occupation phoebidas
A city - state is a ___MASK62___ state that consists of a city and its dependent territories . Historically , this included cities such as Rome , Athens , Carthage , and the Italian city - states during the Renaissance  but today only a handful of ___MASK62___ city - states exist , with some disagreement as to which are city - states . A great deal of consensus exists that the term properly applies to Singapore , Monaco , and Vatican City . Phoebidas ( Greek :  ) was a Spartan general who , in 382 BC , seized the Theban acropolis , thus giving Sparta control over Thebes . To punish his unauthorized action , Phoebidas was relieved of command . Nevertheless , the Spartans continued to hold Thebes . The Spartan ___MASK76___ Agesilaus argued against punishing Phoebidas , on the grounds that his actions had benefitted Sparta , arguing out that was the only standard by which he should be judged . In 378 BC , Phoebidas was killed by Theban cavalry under the command of the Theban general Gorgidas , while serving as the harmost of Thespiae . Several years later , Phoebidas ' s actions appear to have been the model for a similar action by another general , Sphodrias , who attempted to seize Piraeus , the port of Athens . Sparta ( Doric Greek : ; Attic Greek : ) was a prominent city - state in ancient Greece . In antiquity the city - state was known as Lacedaemon , while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia , in south - eastern Peloponnese . Around 650 BC , it rose to become the dominant ___MASK79___ land - power in ancient Greece . In Greek mythology , Eurotas was a ___MASK76___ of Laconia , the son of ___MASK76___ Myles and grandson of Lelex , eponymous ancestor of the Leleges . He had no male heir , but he did have a daughter Sparta and wife Clete . Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon , the son of Taygete , after whom Mount Taygetus is named , and Zeus , according to Pausanias . Lacedaemon married Sparta and renamed the state after his wife .