After re-watching the movie "300" for the millionth time, I have some questions sprung out on my mind:
What if the Athenians submitted to Xerxes I? Can the Spartans defend Greece without Athenian help?
Or vice versa, what if Leonidas I accepted Xerxes' offer for becoming "the warlord of all Greece, and carried Xerxes' battle standards to the heart of Europa"? Can the Athenians defeat the Persians, without Spartans at their side?
And if both of them submitted, would all of the remaining Greek city-states submitted without a fight too?
Now assuming that Greece fall to the Persians, what would be the differences between Persian Greece in "Athens submitted, Sparta didn't" scenario with Persian Greece in "Sparta submitted, Athens didn't" scenario?