In Ancient Greece, Athens was known for its philosophers, scientists, and theorists of democracy. Sparta was known for its military prowess, its bravery and its ability to defend itself against ...

Myke Cole - Co-author, The Killing Ground: A Biography of Thermopylae Ancient Sparta has been held up for the last two and a half millennia as the unmatched warrior city-state, where every male was ...

Few foreigners realize that Sparta still exists. The ancient city-state, which walked the line between legend and history, is often assumed to have fallen off the map at some point in antiquity. In ...

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Sparta’s enemies, when facing the intimidating Spartan forces, would see a wall of shields, bristling ...