Sparta is the capital of The Greek Cities. It starts off as a minor city with no walls, but has huge potential to become a powerful military facility. It's south of Corinth, which is a large town controlled by the Macedonians, and it's north of Kydonia, a city on the island of Crete. Syracuse and Sparta are the only cities where the player can train Spartan hoplites, the strongest infantry unit in Rome Total War.
Campaign Strategy[]
Sparta, while being very close to the coast, is not nearly as vulnerable as one would first assume. Thus, its lack of walls is not a pressing concern, so long as you have a few naval ships to secure it. The real best part about Sparta is that it starts with a Temple of Nike, which grants additional experience to military units trained in the city. This makes Sparta the single best city to pump out high quality troops from early to mid game.
A Blacksmith and armourer are welcome additions in Sparta, and a port is also a great investment for both the trade income and to allow faster transport of troops to your disconnected cities such as Rhodes. and especially Thermon. It serves effectively as a springboard to invading Athens, Corinth, and Kydonia. Improving the roadways is essential, as assuming Thermon, Athens, Sparta, and Corinth all have improved roads, your transport time gets cut from 4 turns to 2.