很多人都听说过“斯巴达式的”这个形容词，字典也有简单的解析：
Sparta: a city of ancient Greece which was famous for
the bravery and skill of its soldiers, and for the simple way in which
its people lived without any comforts - 斯巴达人, 刚毅之人
—Spartan noun, adjective
spartan: adj. spartan conditions or ways of living are
simple and without any comfort: 简朴的、艰苦的、斯巴达式的：
spartan accommodation
a spartan existence
-Longman
下面是摘自房龙的《人类的故事》关于Athens和Sparta两个希腊城市的居民的描述：
Athens and Sparta were both Greek cities and their people spoke a common language. In every other respect they were different. Athens rose high from the plain. It was a city exposed to the fresh breezes from the sea, willing to look at the world with the eyes of a happy child. Sparta, on the other hand, was built at the bottom of a deep valley, and used the surrounding mountains as a barrier against foreign thought. Athens was a city of busy trade. Sparta was an armed camp where people were soldiers for the sake of being soldiers. The people of Athens loved to sit in the sun and discuss poetry or listen to the wise words of a philosopher. The Spartans, on the the hand, never wrote a single line that was considered literature, but they knew how to fight, they liked to fight, and they sacrificed all human emotions to their ideal of military preparedness.
看完房龙的这段描述，大家不难明白为什么“斯巴达式的”就表示“简朴、艰苦”甚至是“严格”的意思。
真是一方水土养一方人。 雅典人地理方面得天独厚，雅典人喜欢附庸风雅，风花雪月，一点都不奇怪。
斯巴达人生活环境恶劣，斯巴达人生活艰苦，作风严厉也就不难理解。
雅典人快乐的一个原因是他们愿意以快乐儿童的眼睛来看世界。人失去了童真，看世界也是满目疮痍。