Leonidas and the Spartan 300 - Last Stand at Thermopylae - 25 Interesting Facts

Leonidas and the Spartan 300 - Last Stand at Thermopylae - 25 Interesting Facts

Leonidas I born 540 BC; died 11 August 480 BC, was King of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta.  He was the son of King Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles.  Leonidas I ascended to the throne in 489 BC, succeeding his half-brother king Cleomenes I.  He ruled jointly along with King Leotychidas until his death in 480 BC, when he was succeeded as King by his son, Pleistarchus.

At the Second Greco-Persian War, Leonidas led the allied Greek forces in a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army, and was killed early during the third and last day of the battle.  Leonidas entered myth as a hero and the leader of the 300 Spartans who died in battle at Thermopylae.  While the Greeks lost this battle, they were able to expel the Persian invaders in the following year.

This selection of King Leonidas to lead the defense of Greece against Xerxes' invasion led to Leonidas' death in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.  In August 480 BC, Leonidas marched out of Sparta to meet Xerxes' army at Thermopylae with a small force of 1,200 men (900 helots and 300 Spartan hoplites), where he was joined by forces from other Greek city-states, who put themselves under his command to form an army of 7,000 strong. There are various theories on why Leonidas was accompanied by such a small force of hoplites. 

Xerxes waited four days to attack, hoping the Greeks would disperse. Finally, on the fifth day the Persians attacked. Leonidas and the Greeks repulsed the Persians' frontal attacks during the fifth and sixth days, killing roughly 10,000 of the enemy troops. The Persian elite unit known to the Greeks as "the Immortals" was held back, and two of Xerxes' brothers (Abrocomes and Hyperanthes) died in battle.  On the seventh day (August 11), a Malian Greek traitor named Ephialtes led the Persian general Hydarnes by a mountain track to the rear of the Greeks.[15][16] At that point Leonidas sent away most of the Greek troops and remained in the pass with his 300 Spartans, 900 helots, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians. The Thespians stayed entirely of their own will, declaring that they would not abandon Leonidas and his followers.

Of the small Greek force, which was attacked from both sides, all were killed except for the 400 Thebans, who surrendered to Xerxes without a fight. When Leonidas was killed, the Spartans retrieved his body after driving back the Persians four times. Herodotus says that Xerxes' orders were to have Leonidas' head cut off and put on a stake and his body crucified. This was considered sacrilegious.

We review 2 short videos about King Leonidas and his Spartan 300 at Thermopylae, and discuss the major points from it.  As always, we discuss the 25 Interesting Facts about Leonidas and the Spartan 300!

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