What Is Power? Where Does It Come From?

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to respond to flag and trumpet signals. Alexander died of malaria in Babylon, Persia (now Iran), on June 13, 323 B.C.

Can you imagine being taken away from your family and your home when you were just seven years old? And then spending the rest of your life learning how to fight and then fighting your country’s enemies? In the 5th century B.C., this was the life of a Spartan boy. It was Spartan law that boys must become warriors (karenrutherford.com)”. And not just good warriors, but they had to be the best in the world! Why did Sparta need such strong warriors? Sparta was located on mountainous, rocky terrain that was unsuitable for farming. It was also located too far away from the sea to be able to use the water for fishing or trade. “To survive, Sparta needed to control other parts of Hellas and use their land and access to water (karenrutherford.com).” They needed to be the strongest and most fearless fighters to win battles against their neighbors and become the most powerful force in Hellas. Some say the reason that Sparta was so focused on having a powerful military was because of a king named Lycurgus in the 9th century. King Lycurgus created a lot of laws designed to help Sparta’s people remain peaceful with each other, but grow to be very strong and powerful outside of the city-state. When Lycurgus decided to take a short trip to Delphi (a city not far from Athens), he made the Spartan people promise to uphold his laws while he was gone. Unfortunately, he died on this trip and never returned causing the Spartan people to feel obligated to forever fulfill his wishes. So thats how the Spartans used their power. And need a powerful army.

So you see that power means the capacity, ability, and the willingness to act. If you did not have one of these you would have a powerless situation. Alexander and the Spartans all had the capacity, ability, and the willingness to act and thats what made both of them winners of every battle they fought. Power comes from why you want to do something. Hope you understood what power means and where it comes from by the provided examples.