Athens

Athens is the most famous city of the Hellenistic world, possibly second only to Sparta. Athens was founded by the city’s patron goddess, Athena. Athens believed that it was chosen by the gods to rule the world. For a time, they did in fact rule over the Hellenistic world. The only difficulty came when they tried to conquer Sparta. This led to the Peloponnesian War, which Sparta won. Sparta held a grudge against Athens, but allied with them in their war against the Persians. This led to the famous Spartan last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.E. While the relationship between Sparta was tumultuous, it’s a shining example of Sparta’s attitude towards honor and their enemies.