Sparta was a prominent Greek city-state that existed from the 900s to 192 BC, with the Laconian city of Sparta serving as the capital. Around 650 BC, Sparta became the dominant military power in Greece, developing a militarist society that oversaw the rigorous training of Spartan youths to serve as soldiers, while women played a key role in governing the city-state at times of war. Sparta therefore held overall command of the Greek forces fighting against the Persian invaders from 499 to 449 BC, and Sparta would later fight its traditional rival, Athens, in the Peloponnesian War from 431 to 404 BC, emerging as the dominant Greek city-state. However, Sparta was defeated by Thebes at the 371 BC Battle of Leuctra, ending its military hegemony. The city-state of Sparta continued to remain in existence until 192 BC, when the Roman Republic conquered the Greek city-states.
Sparta was unique for its militarist system and its constitution, with its inhabitants consisting of Spartiates (citizens), mothakes (non-Spartan freemen), perioikoi (inhabitants of the land around the city), and helots (enslaved non-Spartans). Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training, and the Spartian phalanxes were considered to be the best in battle. At Sparta's peak in 500 BC, it had a population of 50,000 people, making it one of the largest Greek city-states. Today, Sparta remains an inhabited area as a town in Laconia.
