Magistra rogat utrum Spartae an Syracusis severior disciplina fuerit.

It is an indirect question.

• Main clause: Magistra rogat = The teacher asks
• Indirect question: utrum Spartae an Syracusis severior disciplina fuerit = whether discipline was stricter at Sparta or at Syracuse

So the sentence is built as [someone asks] + [the content of the question].

Utrum ... an is the normal way to introduce an alternative question: whether ... or ....

Here the two alternatives are:

• Spartae = at Sparta
• Syracusis = at Syracuse

So utrum Spartae an Syracusis means whether at Sparta or at Syracuse.

Because Latin normally uses the subjunctive in an indirect question.

After verbs like:

• rogat = asks
• scit = knows
• nescit = does not know
• quaerit = asks/inquires
• miratur = wonders

the verb inside the indirect question goes into the subjunctive. So fuerit is subjunctive not because it means doubt here, but because the whole clause is an indirect question.

There are two separate points here.

1. Why not erat?
Because erat is indicative, and an indirect question normally takes the subjunctive, not the indicative.

2. Why not esset?
Because the main verb is rogat, a present tense verb, so Latin normally uses primary sequence. If the state being asked about is viewed as earlier than the asking, Latin can use the perfect subjunctive: fuerit.

So fuerit here is best understood as was / has been, even though English usually just says was.

Spartae is locative singular, meaning at Sparta or in Sparta.

This is a very common Latin feature with names of towns and small islands: Latin often does not use a preposition like in. Instead, it uses the locative case.

A learner may notice that Spartae looks like genitive or dative singular too, and that is true in form. But here, because the meaning is location, it is locative.

Because the two place names behave differently grammatically.

• Sparta is singular, so its locative is Spartae
• Syracusae is a plural place-name in Latin, so its locative is Syracusis

For plural city names, the locative has the same form as the ablative plural. So:

• Spartae = at Sparta
• Syracusis = at Syracuse

Both are expressions of place where, even though the endings are different.

Because with names of cities, Latin often omits prepositions for place where.

Instead of saying in Sparta or in Syracuse with a preposition, Latin simply uses the appropriate case:

• Spartae
• Syracusis

This is normal and idiomatic Latin.

Severior agrees with disciplina.

• disciplina is feminine singular nominative
• severior is also feminine singular nominative here

So severior disciplina means stricter discipline.

The comparative adjective is describing discipline, not Sparta or Syracuse.

The subject of fuerit is disciplina.

That is why disciplina is nominative. The city names are not the subject; they tell you where the discipline was stricter:

• disciplina = the subject
• Spartae / Syracusis = location

So the basic idea is discipline was stricter — and then Latin adds where.

Because this sentence is not built as a direct comparison with quam.

It does not say:

• discipline in Sparta was stricter than discipline in Syracuse

Instead, it asks between two alternatives:

• Was discipline stricter at Sparta or at Syracuse?

That is why Latin uses utrum ... an rather than a comparative with quam.

The word order is normal Latin, but Latin is more flexible than English.

A few points:

• Magistra rogat comes first to set up the main statement
• Spartae and Syracusis are placed early to highlight the two places being compared
• fuerit comes at the end, which is very common in Latin subordinate clauses

So the order helps emphasis, but the grammar comes from the endings, not from fixed word position.