Traveling back in time to Ancient Sparta!

It was just a regular school day, and I went to my locker to get my things.  But then, as soon as I opened my locker, I saw a flash of bright light and before I knew it I was sitting on a big hill!  That was strange.  The land in Cleveland was very flat, so I wasn't sure where I was.  Near me was a large acropolis.  I wondered where I was.  I stood up, and I realized I was wearing a toga, and that confused me.  What kind of people wear togas? I wondered.  Thinking back to my social studies class, I remembered that the Ancient Greeks people wore togas!  That meant I had traveled back in time to Ancient Greece!  

The hill I woke up on.

Some of the mountains surrounding Sparta.

I kept looking around.  I saw mountains surrounding the land around me on three sides, and open land on one side.  I tried to remember what city-state in Greece had geography like that, and then the answer popped into my mind: Sparta!  I walked down to take a look at the city.  The weather was quite pleasant and I saw that a lot of other people were engaging in various activities outside. 
However, the horrible weather in Cleveland during the winter was totally different from the weather here, so that was a total disadvantage for Cleveland.  I also noticed people in the distance farming, and I saw a river too, so that must've promoted the fertility of the soil.  I remembered from social studies class that the flat land in Cleveland had also been good for farming, and that was how Cleveland began to thrive.  As I continued to walk in the city, I got a better view of how big the mountains really were, and they definitely were big enough to keep invaders from coming in.  A long time ago, if people wanted to invade Cleveland, it would be easier than Sparta because there are no natural borders in Cleveland, which is a disadvantage.

I kept looking around from the view of the city, and the ocean wasn't anywhere close!  I could hear some people near me talking about being frustrated at how much not being able to travel by sea impeded travel and trade.  That must be quite a burden, I thought, knowing that Cleveland had waterways that were very beneficial.  Cleveland had waterways that went into Lake Erie, which was very important for trade and importing and exporting goods, and that made Cleveland very successful as a city.  I decided to keep exploring the city of Sparta.  I could hear some other people talking about how dependent on farming they were and how much they wanted to have food from the sea.  I peeked around the corner of a house and saw a couple of people who seemed to have military authority.  They were discussing their plan to invade a neighboring city-state and colonize them.  I heard them say, "We need more farmland and resources.  What we have is not enough for our people."  I quickly darted back from the house because I didn't want to get caught eavesdropping.  I had gotten a pretty good idea of what their geography and culture were like, anyway.  It seemed like both Sparta and Cleveland were able to succeed with the features of the geography of the places that they were at.  

The water passage in Cleveland going into Lake Erie