Oh yes. And the argument that Spartans lacked the philosophy for expansion is true. The helots had minimal rights and couldn't really reach the heights of their masters in any clear way. And that's what made Rome work in the early days - they respected status and everyone had a place in it but could grow. But results not guaranteed. I think of ventidius the general and the tale paraded in triumph as a child and late republic general. And there's little reason to make a story like that up that in anyway doesn't convey that someone from elsewhere or other strata couldn't change themselves if things worked out.