Sparta

Sparta was a Greek City state best known for military strength.

An ancient city-state, its early history is clouded but it goes back to at least 1200 BC. They are known to claim that they are descended from the Greek hero Hercales.^{[Citation Needed]} Sparta was one of the two major regional powers through much of ancient Greek history, along with its chief rival Athens. Politically & culturally it was a military state in which its citizens enjoyed few amenities of life, hence the term spartan we use today denotes a lack of things, not poverty as such, simply a lack of things without a practical purpose. Although often in conflict or competition with Athens and some of the other city-states, their military strength was ultimately vital in protecting Greece from long term domination by outside threats and helping forge a single Greek nation. Even though Sparta itself had little use for art, music, philosophy and other non-military aspects of life, their strength helped preserve such things in Athens from destruction by outside powers (particularly the mighty Persian Empire).[1]

A famous battle was fought at Thermopylae where a small band of Spartans and other Greeks held off the Persian army led by Xerxes. [2]