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 TJie Repulse of Persia and the Athenian Empire 179 CT-^^-v '^S ?/ ' iniA.»l.iM.,. Fig. 87. The Plain where once Sparta stood The olive groves now grow where the Spartans once had their houses. The town was not walled until long after the days of Spartan and Greek power were over. From the mountains (nearly eight thousand feet high) behind the plain the visitor can see northeastward far beyond Athens, almost to Euboea ; one hundred miles northward to the moun- tains on the north of the Corinthian Gulf (see map, p. 146); and one hundred and twenty-five miles southward to the Island of Crete. This view shows also how Greece is cut up by such mountains As the Greek cities of Asia still feared the vengeance of the Estabiish- . ment of the Persian king, it was easy for the Athenians to lorm a perma- Delian nent defensive league with the cities of their Greek kindred in Asia and the ^Egean islands. The wealthier of these cities con- tributed ships, while others paid a sum of money each year into League