I am Gorgo, Queen of Sparta.
The daughter and only child of Cleomenes I, King of Sparta of the Agiad house and ruler of the land during the 6th and 5th centuries BC, and the wife of King Leonidas I, Cleomenes' half-brother, who bravely fought and died in the Battle of Thermopylae.

I am unique for being the daughter of a king of Sparta, the wife of another king of Sparta, and the mother of a third king of Sparta.

After my husband died in battle our eldest son, Pleistarchus, took over the thrown as co-King of Sparta from 480 BC. After his first cousin, Pausanias fell into disfavor and was accused of plotting treason, my son would then rule solely, after the Battle of Plataea a year later, and on to his death in 458 BC.

I would now like to give you a tour of our wonderful City State that is Sparta.

The history of Sparta is a fascinating one.
Our home is situated on the River Eurotas, in the southern part of the Peloponnese.

The brave men or my lands rose to the dominant military power of the region as well as the overall leaders of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Lakedaimon, in Greek Λακεδαίμων, is the name that is most commonly used to describe my lands and refers to the entire region under direct Spartan control; from the plateau east of the Taygetos Mountains to Messenia.

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Some may say that the reason why our lands are so easily defended is because of the topography of the Taygetan plain; which offers us security and therefore does allow for our great city to remain unfortified.
The truth is that our forces reputation has always remained unequalled.
Our great forces have subdued many of the key Greek city-states and even managed to overpower the elite Athenian navy.
We even out as the one state which has defeated at war the Athenian Empire and has invaded the Persian provinces in Anatolia, which now marks the Spartan Hegemony period.

It is therefore not surprising that our Spartan forces were the de facto leaders of the entire Greek alliance against the Persian forces, when we assembled at full strength at the battle of Plataea, of 479 BC, which put an end to the Greco-Persian Wars.

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• Sparta, our City State -- View
• Kynosura, Spartan Village -- View
• Limnai , Spartan Village -- View
• Mesoa , Spartan Village -- View
• Pitane , Spartan Village -- View
• King Leonidas and The Battle of Thermopylae -- View
• Military Life, an article -- View

Credits

• National Encyclopedin, 2009.
• McKay, History of World Societies.
• Background by 300's official site.
• Weapons by Squidoo

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