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Cody DiNicola
Professor Smyth
Western Civilizations 100-18
15 October 2016
The Battle of Thermopylae
Throughout history, battles have been fought amongst men. Each ending in devastating

bloodshed and loss of life. Wars are gateways to the gruesomely brutal side of mankind. They

show how horrifically far humans will go, by slaughtering each other in different and more

efficient ways, to achieve a goal such as land, growth of power, or even to spread religion. But

wars are also capable of showing the bravery and honor that some men hold. They can show how

some men are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice to protect their family, their land, and their

people. This bravery is shown in one of the most iconic battles ever fought: the great Battle of

Thermopylae.

The Greek and Persian Wars spanned approximately one hundred and thirteen years,

from 499 B.C.E to 386 B.C.E, and held of numerous battles between Persian and Sparta and

Athens. But no battle fought was as significant to the war and as iconic to written history as The

Battle of Thermopylae (Fields 7). The battle itself gained a large amount of fame throughout

history. It has spawned numerous scholarly writings about it, a few Hollywood interpretations

(The 300 Spartans, Go Tell The Spartans, and 300 and its sequel), and even an award winning

graphic novel titled simply "300".

The first quarrel between Greece and Persia was when Dareios (also spelled Darius I), the

then king of Persia, had sent messengers to each state in the mainland of Greece in 491 B.C.E.

Each messenger demanded that the states shall not resist the rule of Dareios and submit to him

and Persia by offering a gift and their state to their soon to be king. Athens and Sparta were two
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of the states which refused to concede. Enraged by the defiance, Dareios compiled and army and

commanded his subjects of the Ionian Greeks to gather a group of horse transports and warships.

This was the army that Dareios would use to begin invading Greece with (de Souza 30). After

many invasions and the failure to conquer the Athenians at The Battle of Marathon, Dareios had

died of old age. His place was taken as king of Persia by his eldest son, Xerxes, who would vow

to finish his father's work and conquer Greece (de Souza 40).

At the beginning of Xerxes' rule, he was met with challenges that occupied most of his

time, specifically the revolutions in Egypt and Babylonia. He was able to destroy the revolutions

and put the people back in their place. This was important to the Persian rule because it would

set an example for the rest of its provinces that ranged from Kush to India. Now with the Persian

lands obedient and in order, Xerxes could focus on gaining respect by avenging the former king

of Persia and his father from the loss at Marathon and exact revenge on the Greeks (Fields 16).

In 481 B.C.E., Xerxes army left Persia to campaign to Greece where they would once again

attempt to conquer it. Xerxes himself had led his massive army in hopes that he would be seen as

a noble successor to the former king. He had gathered a large army that to any would be seen as

threatening and deadly. It was compiled of Persians and numerous others who were under the

rule of the Persians (de Souza 40). Xerxes relied heavily on different strategies and more

efficient methods of killing his enemies. Therefor, he had brought along a large amount of long

ranged troops and cavalry. Legend tells that Xerxes' army consisted of an amount greater than

4,700,000 followers. Although many scholars believe that thats exactly what it is: legend. A

more common consensus believes that Xerxes' army was between 100,000 and 150,000

personnel (de Souza 41). After the Persian's long travel they had been attacked in Tempe by a

large group of hoplites led by the Spartan, Euainetos, in attempts to defend Greece. The hoplites
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were ultimately defeated and Xerxes marched on until he was stopped at the passage of

Thermopylae by an opposing army (de Souza 49).

After a decision was made by the Hellenic League, an organization of Greek city states

united to defend against Xerxes and the Persians, a defending army was placed at Thermopylae

to defend against the Persians. The army consisted of around 8,000 Greek hoplites from many of

the city states. The army being led by the Spartan king, Leonidas, and considered a Spartan

army, was only made up of 300 Spartan warriors. But the 300 Spartans were very exclusive, each

being specially chosen because of their superior training and peak physical condition. Also, no

Spartan was allowed in the army if they did not currently have a living son which remained in

Sparta to carry on the family if the father was to fall in battle. The number of warriors was far

lesser than that of the Persians. Many other Greek states refused to send troops due to festivals or

religious events. The significant difference in army size sealed the fate of the defending army (de

Souza 49).

The king of Sparta, Leonidas, who was chosen to lead the army against the Persians had a

rather questionable history, but he still showed his own bravery on the battlefield. The then king

of Sparta came to power very suddenly after his half-brother king had been thought to of taken

his own life in a drunken fit. Questions rose after it seemed that Leonidas was covering up his

brother's death once he became king. But Leonidas was never accused. Another fault in

Leonidas' stature was that he could be hardly thought of being a warrior due to his age. Contrary

to the young, physically peaked image that Hollywood has represented, like giving Leonidas the

body of Gerard Butler, history tells that the king of Sparta was sixty years old when he fought in

the Battle of Thermopylae. Even though being an older age, Leonidas had still fought and died

like a warrior on the battlefield (Fields 14).

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The Greek defense had taken full advantage of their environment. The only passage in

Thermopylae was a very narrow route that led between the mountains and the sea. Luckily for

the Greeks, this was the only way for the Persians to reach the inner mainland of Greece (de

Souza 49). Even though the defense was horribly outnumbered, they had the advantage as the

large attacking group found it difficult to use the full potential of their army in such a small

corridor of space (de Souza 54). The Greeks had blockaded the passage by using a phalanx

structure with their shields upward, protected the men surrounding them, and their spears

extended outward, to pierce any oncoming enemies. They had used many strategies against the

Persians, one being the rotation of men to the head of the army. This would allow those

previously there to be able to rest and give the Persians the idea that the Greeks could never be

exhausted. Another strategy was to fake their retreat. The Greeks would break stance and run

away from the battle, this allowed the Persians to gain confidence over the battle and they would

blindly charge after their victims. To the Persians' surprise, the Greeks would reform their

phalanx and begin to slaughter each attacker as they closed in (de Souza 55). The Greek

formation and movements did not allow the Persians to use their arrows and long range weapons

that Xerxes had specially designed his army for. Instead, they had to engage in close quarter

combat. Unfortunately for the Persians, the Greeks excelled in efficient combat brutality (Fields

69). After the frustration that the first day of battle was bringing Xerxes, he ordered the

Immortals to attack the Greeks. The Immortals were known for their extremely skilled war

tactics and were feared across the land because it seemed that they could never be defeated. They

were no match for the Greek defense (Fields 72). The second day of battle yielded no reward in

sight for Xerxes. He grew angry as he would watch many of his men fall and few of the Greeks.

What would soon turn to a drastic turn of events, a local man from Trachis had approached
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Xerxes and the Persians. He hoped that he would be able to lead the Persians the victory and in

return Xerxes would reward him greatly. He would propose to Xerxes that he may lead his

troops through the mountains and to the rear side of the battlefield where they may engage the

Greeks from the rear and front simultaneously (Fields 73). Leonidas would only hear of this

attack a few hours before the Persians would begin assault from both fronts. In a quick decision

as king, he had retreated most of his army in order to spare their lives. Remaining he left close to

1,500 troops including himself and the 300 Spartans. Knowing that they would not return home,

Leonidas and the remaining Greeks would fight the oncoming Persians from both ends and still

succeed in killing a large portion of them. They had even succeeded in defeating two of Xerxes'

half brothers. But in the end, Leonidas would be killed, and the two sides would battle for his

body. For the Greeks, it was honor, for the Persians, it was a trophy. The Greeks resulted in

using every weapon possible, from their swords to their teeth. Finally, the Persians would open

fire their arrows and annihilate the survivors. To mark their victory, Leonidas' body was

decapitated and his head placed on a stick to mark the Persian victory at Thermopylae. Soon they

would march forward to the rest of Greece, but thanks to the brave 300 and the other Greeks,

with 20,000 men less (de Souza 57).

Xerxes would continue to march in Greece and attack many more armies desperately

trying to defend their homes. But none of them could have shown the bravery that Leonidas and

his man stood up against. Selflessly they would give their own lives to do as much damage to the

oncoming horde of Persians as they could. Sadly, they had reached their tragic defeat, but they

had costed Xerxes thousands of men and bought time for the rest of Greece. The Battle of

Thermopylae has gone down in history, immortalizing the warriors and the battle as one of the

greatest acts of bravery ever committed.

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Work Cited
Fields, Nic, and Steve Noon. Thermopylae 480 BC : Last Stand Of The 300. New York: Osprey

pub, 2007. Print.

Szemler, G. J., William Joseph Cherf, and John C. Kraft. Thermopylai : Myth And Reality In 480

B.C. Chicago: Ares Publishers, 1996. Print.

De Souza, Philip. The Greek And Persian Wars, 499-386 BC. Oxford: Osprey pub, 2003. Print.

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/story/sto_set.html
http://www.ancient.eu/thermopylae/
http://www.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/thermopylae.html