You could do it the Spartan way. Give them a spear and shield. Only those that are killed by goblins get a coffin.
If you did it the "Spartan way" they'd also have to be all male and screwing each other as they believed it formed closer bonds between soldiers. They forgot that part in the movie that makes people think Spartans were the ultimate badasses. Also they wore armor and there was another group of soldiers with them whose name escapes me now. Also, if the History Channel is correct then rape against a woman was legal unless she was strong enough to defend herself (although History channel can be very biased about older history, although maybe it's due to the Christian monks who wrote down old Western history, since every single culture I can think of that the Christians conquered or converted just happened to have human sacrifice according to them {until they came to save the day that is}. Example: The Christians used to say in the middle ages that Jews ritually drank children blood. While that has been proven to be false since the Jews still exist, the same sort of things were said about, lets say the Norse. Since they didn't bother to write things down in a conventional sense we have nothing to go on but the writings of the followers of the religion that conquered them and quite possibly wanted a justification for their actions.)
Note that I am not a Viking, Jewish or a homosexual, and am neither defending or attacking anyone, I just says it how I sees it.
I also most certainly am not a combination of the three as amusing as the image that conjures in my mind is.
Wow, so about that fortress guard...