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and now for the homosexual aspect which is often ignored:
"Pederasty and military training were intimately connected in Sparta, as in many other cities. The Spartans, claims Athanaeus, sacrificed to Eros before every battle: "Thus the Lacedaemonians offer preliminary sacrifices to Eros before the troops are drawn up in battle-line, because they think that their safe return and victory depend upon the friendship of the men drawn up." However, unlike other cities which stationed lovers side by side in battle to encourage each to fiercer efforts, Spartan youths were so well trained that they fought nobly regardless of where they were positioned. The lover was responsible for the boy's training. An anecdote relates the story of a Spartan magistrate who was fined by the city because his beloved had cried out while he was fighting, which was considered to be a sign that the young man was overly effeminate and had therefore not been properly educated by his distinguished lover. And while the ephors were lenient with a youth who committed a misdemeanor, they made sure to punish his lover, since it was his responsibility to watch and control his beloved.
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