, we lie."

Did the ancient Spartans really abandon newborns?

Every Spartan - man and woman - was committed to building and keeping their community as a total military society. At birth, all babies were inspected by a medical board for any signs of sickness or weakness. Infants who were handicapped or considered too weak to survive or function in their society were left on a hillside. The Spartans did not consider this abandonment cruel, because they believed that the gods would save any child they thought should be allowed to live. Another Spartan belief regarding small children was that they should not be picked up or comforted when they cried. Spartans felt that leaving children alone at such times helped toughen them.