This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Sparta’s enemies, when facing the intimidating Spartan forces, would see a wall of shields ...

Sparta had a highly unusual system of government. Two kings ruled the city, but a 28-member 'council of elders' limited their powers. These men were recruited from the highest social class, the ...

These states were always squabbling and often went to war. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, from 431 to 404BC. Only the threat of invasion by a foreign enemy made ...

SPARTA, Mich. — The Sparta High School Men’s Hockey team is making history this season after winning their first-ever regional and quarter-final games, earning a spot in the state semi-finals ...