procrastinating fact of the day

In Classical Greek, οι Σπαρτοι (a plural proper noun, pronounced ‘hoi spartoi’) does not mean ‘The Spartans’, as you might expect from the pronunciation. It actually means ‘The Thebans.’

This is because in Greek the adjective σπαρτος (‘spartos’) means ‘sown’, which suits the Thebans because of the myth that they had sprung up from the ground where Thebes’ founder, Cadmus, had sown a dragon’s teeth.

The Spartans could be called similar something similar (οι Σπαρτιαται), but were more normally known as the Lacedaemonians (οι Λακεδαεμονιοι) after the area of Laconia, where the city is located.

Source: my dictionary, wikipedia and general procrastination.