The history of Sparta was the great exception to the political evolution of the city-states. Despite the fact that the Spartans were ultimately all Greek, Sparta never managed to move towards democratic rule. Instead, his government has evolved into something more like a modern-day dictatorship. If the Spartans had followed the other Greek city-states in their political practices, they could have avoided their own downfall and might even have become stronger. The Spartans were originally Dorians who came to Laconia as an invading army. Even though by the end of the 9th century they had conquered all of Laconia, they were still not satisfied. To the west of the Taygetus Mountains was the fertile Messinian plain. The Spartans were determined to conquer and they succeeded in dominating the Messenians. The Spartans took territory from the Messenians, killed and expelled their leaders, and turned the population into slaves called helots. Almost all features of Spartan life resulted from the Messenian Wars. Unfortunately, when they enslaved their enemies, they unconsciously and stupidly enslaved themselves. “They lived the last centuries of their history in mortal fear of insurrections. This fear explains their conservatism and their stubborn resistance to change, lest any innovation result in a fatal weakening of the system. » Shortly after the Messenian Wars, Sparta embarked on a defensive foreign policy, fearing that the helots would rise up and revolt if given it. chance. The Spartan government was dedicated to retaining what Sparta had already won and achieved. In fact, they chose to completely isolate themselves from the rest of Greece, lest dangerous ideas come...... middle of paper ...... NT evolved into something more like to a modern-day dictatorship. If the Spartans had followed the other Greek city-states in their political practices, they could have avoided their own downfall and might even have become stronger.BibliographyBurton F. Beers. World history, models of civilization. (New Jersey 1984), 102-104. SGF Brandon. Milestones of History, Ancient Empires, (New York 1973,) 84. William Barclay, Letters to Sparta, (London 1975). 9:14-18Clement M. Eylera. Evidence for Plato's Philosophy of Education in the George Peabody Demonstration School, tandfonline.com, 2009. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01619564609536025?journalCode=hpje20S. GF Brandon. Milestones in History, Ancient Empires, (New York 1973,) 84.Lerner. Western civilizations. Norton & Company. (London 1988), 111-113.