1. Sparta - Noun
2. Sparta - Proper noun
an ancient Greek city famous for military prowess; the dominant city of the Peloponnesus prior to the 4th century BC
Source: WordNetHow much education may reconcile young people to pain and sufference, the examples of Sparta do sufficiently shew; and they who have once brought themselves not to think bodily pain the greatest of evils, or that which they ought to stand most in fear of, have made no small advance toward virtue. John Locke
Being asked where in Greece he saw good men, he replied, "'Good men nowhere, but good boys at Sparta." Diogenes of Sinope
Now, king of the Lacedæmonians, take care when we come out that no one sees us weeping or doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This lies in our own power; but good or evil fortune befalls us according to the will of Heaven. Plutarch
Little Sparta is a garden in the traditional sense. It is perhaps not like other modern gardens, but I think that other times would have had no difficulty with it. Ian Hamilton Finlay
Alexander son of Philip and the Greeks, except the Spartans..., as Sparta did not consider it to be her fathers' practice to follow, but to lead. Robin Lane Fox
According to Platias and Koliopoulos, Athens as the strongest party did not have to beat Sparta in military terms and "chose to foil the Spartan plan for victory". Source: Internet