------SSDD------ Rep: 35  Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 12,336 OFFLINE | Hey, I wrote a report for school, and I and some of your say on it. the pictures aren’t included in the C&P version
By: Justin Fraser
The Battle of Thermopylae
In the Battle of Thermopylae, a small fighting force of 5200 assorted Greek infantry fought and over whelming force of Persians. (Estimated to be over 2 million.) King Leonidas the first, king of the Spartans, the greatest soldiers in the ancient days, led the Greeks. He also fought along side his soldiers. And King Xerses, led the Persians, but he didn’t fight along side his soldiers, he commanded from the sidelines.
The smaller forces was defeated, but in a way, were successful, for the soldiers bought precious time, and during that time, the Greek navy was able to defeat the Persian navy, thus saving Greece.
The most famous point of this battle of the role that 300 Spartans had, they fought along side the other Greeks for a majority of the battle, but for the final stand, the 300 Spartans were all that remained, they never surrendered, they fought until there shields, swords, and spears were broken, and even then they continued fighting with there fists.
At first, Xereses thought he would be able to force his way past the Greeks due to how much they outnumbered them, so Xereses sent 20 000 men to attack…None survived. Ancient historians state that the Greeks lost no more then 2 men after the first assault.
Later on the second day, due to the immense failure of the frontal assault, Xereses was pondering on what to do next. A Malian, named Ephialites, told him about a path that led behind the Thermopylae pass, and offered to take him their. The path led east from the Persian camp and followed the ridge of Mt. Anopea. Behind the cliffs that flanked the pass, Leonidas had stationed 1000 Phocian volunteers on the heights to guard the path.
Out of everything the Persians had done, none of it was a surprise to Leonidas. When word came to Leonidas that the Phocians had not held, He called a council at dawn. At the council, there was some argument over weather or not the Greeks should withdraw from the massive Persian advance. Herodotus believed that Leonidas blessed their departure with an order; The Spartans pledged themselves to fight to the death. But the Thebans, despite being held against their will, 700 of them chose to stay and fight until the end with the Spartans warriors.
The Greeks who stayed then withdrew back into a larger part of the pass, in an attempt to defeat as many as they could, eventually, all that remained were the Spartans, Leonidas was not the last Spartan standing, he fell, and the Greeks and Persians fought over his body, Greeks being victorious. Eventually, the Spartans had very few numbers left, and stepped up onto a small platform, and made the very final stand, only to be ended dishonorably, by a massive rain down of arrows on them. The arrow shower at the end was confirmed; Archeologists found many fossilized Persian arrowheads on/near the platform.
Why 300 Spartans Only
All is fair, but King Leonidas actually had a much larger Spartan army, nowhere near the size of the Persian army, or enough to stop the Persians, but an army none-the-less.
He only took 300 Spartans for two main reasons: The first reason is that if they failed, they would need troops to defend Sparta, and Leonidas knew this battle would be close to suicide, despite there being some argument that the small army would be enough to stop the Persians. So he only took the Spartans who had sons old enough to care for there family once they were gone.
Also, another reason was that the Persians had control over the water and resources, so only a small army would be able to eat and drink. On that matter, the final night of the battle, Leonidas gave his Spartans the last of the food and water as a feast, and announced during the feast: “Eat well Spartans, tonight, we dine in Hades.”
300 Spartans would also be about that maximum amount of Spartans that could fit in the opening of Thermopylae, and still be involved in the phalanx formation.
Fig A: An artist impression of the Phalanx formation.
Who, What, When, Where, And Why?
Who? The two Kings; King Leonidas of Sparta, and King Xereses, of Persia. Both equally tactical but one major difference between the two. King Leonidas would fight along side his Spartans. Where as Xereses would command from the sidelines.
What Happened? The Spartans and an alliance of other Greeks defended the small pass of Thermopylae for a 3-day period against over 2 million Persians. Some say it was only 10 000 Persians, some say 400 00, but most evidence proves that it was over 2 million. The Greeks were eventually cast down, but defeated what is estimated to be over half of the Persian army.
When? It happened August 4th to August 7th. 480 B.C. over 2400 years ago. During the period of the Greco-Persian wars.
Where? A small pass called Thermopylae, it was a very small pass, and so small barley two chariots could fit through at once, it was the ideal place for a small force to confront a larger force.
Fig B: A map showing the advance of the Persian army and the Persian Navy.
Why? The Spartans needed to buy time for the Greek navy to defeat the Persian navy, and the Persians wanted the Greek land to expand Persia.
Miscellaneous Information.
At the moment, there are 2 movies in production based upon this very battle. The first, coming out early March, is 300.
Fig C: the 300 Movie poster, with King Leonidas.
This movie is actually based upon a graphic novel, but the graphic novel is based off of the battle, this movie has more fiction then truth about the battle, this one only has 300 Spartans, no allied Greeks, and the Persian infantry was different, but there are still some lines used in the movie that were actually used, such as: “There is no reason we can’t be civil” “Then we will right in the shade” and “Were in for one wild night”
The second is actually based off a novel, titled “Gates of Fire”
Fig  the book cover for the novel “Gates of Fire”
This Movie is in very early production, so very little has been shown or told about it, this movie is more true to the actual battle. It follows the stories of 3 Spartans.
And also, the Persians would laugh at the Spartans, every morning when they did their workouts for 3 hours straight.
The Spartans would volunteer at a young age to become Spartans, and they were trained from 7 until they were 20, the exercises increased in length, and difficulty very constantly.
Figure E: Spartan warriors form a shield wall formation. Called a phalanx.
The formation called the Phalanx, was made by the group in the front line of the army, they would put there shields near each other, and create spear points where spears would pop out and any enemy foolish enough to charge at them would be killed.
The Spartans excelled at this formation, only at Thermopylae was it ever defeated.
The Spartans were trained with blades only. The Spartans, Mainly King Leonidas all considered it a cowards weapon, ironically the Persians main force was with arrows, and the Spartans were killed with bows.
The Spartans perspective on life was taught during their training, it was that a death in battlefield was the greatest glory any soldier could achieve.
There was recently a statue put in Greece at Thermopylae of King Leonidas.
Figure F: The Statue of king Leonidas at Thermopylae.
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 Last edited 17 Feb 2007 06:23 pm by CPO Fraser |
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