Another benefit to the government Lycurgus gave was the currency system. The Spartans used pieces of iron instead of silver and gold. This type of monetary system was of very little value outside of the Spartan city-state because other city-states didn’t use iron but by doing this made the citizens of Sparta dependent upon the local economy.
The militaristic culture of Sparta was often tested time and time again and proved to be the strongest battle-ready nation within Ancient Greece. The Spartans were called upon during many different confrontations to help “police” the Ancient Greece.
Darius, the king of Persia started an offensive attack to gain control of Greece. The king sent word to the Greeks, requesting “earth and water”, which was a sign of surrender. Many of the city-states in the region accepted the Persian offer, but Athens and Sparta refused. The first battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. was won by the Athens, the other rather powerful city-state of Greece. Athens had requested for Sparta to join in the fight, but they refused
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The main differences between these two city-states were the contrasting values: Dorian Sparta and Ionian Athens. “Sparta and the Dorians must stand for the Indo-European tradition unredeemed by the feminine influence of Crete, while Athens and the Ionians enjoyed a direct inheritance from Mycenaean civilization that had long tempered that tradition and helped them to create ideals of grace and harmony.” Although Sparta and Athens had their differences in cultural values, one militaristic and one artistic, the two were now joined together to fight against one common enemy, Persia. Athens had the Greeks finest navy and Sparta was the greatest Grecian land