why did the spartan king leonidas choose to fight at thermopylae?


Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, fighting to the death.

Nearly 2,499 years later, the legacy of Leonidas and his Spartans, along with their Greek allies who fought at Thermopylae, endures. As exemplified by the Spartans at Thermopylae, the true warrior never hesitates in performing his duty. Although many Greek states bowed down to the Persians and the historic city of Athens was sacked, the tide soon turned. Facing an invading Persian army numbering around 100,000 men or more under king Xerxes, Leonidas and his 300 Spartans led a coalition of some 6,000 troops assembled from the city-states of Greece. In response, Leonidas issued a two-word reply: “Molon Labe,“ translating to, “Come and take them.” The Persian horde did come, but after two days of brutal fighting, they could not overcome Leonidas and his determined defenders. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae (“The Hot Gates”). .” In the end, Leonidas and his Spartans fell to the last man along with most of their Greek allies. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The British Museum: The Battle of Thermopylae: Spartans v. Persians. The Persian navy dispersed the Greeks, allowing them to land a formidable army behind Thermopylae. (Photo Credit: Giuseppe Rava). Known as “Leonidas," this statue is thought to depict the legendary Spartan king who stared down the Persians at Thermopylae. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in The Histories, “they resisted to the last, with their swords, if they had them, and, if not, with their hands and teeth. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Northern Ireland/Belfast Food & Drink – Things I love & miss from home & A few I don’t! It was up to them to buy time for their other Greek allies to organize and prepare their forces for the coming storm. (I.R.A) – History & Background, 10 Things You Should Know About The Battle Of Thermopylae, Ancient Greece: The Legacy of Leonidas I (The King of Sparta), The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest – Rome’s darkest hour. Introduction to my book: Read it here plus top reviews, Captain Robert Falcon Scott & the ill fated Terra Nova Expedition, Signed copy of my book & update on book launch /Promo, Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division: Iconic Songs & the story behind them. The Spartans knew how to kick arse and this battle and the heroics of Leonidas and his “300” has rightly earned its place as one of the greatest battles ever and has fascinated me since i was a child. Thus, Leonidas led his army of 300 Spartans and soldiers from other city-states to face Xerxes in Thermopylae in August of 480 BC. The defeat at Plataea was the final nail in the coffin for the Persian invasion, shattering Xerxes’s hopes of conquering Greece. Themistocles was in command of the Greek Navy at Artemisium when he received news that the Persians had taken the pass at Thermopylae. (Photo Credit: Weaponsandwarfare.com). Wary of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece.

During two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis.

The Spartans and their fellow Greeks stood together and fought on until the very end. Facing an invading Persian army numbering around 100,000 men or more under king Xerxes, Leonidas and his 300 Spartans led a coalition of some 6,000 troops assembled from the city-states of Greece. The defenders of Thermopylae would not back down. For the true warrior, selflessness means standing together with your comrades through it all, no matter how profound the danger or the risk of death. GreekReporter.com: Molon Labe: Anniversary of the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). Hoping for a reward, he revealed a path that led behind Leonidas’s army. The virtue of selflessness that they embodied has persisted in select individuals through the ages and remains the central tenet in the life of the true warrior throughout every corner of the world. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens. As Pressfield writes, “Leonidas knew that to defend Thermopylae was certain death.” Despite this grave reality, Leonidas and his men understood that the survival of Greece depended on their willingness to stand and fight. Ancient History Encyclopedia: Thermopylae.

Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Leonidas I , Leōnídas A’;  “son of the lion”; died 11 August 480 BC) was a warrior king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line; a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. ©2016 BY THIS IS WHY WE STAND. In the late summer of 480 B.C., the Spartan king Leonidas and his soldiers epitomized this principle at the Battle of Thermopylae. . He understands that, “The group comes before the individual,” and stands together with his brothers in arms, fighting with them and for them until the very end. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion. The Persians & Greeks: Crash Course World History, See :The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest – Rome’s darkest hour. Leonidas had a notable participation in the Second Persian War, where he led the allied Greek forces to a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) while attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army. Statistical breakdown of deaths in the Troubles of Northern Ireland 1969 – 2001, Irish National Liberation Army ( I.N.L.A ), Irish Republican Army. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Despite their strong position, the odds against the Greeks were still overwhelming. (Photo Credit: Archaeological Museum of Sparta/wttw.com). PROUDLY CREATED WITH WIX.COM, Heroes Under Fire: Gary Gordon, Randall Shughart, and the Battle of Mogadishu, To Fight and Protect: The Heroic Sacrifice of Michael Monsoor, {"items":["5f864f5cfb536b0017155bdd","5f791bde76f5b10017d42e4e","5f73e0f6292ab20018dd06ef"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":1000,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":15,"galleryMargin":0,"floatingImages":0,"chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCubeRatio":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":false,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"useCustomButton":false,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":["SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","SHOW_BELOW"],"galleryHorizontalAlign":"center","galleryTextAlign":"center","galleryVerticalAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"expand","fullscreen":true,"allowSocial":true,"allowDownload":false,"allowTitle":true,"allowDescription":false,"loveButton":true,"loveCounter":false,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","scrollDirection":0,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowTitleExpand":true,"allowDescriptionExpand":true,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":60,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":75,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"textsVerticalPadding":0,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"titleDescriptionSpace":6,"customButtonText":"","customButtonBorderWidth":1,"customButtonBorderRadius":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowContextMenu":true,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_12","value":"rgba(216,216,216,0)"},"galleryLayout":2,"modifiedGallerySize":true,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":60,"externalInfoWidth":0.75},"container":{"width":300,"galleryWidth":330,"galleryHeight":1440,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}, The Virtue of Selflessness: Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae.

and located at the Archaeological Museum of Sparta. Others also reportedly remained, including up to 900 helots and 400 Thebans; most of these Thebans reportedly surrendered. The Battle of Thermopylae  was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Although fighting in … Leading the survivors from his original force of 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans, Leonidas and this band of warriors would make a final stand and protect the retreat.

Leonidas and his troops fended off the Persian attacks for seven days straight, including three days of intense battle, …

In August 479 B.C., a Greek army led by Pausanias, a nephew of Leonidas and regent to his underage son and heir, Pleistarchus, won another decisive clash against the Persians at the Battle of Plataea. He is everything, and everything is contained within him.”, Spartans standing together at the Battle of Thermopylae. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million, but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are given by scholars, ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000) arrived at the pass in late August or early September. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. At the Battle of Salamis in September 480 B.C., the Greek fleet won a resounding victory over the Persians in one of the greatest naval contests of the ancient world.

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