It was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of Aristodemus and Pantites), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. In front of the outnumbered Greeks stood the assembled forces of the Persian empire, a seemingly invincible army with revenge, pillage and plunder on its mind. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. The form of this ancient Greek poetry is an elegiac couplet, commonly used for epitaphs. Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army of freemen defending native soil. 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. Persian boys, it was said, were taught only three things: to ride, to tell the truth and to use the bow. Although the Greeks finally beat the Persians in the Battle of Platea in 479 B.C., thus ending the Greco-Persian Wars, many scholars attribute the eventual Greek success over the Persians to the Spartans’ defense at Thermopylae. Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica, Saying 11. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persians for three days in one of history's most famous last stands. in, Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica, section "Leonidas, son of Anaxandridas", saying 11. [48] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war. At this time of year the Spartans, de facto military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of Carneia. On the third, the Persians were able to flank the Greek position after being a shown a mountain path by a Trachinian traitor named Ephialtes. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great King they intended to dispute the pass. The battle is revisited in countless adages and works of popular culture, such as in films (e.g., The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2007), based on the events during and close to the time of the battle), in literature, in song (e.g. "[166], After the battle, Xerxes was curious as to what the Greeks had been trying to do (presumably because they had had so few men) and had some Arcadian deserters interrogated in his presence. It led the Persians behind the Greek lines. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. In military terms, the battle showed the tremendous advantage that armored hoplites fighting in a phalanx held over the Persians even when outnumbered, and when the former could choose the terrain for battle. [22][23], The Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had aided the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC. Credited writers for the film are: George St. George, Gian Paolo Callegari, Remigio Del Grosso, Giovanni d'Eramo, and Ugo Liberatore. Some English renderings are given in the table below. Thermopylae did not. It was a narrow pass so the massive Persian army's front line got smaller as it pushed through. We have been sent here from Sparta to defend the pass of Thermopylae. [105], Leonidas' actions have been the subject of much discussion. Cicero recorded a Latin variation in his Tusculanae Disputationes (1.42.101): Additionally, there is a modern monument at the site, called the "Leonidas Monument" by Vassos Falireas, in honour of the Spartan king. The Geographical Analysis of the Battle of Thermopylae and how it Affected the Outcome The Spartans at Thermopylae held the advantage due to the massive bluffs on either side of the pass. [105] He feared they were Spartans but was informed by Ephialtes that they were not. A well-known epigram, usually attributed to Simonides, was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae. This quiz is incomplete! [114] In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, which changed the identification of the hill on which the Greeks were thought to have died from a smaller one nearer the wall. Once the Spartan force at Thermopylae had been defeated, his route by land to Athens was virtually undefended. A narrow passage, with a cliff on one side and the sea on the other, the pass was the gateway to southern Greece. [56] According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that, "Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun", Leonidas replied, "Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them? While the bulk of the Greek army retreated, a force of 300 Spartans led by Leonidas I as well as 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians remained to cover the withdrawal. [144] Ioannis Ziogas points out that the usual English translations are far from the only interpretation possible, and indicate much about the romantic tendencies of the translators. Others refused to comply. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. Responding, an alliance of Greek city-states, led by Athens and Sparta, assembled a fleet and an army to oppose the invaders. The next day, believing that the Greeks had been significantly weakened by their exertions, Xerxes attacked again. Since Athens had the superior navy, all of the city-states paid taxes to Athens to build up their navy, so if Persia was ever to return, Athens would have a great navy and beat them. The Greeks could hide from the Persians and sneak attack them. On the north side of the roadway was the Malian Gulf, into which the land shelved gently. Leonidas' famous response to the Persians was "Molṑn labé" (Μολὼν λαβέ - literally, "having come, take [them]", but usually translated as "come and take them"). [106] Upon discovering that his army had been encircled, Leonidas told his allies that they could leave if they wanted to. [113] As the Immortals approached, the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a hill behind the wall. Marching from Asia Minor, Xerxes intended to bridge the Hellespont and advance on Greece through Thrace. The Battle of Thermopylae took place over three days. Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, A Thessalian delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe, on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance. [27] A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC, secured the lands approaching Greece, re-conquered Thrace and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia's. SourceThe Greek alliance originally wanted to confront the Persians in Thessaly, the region just to the south of Macedon, at the Vale of Tempe. With the failure of the first assaults, Xerxes ordered an attack by his elite Immortals later in the day. It was held at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ("The Hot Gates") in August or September 480 BC. The Battle of Thermopylae is a battle in September 480 BC during the Greek-Persian war (480 — 479 BC). It had the power to send envoys to request assistance and dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points, after joint consultation. As on the first day, these efforts were turned back with heavy casualties. [25] Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. And there is perhaps no better precedent for this archetype than one of the first such examples in recorded history: The Battle of Thermopylae. This battle, which is also said to have claimed two younger brothers of Xerxes, had far more psychological than military importance. Men that fight not for gold, but for glory."[167]. Prior to the battle, the Hellenes remembered the Dorians, an ethnic distinction which applied to the Spartans, as the conquerors and displacers of the Ionians in the Peloponnesus. The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between Greek and Persian forces in the Saronic Gulf, Greece in September 480 BCE. As Holland puts it, "in short...we will never know. [103] The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. [39] However, the Athenians lacked the manpower to fight on both land and sea; therefore, combating the Persians would require an alliance of Greek city-states. [168] While this anniversary will take place in 2021, the coins show the dates 2020 and 480 BC and the text "2,500 years since the Battle of Thermopylae. [110] They thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. What happened to the other city-states soldiers when they thought they were going to be defeated? This battle has been at the center of legends and myths since it took place; and for good reason. 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