Part 1 begins with the story of how Dorian settlers first entered the Eurotas valley, and enslaved most of Messenia. Sparta was born, and it went on to become one of the most brutal and powerful Greek powers of it's time, but was it just a totalitarian state? And how did it treat it's men, women and children? Many elements of this imperial power are examined, particularly how liberated women were, and how children suffered terribly in their Agoge military training academy's. Episode 1 ends with the famous battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans - including king Leonidas - died defending Greece from a Persian invasion.