Sparta
Greece
The legendary warrior city-state of ancient Greece. Spartan discipline and military prowess became legendary after Leonidas and his 300 held the pass at Thermopylae.
Associated figures
Thucydides
Thucydides wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War, the rigorous and unsentimental account of the conflict between Athens and Sparta (431-404 BCE) that is considered the greatest work of ancient historiography and the founding text of political realism. His analysis of power, human nature, and the dynamics of war remains studied by political scientists, strategists, and historians today.
Leonidas I
Leonidas I was the Spartan king who led a small Greek force - including his famous 300 Spartans - against the vast Persian army of Xerxes at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Though the Greeks were annihilated, their sacrifice delayed the Persian advance and became the most celebrated example of military courage and self-sacrifice in Western history.