Sparta (Doric Greek: , Sprt; Attic Greek: , Sprt) or Lacedaemon

(/lsdimn/; , Lakedamn) was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece,

situated on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese.[1] It emerged
as a political entity around the 10th century BC,[citation needed] when the invading Dorians
subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant
military land-power in ancient Greece.Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as
the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars.[2] Between 431
and 404 BC, Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War,[3] from
which it emerged victorious, though at great cost of lives lost. Sparta's defeat by Thebes in the
Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Sparta's prominent role in Greece. However, it maintained its
political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a long
period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages, when many Spartans moved to live in Mystras.
Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia and a center for the processing
of goods such as citrus and olives.

The Sarmatians (Latin: Sarmat or Sauromat, Greek: , ) were a large

confederation[1] of Iranian people during classical antiquity,[2][3] flourishing from about the 5th
century BC to the 4th century AD.[4] They spoke Scythian, an Indo-European language from the
Eastern Iranian family.

Armenia ( i/rmini/; Armenian: , tr. Hayastan, IPA: [hjstn][a]), officially the

Republic of Armenia (Armenian: , tr. Hayastani
Hanrapetutyun), is a mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in
Western Asia,[17][18] it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto
independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the
Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Hispania (/hspeni -sp-/; Latin: [hspanja]) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula.
Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania
Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica
and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the western
part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova, later renamed Callaecia (or Gallaecia,
whence modern Galicia). From Diocletian's Tetrarchy (AD 284) onwards, the south of remaining
Tarraconensis was again split off as Carthaginensis, and probably then too the Balearic Islands
and all the resulting provinces formed one civil diocese under the vicarius for the Hispaniae (that
is, the Celtic provinces). The name, Hispania, was also used in the period of Visigothic rule. The
modern name Espaa derives from Hispania.

Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a
polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica and is the
first known democracy in the world. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the
Athenian model, but none are as well documented as Athens.

It was a system of direct democracy, in which participating citizens voted directly on legislation
and executive bills. Participation was not open to all residents: to vote one had to be an adult,
male citizen, and the number of these "varied between 30,000 and 50,000 out of a total
population of around 250,000 to 300,000."[1]

The Spartan army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose male and female citizens were
trained in the discipline and honor of the warrior society.[1] Subject to military drill from early
manhood, the Spartans were one of the most feared military forces in the Greek world. At the
height of Sparta's power between the 6th and 4th centuries BC it was commonly accepted
that, "one Spartan was worth several men of any other state."[1] According to Thucydides, the
famous moment of Spartan surrender at the island of Sphacteria off of Pylos was highly
unexpected. He said that "it was the common perception at the time that Spartans would never
lay down their weapons for any reason, be it hunger, or danger."

Thebes (/ibz/; Ancient Greek: , Thbai, Greek pronunciation: [tbai ];[2] Modern Greek:
, Thva [iva]) is a city in Boeotia, central Greece. It played an important role in Greek
myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological
excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written
in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age.