Little remains of the ancient city ... return with the shield, victorious; or return lying on it, dead. A prolific writer on Sparta and Athens, Antonio Penadés teaches Greek History at the ...

Inward-looking and self-sufficient, the Spartans were the most feared hoplites (infantrymen) in all Greece ... to return without a shield and not without a helmet, the Spartan king, Demaratos ...

In ancient times, Greece wasn't a single ... they could run the family farm. Spartan mothers told their sons before they left for battle, "Come back with your shield, or on it." ...