Sparta, also known as Lacedaemon, was founded in 9th century BC by an ancient Greek group called the Dorians. They formed an oligarchic society, in which a small group of leaders have complete power over the people. Two kings had a joint rule with this council.

Sparta was very adverse to the arts and instead devoted all of their energy to warfare. Every Spartan male was forced into military training at the age of seven, and they would be forced to train until age thirty.

Unlike in most societies of ancient times, Spartan women enjoyed free lives. They ran their own households, and many became powerful in the business world. Aristotle once noted that women controlled two-fifths of Spartan land.

Sparta fought many wars with neighboring civilizations. During the battle of Thermopylae, three hundred Spartans and some other non-Spartan Greeks under the command of King

Leonidas fought a heroic two-day last stand against a mighty invading Persian Army. In the Peloponnesian War, Sparta and its allies fought against the the powerful city-state of Athens. Its vigorous battling, however, proved to be its undoing. In 371 BC, Thebes, a city-state under Spartan control, defeated the Spartan army at the battle of Leuctra, gaining its independence. They then freed the Messenians, all of which greatly weakened Sparta. About two hundred years later, Rome invaded Greece and took control of Sparta. Raids by the Goths in the fourth century AD continued to cripple the city-state, and in the ninth century AD, Sparta was deserted. Although it was later refounded by the Byzantine Empire, this settlement was also deserted.

In 1834, the town of Spartí (modern Greek for Sparta) was built on the site of the ancient city-state. The ruins of Sparta are located north of the present-day settlement. Spartí is the capital of its political district, Laconia, and its population is approximately 15,000.