300 Movie : 65 Things King Leonidas Did & His Famous Reply to Xerxes Come & Take Them !

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When the movie 300 reintroduced the story of the Battle of Thermopylae to modern consciousness, much debate raged over the accuracies and inaccuracies within it. For many, firmly on the side of inaccuracies was 300’s portrayal of the Persian king who marched his vast armies against Greece and forced the famous battle upon the Spartans in the first place. Was he a tyrant, interested only in riches and power? Or was there more to him than that? Here is the real story of King Xerxes I.

Say What?
Ok, so there might be some things about King Xerxes I that have been lost in translation over the last 2,500 years, but at least we know his name, so that’s a start. Well, actually, we might know how his name is written in English, but most of us in The West have been mispronouncing it pretty badly for a while now

Admittedly, there’ll be no surprises there for anyone with an Eastern name who’s ever ordered a coffee in a Starbucks. Anyway, while we say “Zerkzees” or similar, it should actually be pronounced something more like the modern-day Iranian name, Khashayar. So, let’s get it right from here on.

Hand-Me-Down Problems
Xerxes was named heir to his father’s kingdom around 486 BC. King Darius was in declining health and was forced to mount a campaign in Egypt to squash a rebellion. As dictated by Persian law, Darius had to both name an heir, and prepare his own tomb, before heading off to what – in all possibility – might be his grisly death.

Darius did as he was obliged before promptly dying of ill health without even leaving town. In October 486 BC, aged around 32 years old, plain old Xerxes became King Xerxes I. Overnight, the problem of the rebellion in Egypt fell on Xerxes’ shoulders. Dutifully, he handled the rebellion and installed his brother, Achaemenes, as Governor of Egypt. A position Achaemenes held until the end of his life in 459 BC.

Hey, That’s My Throne!
Not everyone was happy when Xerxes was handed power by his father. In particular, Xerxes’ older brother Artabazenes felt he had been overlooked. As the eldest son, Artabazenes would normally have been first in line to succeed his father.

Artabazenes’ mother, however, was not of royal descent, while Xerxes’ mother was the daughter of Cyrus the Great, making him a double royal and the first choice to rule. Artabazenes might not like it, but there wasn’t a great deal he could do about it.

Spartan Help
There was actually a little irony in how Xerxes secured his place on the throne, considering what happened later. Despite his royal mother and the wishes of his father, Xerxes still had to make his case before it was agreed he was the right person to become the next king. As it happened, an exiled Spartan king named Demaratus found himself in Persia at the time of the debated succession and he had some strong arguments in favor of Xerxes.

Demaratus spoke of how, in his home country, any son born before a king is in power does not count as an heir, and only the oldest son born after they are crowned should be considered. By that rule, Xerxes’ coronation was clear cut, and he used the argument to help secure his place in power.

Another Uprising
Xerxes may have thought he’d fulfilled his rebellion stomping duties after dealing with the Egyptians during the first years of his rule, but he soon found himself facing the wrath of another civilization after he melted down a statue of the Babylonian god Bel.

The sacred idol had stood for many years and was an important relic to the Babylonian people so, understandably, they were angry when it was destroyed in 484 BC. They immediately mounted a rebellion, which was unsuccessful, before trying again two years later, also without fruition.

Xerxes the Builder
To get a balanced view of Xerxes the Great it’s important to point out that he wasn’t all about destructive activities like war, he also liked to build. Xerxes completed several major building projects started by his father and even some his grandfather had begun.

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Xerxes also dreamed up some construction of his own and is believed to be responsible for major works in the Persian capital of Persepolis such as the Gate of All Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns.

Be Happy
If you visit the ruins of Persepolis, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you will see several of the ancient constructions built by Xerxes and other Persian rulers. You can also see an ancient Persian script that highlights Xerxes’ philosophy on the right to happiness for all his citizens.

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Much as the US today promises its residents the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, Xerxes believed the right to happiness was given to all humankind by the deity Ahura Mazda, and that his subjects should never be denied the ability to pursue it.

Do I Have To?
Modern retellings of Xerxes’ life often depict him as a power-hungry ruler who wished to bring all the peoples of the world under his command, including the Greeks. In this context, Xerxes’ infamous invasions of Greece are easy to condemn as acts of greed.

In truth, however, the idea of conquering Greece came from King Darius, Xerxes’ father, who had only turned his attention to the Greek mainland after attacks against him during the Ionian Revolt. When Xerxes took power, he was reluctant to follow through on his father’s plans and required a great deal of persuasion from his general, Mardonius, before agreeing to the invasion.

Million Man Army
It was the spring of 480 BC when Xerxes’ forces left Sardis for their major attack on mainland Greece. The Greek historian Herodotus estimated Xerxes’ collection of armies totaled the incredible size of around a million soldiers, led by a 10,000-strong force of elite fighters known as the Immortals.

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There’s little doubt the Persian military sent to Greece was vast in size, but modern historians feel a million people is unlikely. Modern estimates have revised that figure, in some cases to as low as just 60,000.

Strike the Sea!
In order for Xerxes’ forces to cross safely and efficiently from Asia to Europe, he ordered that a bridge of boats be constructed across Hellespont, now known as Dardanelles, or the Strait of Gallipoli. Xerxes’ short temper was revealed when a storm interfered and blew several of the ships off course.

Furious at this interference with his plans, Xerxes’ raged at the sea and had the straight itself given a punishment of 300 lashes. Whether the sea felt it or not, it seemed to work. The second attempt to bind the bridge of boats together was completed without disruption.

Actually, It’s “The Great”
Although it’s often dropped in villainized modern portrayals of the old Persian ruler today, King Xerxes I was traditionally referred to with the more grandiose title of Xerxes the Great.

His grandfather had been given the title of Cyrus the Great after his contribution to expanding the power and reach of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire. This suffix was then passed down to Darius, Cyrus’ son-in-law and Xerxes’ father, before finally being lavished upon Xerxes himself. Of course, there’s more to the story of why Xerxes was “great” than him simply being born that way.

If We’re Being Thorough
In truth, if King Xerxes was standing before us now and we wanted to pay full respect, even calling him Xerxes the Great wouldn’t cut it. The Persian ruler, who was born in 519 BC to King Darius I and Atossa of the Achaemenid dynasty, collected quite a few more titles along his way.

The full royal address would go something along the lines of King Xerxes the Great, King of Kings, Great King, King of Persia, King of Babylon, Pharaoh of Egypt, and King of Countries. Which, let’s face it, is a bit of a mouthful when everyone is waiting to start eating.

Xerxes the Sensitive
Whatever the specific size of Xerxes’ army, it’s safe to say it was impressive in its scale. A story has been passed down about the day those forces left Persia which reveals an unexpected side to the temperament of the much-maligned Persian king.

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It’s said Xerxes was at first overjoyed by the strength and size of the army he controlled, but his pleasure soon turned to sadness. The king looked out at his men and began to sob as he pondered just how short life is and how, even if they survived the war, none of them would be alive only a century from that moment.

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Xerxes the Unpredictable
Aside from whipping the sea and crying at the fleeting nature of life, there are some other accounts that testify to Xerxes’ supposedly mercurial nature. One such case involved the nobleman Pythius of Lydia. In the preparation to invade Greece, not only did Pythius allow the conscription of all five of his sons, but he tried to donate some of his wealth to the cause too.

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Xerxes was, apparently, so overwhelmed with gratitude that he refused the donation and showered Pythius with gifts of his own. Before the armies could depart, however, a solar eclipse took place, something Pythius took as a terrible omen and so requested the return of his eldest son. Xerxes was so enraged with this lack of faith that he had Pythius’ eldest son cut in half and ordered his departing armies to march between them.

No Support
When Xerxes and the Persian army marched into Greece, the locals may have been hoping for defensive support from their allies in Syracuse, a powerful kingdom founded by Greeks in Sicily, but this never arrived. It turned out the kingdom of Carthage chose that exact time to attack Sicily, so all of Syracuse’s soldiers were required to repel their own invaders.

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As a result, Greek forces were left to fend for themselves. Many historians from the region have credited Xerxes with colluding with Carthage to mastermind the double attack, but this may just be a way of trying to explain what was simply an unfortunate coincidence.

Too Much, Too Soon
The story around which 300 is built is of a tiny force of Spartans who took on the immense forces of the invading Persian army. The Spartans held out but were ultimately defeated at Thermopylae. The victorious invaders then marched on to sack an abandoned Athens. Despite the determination of the overwhelmed Spartan forces, Xerxes’ campaign seemed to be a complete success.

Buoyed by his success, Xerxes had a throne set up with a view over the straits near Salamis so he might watch his fleet take a final victory over the Greek fleet and complete the campaign. It didn’t work, Xerxes’ took bad advice from his general Themistocles and launched the attack in unfavorable conditions. The Persian forces suffered a catastrophic defeat.

Tough Portrayal
Xerxes got one of his first tastes of bad press in 472 BC after losing the battle in Salamis. A Greek playwright named Aeschylus took it on himself to tell the story of Xerxes’ embarrassing defeat, which he equated to punishment by God for the King’s hubris.

In Aeschylus’ play, Xerxis is shown returning to Persia in great embarrassment before having to explain his mistakes, in a humiliating fashion, to his mother. It’s unlikely this portrayal was accurate, but the play meant this became the accepted version of events for many people.

Retreat!
The bridge of boats Xerxes had built to enter Europe was also his only path of retreat, should he need it. After the defeat at Salamis, Xerxes became concerned the Greeks would move to destroy his bridge and trap his forces in Europe.

In order to prevent this, Xerxes moved the majority of his forces back across the bridge leaving a much-reduced army behind to defend the gains he had made. While this force was still significant, it was not enough and was defeated by Greek forces a year later at Plataea. With this loss, the Persian invasion of Greece was over.

Thorn in His Side
His fear of becoming trapped wasn’t the only reason for Xerxes’ decision to withdraw much of his armies from Greece leaving what turned out to be an inadequate force behind. News had also reached the king of a new resurgence of the persistent rebellions in Babylon.

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Not conquering Greece was one thing, but losing Babylon would be quite another. Xerxes needed to suppress the new uprisings and he had to prioritize and redistribute his military resources in order to do so.

Rough Journey
Xerxes’ retreat and redistribution might have been necessary, but it was by no means easy. In a devastating lack of forethought, Xerxes’ outgoing armies had used up all the resources they could find as they passed through the various lands on their way to Greece.

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As they returned to Persia, the troops found themselves without enough food to sustain themselves. Many became sick, or even starved to death. It’s believed the situation was so bad that even Xerxes found himself having to eat roots and bark in order to survive the journey home.

Regrets
As a builder of great things, Xerxes deeply regretted one of his orders in the campaign against Greece. When his forces reached Athens, even though it was largely abandoned, Xerxes commanded that the city be destroyed. As a result, many of Athens’ great buildings were razed to the ground.

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This rash decision had been made in the anger of the battle and Xerxes later apologized for the unnecessary and barbaric destruction. It did come back on him though, when the Greeks finally marched into Persepolis many years later, they ordered the same treatment be given to the Persian capital.

Mixed Feelings
Alexander the Great didn’t conquer Persia until more than a century after King Xerxes’ death, but that didn’t mean Xerxes’ reputation had faded. “Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece,” Alexander asked himself when he came across a fallen statue of Xerxes during his campaigns. “Or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects?”

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It’s believed Alexander chose the first option and carried on with his campaign as the statue remained overturned, but the moment of pondering marked a shift in Alexander’s thinking about the Persian people.

Biblical Interpretation
Hundreds of years later, when Xerxes’ story was retold in the Christian Bible and the Jewish Torah, he was renamed Ahasuerus and portrayed in a rather hot-headed way. The Holy books tell of Xerxes losing his temper with his wife when she refused to attend a party with his friends and show off how beautiful she was.

In response, Xerxes marries a Jewish woman named Esther as a replacement but finds himself manipulated by his new wife who wishes him to punish her enemies. It’s not the worst depiction of Xerxes ever put into text, though it does choose to ignore that he will have had a harem of many wives and lovers, so the idea of replacing one wife with another is not as extreme as it might have been in other situations.

Womanizer
If you believe the Greek historian Herodotus, something which should not be done blindly, Xerxes’ womanizing actually caused a great deal of trouble, and even bloodshed. In one case, Xerxes is believed to have had an affair with Artaynte, his niece. Xerxes’ wife is then said to have responded by having Artaynte’s mother – Xerxes’ sister-in-law – horrifically mutilated.

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As you can imagine, that sent Xerxes’ brother into a vengeful rage which left Xerxes little choice but to kill his own brother, his nephews, and all of their supporters. How Artaynte felt about all this is unknown.

300
In 1998, graphic novelists Frank Miller and Lynn Varley invited criticism from many sides when they created 300, a comic book series purporting to tell the story of the Battle of Thermopylae. In it, Xerxes is depicted as a villainous, bejeweled, and androgynous man; an image criticized for its inaccuracy by historians and Iranians alike.

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This was compounded when Miller and Varley’s work was adapted for the cinema screen by Zack Snyder in the movie 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire. The racial insensitivity of casting the Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro as the Persian king didn’t help matters either.

More Hair, Less Jewelry
The physical appearance of Xerxes in 300 caused controversy not just because of how it villainized the king, but because it was believed to be entirely incorrect. While the Xerxes in the movie was shaved, feminine, and covered in piercings through which he mounted his many jewels, contemporary depictions of the Persian king show him much more aligned to the fashions of his time.

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Images of Xerxes in Persian stonework show the king as a much more masculine man, with a thick beard. It’s believed he may have worn earrings, but that was as far as he went with jewels.

One In, All In
300 may have gotten a lot of things wrong, but not everything depicted in the comic books and movies was inaccurate. Xerxes is portrayed as leading his assault on Greece with a mighty army featuring soldiers from a wide range of nations.

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Historians believe this is true, and that Xerxes’ invasion forces included men from Assyria, Phoenicia, Egypt, and India fighting alongside Hebrews, Macedonians, and European Thracians. Xerxes’ army marching into Greece is also believed to have contained some fighters from Greek kingdoms themselves.

Free Fighters
One of the major criticism of Xerxes was that his armies were made up of slaves who were forced to fight, and die, for a cause that wasn’t their own. This, of course, would be awful, even if it has often been common practice for many armies through the millennia. There is a double irony, however, in this accusation being leveled at Xerxes.

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First of all, King Cyrus the Great, Xerxes’ grandfather, had already abolished slavery throughout the Persian Empire. This principle was firmly upheld by Xerxes who granted inalienable rights to every citizen under his rule. Secondly, the Spartan army which fought against Xerxes at the Battle of Thermopylae actually did include slaves in its ranks.

End of an Era
Xerxes was roughly 53 years old when his reign, and his life, came to an end. The details are sketchy, but it’s believed Xerxes was assassinated by the commanding officer of his own bodyguard, Artabanus, and a eunuch named Aspamitres. Xerxes’ son, Darius, was also murdered at the time and, it seemed the rule of his family might be coming to a bloody end.

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The dynasty was saved when Artaxerxes, the second son of Xerxes, took the throne and ordered vengeance on those who had killed his father and brother. Xerxes’ tomb lies with his fathers and those of other kings from the Achaemenid dynasty in a location outside of Shiraz. The site can still be visited by tourists today.

This… Is… All of the Amazing Facts You Never Knew About Leonidas, Sparta’s Legendary King
What do you do when faced with certain death at the hands of your enemies? For Leonidas, the king of Sparta, there was only one answer. Like the Jewish warriors at Masada and the Sikh regiment at Saragarhi, the Spartans at Thermopylae chose to die honorably. Leonidas and his 300 men made their last stand at the narrow coastal pass and achieved immortality at the moment of their death. Here is the story of King Leonidas, tragic hero of Thermopylae.

Descended From the Gods
Leonidas was born around the year 540 BCE in Sparta. Sparta, of course, was the powerful Greek city-state that controlled most of southern Greece for hundreds of years. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Leonidas was born into a royal family whose ancestors went back for centuries. He was the 17th king of the Agiad line, which was a long line of kings of Sparta who were all related.

The Agiads all claimed to be descendants of the Greek god Hercules, known to the Romans as Heracles, who was himself the son of Zeus. Cadmus, another ancient Greek hero and slayer of monsters also related to Zeus, was part of the Agiad line as well. As part of the Agiad line, a lot was expected of Leonidas, and he fulfilled all those expectations and more by being an effective king, and a brave and skilled military leader.

His Father Had Two Wives
King Anaxandridas II and his wife (who was also his niece) desperately wanted children, especially sons, who could continue the Agiad lineage and keep the family line going. But they were unable to beget any children at all. She never even became pregnant. After waiting for years, the council of ephors, who were the elected officials in charge of administration in all of Sparta, began to get restless. They needed the king to have an heir to avoid widespread chaos after his death.

The council encouraged the king to get married to someone else, but he refused, insisting that it wasn’t her fault that they weren’t having children. Eventually, the ephors decided that King Anaxandridas II could take another wife in addition to his first wife. He married another woman who was a descendant of one of the Seven Sages of Greece who quickly bore him a son named Cleomenes.

An Unlikely Birth
With the birth of Cleomenes, Sparta had an heir again, and the ephors could relax. Yet they wouldn’t remain relaxed for long as within a year, the unthinkable happened. King Anaxandridas II’s first wife finally got pregnant and gave birth to a son named Dorieus. After all the years of infertility, the couple’s dreams finally came true, but by then it was a bit of a nightmare. Dorieus was also heir to the throne, and some felt he should even be first because he was the son of Anaxandridas’s first wife.

After giving birth to Dorieus, the floodgates were open. King Anaxandridas and his first wife gave birth to another boy, our Leonidas, and then had yet another son whose name was Cleombrotus. Needless to say, this began to create a great deal of confusion in the kingdom, with everyone in Sparta seeming to have an opinion on the matter.

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King
Kings in ancient Greece usually didn’t last very long, and King Anaxandridas II was no exception. In around 520 BCE, King Anaxandridas II died, and shortly thereafter, Cleomenes, the king’s firstborn son (albeit with his second wife) took the reins of the kingdom. However, this did not sit well with Dorieus. As the son of the king and his first wife, Dorieus thought he should have been first in line for the throne.

Taking a second wife was not common in ancient Sparta, and although it took a long time and a lot of effort to give birth to him, Dorieus felt that the son of the king’s first wife should take priority over any other children. When Dorieus learned that the people of Sparta overwhelmingly supported Cleomenes to be the next king, it made Dorieus furious. Rejected by his countrymen, furious Dorieus decided to leave Sparta in protest.

Furious Dorieus Goes to Africa and Sicily
Dorieus left Sparta in a huff and headed to Africa. He thought that he might start a whole new colony there, be the undisputed leader, and show the Spartans what they had missed out on. But he did not have an easy go of it in Africa. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get his own colony off the ground. Soon, he was forced to leave Africa as well. His next stop was Sicily, which already had a thriving society.

He thought he could perhaps worm his way into the upper echelons of power though, considering he was the son of a Spartan King. And for a while, he did have considerable success in Sicily. Dorieus felt that western Sicily should actually belong to the Heracleidae, which his family was a part of, and not the Macae, who were part of the Carthaginian Empire. Obviously, the Macae felt differently.

Furious Dorieus Meets His Maker
Once in Sicily, after participating in a few local battles, Dorieus went to Eryx, a mountain in western Sicily less than two miles from the sea, and established a Greek colony there. He named his colony Herakleia. For a while, Herakleia thrived. But the more powerful it became, the more it was a threat to the Carthaginians who controlled most of the rest of the island. Around 510 BCE, the Carthaginians attacked Herakleia and destroyed most of it.

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Dorieus fought valiantly, but he and his small group of colonists were no match for the mighty Carthaginian army, and he received no help from his brother or anyone else in Sparta. Dorieus was killed in battle. Ironically, if he had simply stayed in Sparta under the rule of his brother Cleomenes, he would have been next in line for the throne, as Cleomenes had no sons and would shortly die.

The Mad King Cleomenes
Meanwhile, back in Sparta, the rule of Cleomenes was awkward, to say the least. First, he made a few questionable political moves. He refused an alliance with the city of Plataea, which was located in between Athens and Thebes, two powerful city-states. Cleomenes was hoping to start a conflict between the two Greek city-states, but it failed to materialize. He also interfered in the local politics of Athens, trying to install leaders who were secretly loyal to Sparta.

Then, Cleomenes brutally attacked the city of Argos, destroying their army while they were eating breakfast. This was seen as a cowardly act, and the people of Argos never forgave Sparta for it. Around the same time, he also betrayed a number of close allies, including Aristagoras, the ruler of the city-state of Miletus. All of these actions created a lot of resentment amongst nearby kingdoms and even within Sparta itself.

Cleomenes Is O’erthrown
The people of Sparta grew tired of Cleomenes and his irrational rule which was detrimental to them and everyone around them. Soon, a rumor began to spread that King Cleomenes was slowly going insane. Some say it was retribution from the gods for all his acts of betrayal. Some say it was an unfounded charge brought by his enemies in order to remove him from power. In particular, his two younger brothers, Leonidas I and Cleombrotus, were eager to see him go, especially with Dorieus now out of the picture.

In 490 BCE, Cleomenes was arrested and put in chains on order from his brothers. Sometime later, he was found dead in his jail cell. The story the jailers told was that he died due to suicide by self-mutilation. He had somehow gotten ahold of a knife and had brutally slashed his own thighs, shins, and abdominal area.

Leonidas Takes Charge
It’s unclear what really happened to Cleomenes. Perhaps he really did go mad and commit suicide. Some scholars, however, believe otherwise. They think that perhaps his two younger brothers, Leonidas and Cleombrotus, conspired against him in order to take over the throne. This kind of fratricide was quite common in the ancient world. Soon after the king’s death, Leonidas married Cleomenes’s daughter, Leonidas’s niece Gorgo, as a way to reunite the family and continue their royal line.

It was Gorgo herself that delivered the details of Cleomenes’s death to the historian Herodotus, who, in turn, wrote the official account of the king’s death which everyone accepted. This leads scholars to believe that she was in on the plot to assassinate her father. In any case, by the following year, 489 BCE Leonidas took over the throne of Sparta and became their undisputed leader. He would soon face the ultimate test.

Spartiates Were Special Citizens of Sparta
In many cultures around the world, and in all of history, the King or Queen was protected from war. After all, ordinary soldiers were expendable, but the ruler was special and their lives couldn’t be risked so easily. This was not the case in ancient Sparta, however. Leonidas had achieved the classification of Spartiate, an elite member of Spartan society who has been trained in the martial arts and has been granted several advantages.

Spartiates didn’t have to work, but were supported by the rest of the people in Sparta. They were expected to always be ready for battle, however, and were willing to give their lives for the honor of their land. They were put through grueling training and were fearless warriors. They were also well tested in battle, were the most elite category of citizens in Sparta, and had a reputation outside of Sparta as fearsome fighters.

The King Himself Led the Army
The Spartiates, Sparta’s most elite fighting force, were so respected and feared that most armies were reluctant to attack even when they had a large numerical advantage. But the Persians were an exception. They were undaunted in their desire to conquer more and more of the ancient world. They certainly weren’t going to let a small group of Spartan soldiers stop them, even if they did have a reputation as the finest fighting force known to man at that time.

The ancient Persians had previously attacked Sparta towards the end of Cleomenes’s reign, but the Spartans successfully fought them off. The final battle was in Marathon, the place that lent its name to the famous running event. The Spartans managed to prevail that time, but the Persian army lived on and soon after Leonidas became king, Persia attacked again. This time, Leonidas took charge and led the army himself.

If At First You Don’t Succeed…
When the Persians failed in their attempt to conquer all of Greece in 490 BCE, their king and military leader, Darius, was humiliated. After his death four years later, his son, Xerxes, began to plan another attempt. He wanted to avenge his father’s loss, so he set his sights on the entire peninsula of Greece. Only ten years after the first invasion stalled, Xerxes and the Persians were ready to invade again. This time, they were far better prepared.

The Persians knew what to expect from their last, failed invasion, and were determined to emerge victorious this time. Xerxes gathered all the best soldiers from the empire, including the best fighters from Phoenicia, Babylonia, Egypt, Assyria, Macedonia, and Judea. In 480 BCE, Xerxes made his move. First, he took his army from Asia into Europe by marching past the Strait of Gallipoli, which was then known as Hellespont.

Leonidas Is Selected as Leader
Xerxes and his multicultural army, marching under the Persian flag, continued south through Thrace, in modern-day Bulgaria, and then into Macedonia. From there, the entire Grecian peninsula lay before them. They continued their march south. Meanwhile, the Spartans got news of the Persian attack and their leaders met to decide how to respond. The last war to fend off the Persians was successful, but cost a lot in terms of men and supplies. They knew the Persians would be even stronger this time.

All the Greek city-states got together and decided they would need to join forces. They also knew they would need one leader who could be in charge of all the forces of all the city-states of Greece. The reputation of the Spartans, and especially of King Leonidas, was well-known. So when they voted on a leader, all of Greece unanimously chose Leonidas to lead them into battle.

The Oracle of Delphi
The Greeks relied heavily on the Oracle of Delphi to predict the future and advise them on how to proceed on many important matters of state, including war. The Oracle was a high priestess who served at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Delphi was a city in Greece about 100 miles from Athens which was the location of the famous temple. There were many women that served as priestesses there, but there was only one Oracle at a time.

The Oracle of Delphi served as a focal point of Greek religion and military strategy for hundreds of years. Her predictions were taken very seriously and often came true. Whether she actually did have predictive powers, or her pronouncements became self-fulfilling prophecies is unclear. The Greeks, including the Spartans, certainly believed in the Oracle and her teachings, so Leonidas went straight to her before setting off to fight the Persians.

The Oracle Predicted Doom
As per tradition, Leonidas turned to the Oracle of Delphi to learn what would happen in the upcoming battle with the invading Persian forces. It wasn’t good news. She declared that one of two things would happen when the Persians came. The first option was that the city of Sparta would be laid to waste, a devastating outcome that would essentially mean the genocide of the Spartan people.

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The other thing that might happen would be that the Spartans would mourn a dead King. Leonidas knew that he was the king that the Oracle was referring to. Either he would be killed defending Sparta, or all of Sparta would be destroyed. Leonidas knew what he had to do. He had trained his whole life to fight for his people, and if he had to sacrifice himself to save them, he was ready. He marched off to meet his destiny.

Off to Thermopylae
The town of Thermopylae is famous for its beauty and its healing hot springs. Its name means “Hot Gates”. It is a narrow passage on the coast in central Greece that has to be passed on the way to the rest of southern Greece, including Athens. It is there that Leonidas set off in order to make his stand against the Persians. He knew it was probably a one-way trip, so he put together a special army to accompany him.

They were all elite Spartan soldiers, but in order to make sure the Spartan line would live on, he only took veteran soldiers who had sons. That way, if they all died, at least their names would live on. In addition to 300 of his finest veteran soldiers, he took about 900 slaves and many other soldiers from the rest of Greece. In total, he brought about 7000 soldiers.

One of History’s Greatest Last Stands
Against the 300 elite soldiers and 7000 other Greek soldiers and slaves stood the vast Persian army. Some scholars think the Persians brought as many as three million soldiers, but others feel that the real number was around 150,000. In any case, Leonidas and his troops were vastly outnumbered and knew they were probably going on a suicide mission. But it was a mission that they had trained their whole lives for, and one that would live on in history.

The Battle of Thermopylae is remembered as one of the greatest last stands in history, alongside the great Battle of Saragarhi which was fought in 1897 in the northwest frontier of India. Many films have been made about the Battle of Thermopylae, including 300, which has become a favorite film of history lovers and war enthusiasts the world over. The story represents the best, and the worst, of humanity.

Twin Festivals of Ancient Greece
Because of the Oracle’s dire prediction, Leonidas only brought 300 elite Spartan fighters to Thermopylae. But there was another reason that only a small fighting force was sent. The Persian invasion began during twin festivals in Greece, and this also affected the decision to send just 300 Spartan men. The first was an event with which we are very familiar today; the Olympic Games. During the Olympics, the city-states of Greece all adhered to a strict truce that forbade the armies from attacking one another.

Sparta, meanwhile, was also celebrating the festival of Carneia, held each year in honor of Apollo. During Carneia, all military operations in Sparta were temporarily halted, and all soldiers could spend time with their families. Because of these two holidays, Leonidas didn’t take the full Spartan army to meet the Persians. They didn’t know it, but it was a death sentence for Leonidas’s men.

Xerxes the Great
Leonidas’s enemy at the Battle of Thermopylae was Xerxes I of Persia, a great warrior and king who ruled the vast Persian Empire at the peak of their territorial holdings. His father, Darius the Great, was also a successful leader and had expanded the empire until it was larger than ever before. Darius, however, failed to conquer Greece, so his son Xerxes made it his life’s mission to accomplish the task.

Interestingly, many scholars identify Xerxes the Great as the king known as Ahasuerus who appears as a character in the Book of Esther, one of the books of the Old Testament. It’s not known whether King Xerxes ever had a Jewish wife or concubine, but other evidence points to the possibility that he and Ahasuerus are one and the same. Upon his death, his son Artaxerxes took over as king and is also mentioned in the Old Testament.

The Stage Was Set
The Persians made steady progress through Thrace and Macedonia and were poised to invade Greece itself. A Greek spy in their midst sent a message down to the rest of the leaders of Greece informing them of the imminent invasion. Some of the city-states believed that they should wait until the war came to them. Many Spartans, particularly, thought that they were far away from the action, and should wait.

Others felt that they should go to the north and see what was happening. So Leonidas was sent with his 300 Spartan fighters, and they picked up more men along the way. Leonidas made camp at one of the narrow passageways in Thermopylae called the middle gate. Leonidas learned that there was a pathway that the Persians could use as a shortcut, so he stationed 1000 of his 7000 adjunct fighters there to prevent the Persians from using the shortcut.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Before long, the vast Persian army made up of the best fighters from all the lands the Persians conquered, approached Thermopylae. Xerxes’ warriors included Indians, Scythians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Arabians, Egyptians, Armenians, Libyans, Ethiopians, and many others. The sight of hundreds of thousands of seasoned fighters approaching shocked many of the other groups that were fighting with Leonidas. The Phocians and Locrians, in particular, who were from Greek states close to Thermopylae were particularly scared.

They thought they should retreat until they could gather more men. Leonidas said they would defend Thermopylae themselves. One of the soldiers complained to Leonidas that they had so many arrows that they wouldn’t even be able to see the sun. Leonidas remained resolute. He told the frightened soldier, “Won’t it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?” His pride and bravery, despite an almost certain defeat, was remarkable.

Xerxes Offered Them a Way Out
Xerxes didn’t necessarily want to slaughter the small group of fighters led by Leonidas at Thermopylae. He had his men camp nearby and sent emissaries to meet with Leonidas to try to negotiate a way out of conflict. Xerxes’ terms were not particularly unreasonable. He said the Greeks could basically remain autonomous. They could make their own decisions and live their own lives, with only a few conditions.

They could keep their freedom as long as they declared themselves “Friends of the Persian People”. He even offered them extra land that was more fertile than their own. Although it seemed like a good deal, Leonidas refused to negotiate. He turned down Xerxes’ offer of friendship and sent the emissaries back to Xerxes with bad news. Xerxes knew there was no way out but to fight. Xerxes prepared for battle but decided to try the diplomatic route one last time.

Leonidas’s Famous Reply to Xerxes
King Xerxes of Persia knew he had the Greek forces outnumbered, so he sent one more threat to Leonidas to try to convince him to lay down his arms. He personally wrote a note, with his own hand, telling Leonidas to “Hand over your arms”, and sent his messenger to deliver the note to Leonidas. This scene was depicted in the popular film 300, directed by Zack Snyder. Although the movie takes a lot of liberties with the truth in order to tell an entertaining story, this scene is absolutely historically accurate.

Leonidas met with Xerxes’ ambassador and received the note. He refused to capitulate, however, and famously replied, “Molṑn labé” – “Come and take them”. He could have said, “You and what army,” but he knew exactly what army awaited him. Still, he remained defiant to the end. “Come and take them”, Leonidas said, taunting the more powerful Persians.

The Greeks’ Military Strategy
With Leonidas refusing to negotiate at all, Xerxes knew that a battle was inevitable. Although he had the Greeks vastly outnumbered, he didn’t look forward to the battle. The Greeks showed a great deal of military intelligence and savvy by making their stand at Thermopylae. They knew they were outnumbered, but if they could stop the Persians at Thermopylae, they had a chance of fighting them off.

Instead of fighting a large, decisive battle against a larger force, the Greeks could go on the defensive, keeping them at bay. Making a stand at a narrow passageway meant that only a limited number of Persian warriors could advance at a time, which reduced their numerical advantage. Furthermore, the geography suited the Greeks more than the Persians, because the Greeks like to hit and run, especially against a larger force. In this way, the Greeks gave themselves the best chance for victory.

They Couldn’t Protect Their Flank
The Greek forces did the best they could given the circumstances in which they found themselves. They forced the battle to take place in the narrow passageways of Thermopylae, which suited their fighting style and took away the overwhelming numerical advantage enjoyed by the Persians. The Greeks’ only weakness, besides numbers, was the mountain trail that winded around Thermopylae which the Persians could use to outflank them and attack them from behind.

Leonidas learned of this hidden trail from locals, so he wasn’t even sure the Persians knew about it. But he did commit about a thousand men to watch the trail and guard it. Leonidas also knew that because their army was so big, the Persians had to keep moving in order to keep supply lines open. They either had to move forward or backward in order to keep their soldiers fed. But for a while, neither force moved.

They Stared at Each Other for Four Days Before the Battle Began
For four long, interminable days, Xerxes waited. He hoped Leonidas would change his mind, or that maybe his troops would get scared and run away. After waiting for four full days, the Persian attack began. The battle lasted for only three days. On the fifth day since Xerxes arrived, and the first day of battle, the Persians began by firing arrows at the gathered Greek troops. This did nothing as the Greeks’ bronze shields and helmets stopped the arrows.

Xerxes then sent several thousand of his lesser troops to attack directly. The Greeks stood at the narrowest point of the pass and formed their famous phalanx. In a Greek phalanx, the men stood side by side with their swords overlapping and spear points facing forwards. In such a narrow passage, the phalanx was remarkably successful. The first wave of Persian fighters was decimated. They couldn’t get past the phalanx.

Thousands More Were Sent
The first wave of Persian fighterfs sent by Xerxes failed spectacularly. The vast majority died, to the great dismay of Xerxes, while the Greeks lost only two or three men. Historians report that Xerxes was so shocked and upset that he stood up three times from his seat while watching the battle from higher ground. Undaunted, he sent in several thousand more men.

This time, he called upon a group of Persian Immortals, a heavy infantry unit that acted as the king’s guard as well as serving in the front ranks of the regular army. They were a much better trained, more experienced unit consisting of mostly Persians, not soldiers conscripted from conquered tribes. Even though they were much better fighters, however, they did no better than the first group did. The Immortals proved that their name was just bravado. They too met their deaths.

The Second Verse, Same as the First
Dawn broke on the second day of the battle, and things were the same as on the first, at least for a while. Xerxes sent in another group of infantry, convinced that the Greeks must be injured and ready to surrender, but each group he sent in was met by the unstoppable force that was the Greek phalanx. Xerxes finally stopped the assault and fell back to his encampment, telling his close advisors that he was “totally perplexed” by the way that events had unfolded up until then.

Xerxes began to see the wisdom in the Greek military strategy. By concentrating their forces on a narrow passageway, they could hold the Persian army at bay. The longer they could stall, the more they could strengthen their forces in the rest of Greece, and the more the Persian army would begin to have problems with food and supplies for their troops.

The Tides Are Turned by a Traitor
On the evening of the second day of battle, Xerxes was sitting in his tent wondering what to do next when a stranger walked into the Persian encampment. His name was Ephialtes, a word which would come to mean “nightmare” in Greek and represent perfidy and treachery for centuries to come. Ephialtes was from Trachis, a kingdom in the south of Greece, and was there supposedly fighting with Leonidas for the Greeks.

Ephialtes learned from the locals about the mountain path that winds its way around the back of Thermopylae. This was the same path that Leonidas knew of and had sent 1,000 men to defend. Xerxes, being an outsider, was not aware of this path until the traitor Ephialtes told him. Ephialtes was greedy, and he thought he would be richly rewarded by the Persian empire if he betrayed his people and helped Xerxes win the battle.

Xerxes Outflanked the Greeks
Xerxes sent a group of 20,000 men under the command of one of his generals, Hydarnes the Younger. The mountainous path, more suited for goats than men, went along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea, hidden from view of the coastline by the cliffs along the shore. He took another group of Persian Immortals, who had no problems walking the trail, as they were used to mountainous terrain from many previous military campaigns they had been on.

As the sun rose on the third day of conflict, the Greek rearguard that was sent to watch the trail saw the Persians approaching. The Greeks had a thousand men there, and the Persians were marching twenty thousand. The historian Herodotus reported that the Greeks jumped up in surprise, not expecting that the Persians would be marching their way, let alone that they knew about the hidden mountain path at all.

They Let Them March Right on By
Hydarnes the Younger, for his part, was also surprised to see the Greek soldiers guarding the secret trail. At first, he thought they were Spartans, and despite being outnumbered, it would be a difficult fight for his Persian troops. The traitor Ephialtes assured him that they were not, in fact, Spartans, but men from another Greek city-state, the Phocians, who were far less fearsome and fierce.

The Phocians thought that Hydarnes and the Persians were coming specifically for them, so they retreated to a small cove where they could form a phalanx and defend themselves. But in forming their phalanx, they had moved away from the path. The Persians kept their eyes on the prize, shot a few arrows at the Phocians to distract them, and continued on the path which led directly behind Leonidas and the rest of the Greek forces. They quickly encircled Leonidas and his men.

Leonidas Makes a Fateful Decision
When Leonidas got the word that he had been encircled and the Persians had made it past the narrow passage he was defending, he knew it was only a matter of time before he faced his demise. He called a meeting of his generals and asked them what they wanted to do. Several of them said that they should make a run for it. Leonidas knew that wouldn’t work, and that the Persians would easily be able to catch them.

So Leonidas made the incredible decision to stay and fight to the death. He was king and would have easily been able to get away, but many of his men would have died protecting him. Instead, he gave all the other groups the option to leave while he chose to stay behind. Many of his allies chose to leave, but some decided to stay with Leonidas until the end.

Only a Few Stayed Behind
All of the 300 Spartans stood by their leader and decided to stay with Leonidas. So did 400 brave warriors from Thebes, and a group of 700 Thespians. The Thespians came from Thespiae, a city in southeast Greece, and were led by their general Demophilus who refused to leave and vowed to fight. Today, the word “thespian” refers to an actor, but that has nothing to do with the ancient city of Thespiae.

Rather, the word comes from an ancient Greek actor named Thespis, who was the first person in history to have been known to get on a stage and portray a character. It is thought that the Thebes who stayed was a small percentage of the total Theban force, and represented the hard-core fighters who refused to live under Persian rule. The Thespians knew that if Thermopylae fell, their city would be next, which is why they stayed.

Leonidas Stayed to Help Others Get Away
Scholars have long wondered why Leonidas stayed behind instead of retreating, knowing that certain death awaited him. The general consensus is that he stayed in order to provide cover for the rest of the retreating Greek soldiers. Leonidas knew that Thermopylae was merely the first battle in the second great war against the Persian Empire, and by staying behind, he could save over 3000 men who would be able to take a stand against the Persians later.

If they all just ran, the Persians would be able to slaughter them as they made their way across open fields. By staying, Leonidas knew he could occupy the Persians long enough for the other Greek fighters to get away, thus increasing their chances for victory later. Perhaps Leonidas also remembered the Oracle’s prediction and thought that it was better for Sparta to lose its leader rather than be burned to the ground.

His Legacy Lives On
The Persians closed the circle and, one by one, killed Leonidas and his allies. They fought valiantly to the end, with Herodotus later reporting, “Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth.” After the Persian victory, Xerxes was so angry that he ordered his men to mutilate Leonidas’s body.

Xerxes told his men to decapitate and then crucify him, long after he had died in battle. The Persians were famous for showing respect to their fallen enemies if they had shown valor, but in this case, Xerxes was full of rage. 40 years after the battle, the bones of Leonidas were finally collected and returned to Sparta, where he was buried with full honors as a hero. And today, Leonidas is remembered in books and film for his remarkable courage and his fateful last stand.

The Truth Behind 300: The Real Story of Xerxes the Great culled online