Today, Spartans are remembered for their warrior ethos, their unswerving devotion to their state, and their willingness to die in battle. We still call conditions which build toughness rather than a dependence on comfort "Spartan." Their society was a study in contradictions: they enslaved whole populations to serve them, but then enslaved themselves to their military ideal. In a world where women were hidden away and treated as inferiors, Spartan women were given great freedom and influence. The story of how they single-mindedly turned themselves into the masters of Greece, and then lost it all, in the space of five hundred years, is a fascinating whirlwind of battles and wars.