In 479 BC, the Persian army under Mardonius faced a Greek coalition near Plataea in one of the decisive battles of the second ...

Many self-professed champions of freedom throughout the centuries have looked to ancient Sparta as an inspiration. The doomed stand of 300 Spartan warriors against the Persian Empire at Thermopylae in ...

Many self-professed champions of freedom throughout the centuries have looked to ancient Sparta as an inspiration. The doomed stand of 300 Spartan warriors against the Persian Empire at Thermopylae in ...

Sparta’s class of elite warriors were freed from ordinary work, their needs met by slaves. The system had a built-in weakness ...

Ancient Sparta turned its conquered neighbors into indentured serfs -- half free, half slave. The resulting Helot underclass produced the food of the Spartan state, freeing Sparta's elite males to ...

Ancient Sparta turned its conquered neighbors into indentured serfs — half free, half slave. The resulting helot underclass produced the food of the Spartan state, freeing Sparta’s elite males to ...

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The Spartans raised their children to be tough and stoic servants of the state. Boys were sent to train as soldiers from a ...