Sparta

The homeland of the Spartans. Sparta held the territory at the tip of what is considered mainland Greece. Spartans considered this land their natural homeland, and they held onto it very tightly. Sparta was a militarist state, always hyper aware of their borders and the slave population (always having the potential to rise up against the Spartans). Sparta was isolationist, preferring to keep to themselves and abide by a strict code of secrecy. The majority of sources available to scholars today come from Greeks and Romans writing about Spartans long after their fall from grace. Xenophon, an exile from Athens, in an exception to this, living in Sparta and writing about them with their permission.