Sparta was more isolated than Athens was. Sparta was located on a plain between the mountains and the sea in the part of Greece, which is the Peloponnesus (look it up). Spartans were usually suspicious of outsiders and their ideas. Geography had affected development in Sparta by making Spartans grow what they needed or would often take what they needed from their neighbors. Spartans valued strength and simplicity while Athens had boasted about their art and culture.