Sparta

Sparta was a city located in Greece, Earth (Greek: Σπάρτη, pronounced as "Sparti"). It had served as a city-state in ancient Greece, and it's inhabitants' aggressive nature and never-die attitude served as the major inspiration of the Spartans.

History
Sparta was a Dorian Greek military city-state, originally centered in Laconia. Sparta emphasized military training, and after achieving notable victories over the Athenian and Persian Empires, regarded itself as the natural protector of Greece. Laconia or Lacedaemon was the name of the wider city-state centered at the city of Sparta, though the name "Sparta" is now used for both. The kings of Sparta were believed to be the direct descendants of Heracles (Hercules), all Spartan Hoplites held a shield with the Greek L on it (Λ) which stood for Laconia.

Military Training
Spartan citizen boys left home for military boarding school at the age of seven and were required to serve in the army until the age of thirty. Then, they passed into the active reserve, where they remained until the age of sixty. Spartan education from the ages of seven to thirty emphasized physical toughness, steadfastness in military ranks, and absolute obedience to orders. The ordinary Spartan was a citizen-warrior, or Hoplite, trained to obey and endure; he became a politician only if chosen as Ephor for a single year. He could be elected a life member of the council after his sixtieth year, in which he would be free from military service. Men were encouraged to marry at the age of twenty but could not live with their families until they left their active military service at age thirty. The Spartans perfected the craft of Hoplite warfare. They called themselves "homoioi" (ομοιοι, which means equals), pointing to their common lifestyle and the discipline of the phalanx, which demanded that no soldier be superior to his comrades. Using these stern practices, the Spartan military remained unconquered for nearly a thousand years, up until the Roman conquest of Greece.

References in Halo
The SPARTANs of the UNSC are named after the ancient Greek civilization. The SPARTAN-II program follows the same ideologies and military training techniques as their ancient ancestors. The Spartans, like the warriors of Sparta, were raised to be soldiers from a very young age. They are both forces of small numbers, with great skill and strength as compensation. The SPARTAN program was also started with funding for 300 candidates, similar to the 300 Spartans that fought in the Battle of Thermopylae, although this number was cut to 75 in the final stages. The Halo story is somewhat of an allusion to the Persian War between Greece and Persia. The Covenant could represent the Persians, conquering and absorbing other factions to fight with them. The humans/UNSC could represent the Greeks, fighting back at the Covenant/Persians, and being the only faction around to deny surrender but fight until death to avoid extinction.

Also, Marines will shout "This is SPARTA!" with the IWHBYD skull in Halo 3, a reference to the film 300. The phrase also made another appearance in Halo 3: ODST, in which Gunnery Sergeant Buck will yell this.

In Halo: Initiation, Musa, while discussing the development of the SPARTAN-IV Program referenced Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. He said that despite it being 2000 years since the battle, people are still discussing it which means "the Spartans did something right".

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo 3
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Boot Camp
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * Halo: Initiation