Before the outbreak of the Greco-Persian Wars, the most powerful city-state in the Greek world was Sparta. That was why Thucydides said, "It was Athens' excessive power, and the fear that power inspired in Sparta, that made the Peloponnesian War inevitable."
Pomona knew this was not the time to be thinking about such irrelevant things, but since she and Severus now held different views, they had better maintain a united front.
During the first Greco-Persian War, the other Greek city-states had all surrendered at the mere mention of Darius's name. Only the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta and Athens continued to resist desperately. Although the Athenians had also made tremendous contributions—such as in the famous Battle of Marathon—the only city-state that had dared form an allied army with Athens was Plataea. This force of ten thousand had to resist one hundred thousand Persian troops. To bring news of the victory to Athens as quickly as possible, a soldier was dispatched to run at top speed from Marathon to Athens' central square.
However, this battle brought Xerxes' revenge down upon Plataea. During the second Greco-Persian War, Plataea, which guarded the road through the isthmus, was destroyed by the Persians. The Spartans soon led the allied army to a crushing victory over Persia.
Afterward, the Greeks held the "Great Festival of the Fallen" here every year, offering sacrifices to Zeus the Liberator. Outside the Temple of Delphi, the Spartans erected a bronze monument on behalf of all the Allies, inscribing the names of every allied force upon it—though the Spartans placed themselves at the top of the list.
The Athenians seemed very unhappy about this. At any rate, when Alexander the Great dedicated offerings at the Parthenon to commemorate the great victory over Persia on behalf of "all Greeks," he used his