480 B.C.

The Battle of Thermopylae

Greece

The battle of Thermopylae happened during the Persian invasion of 480 – 479 B.C. It was between the Persians and a small force of Greek soldiers. The Greeks had thrown out all their internal rivalries and decided to band together and stand against the Persian king, Xerxes, and his overwhelming forces. The Greeks chose the Spartans to lead the war due to their extreme and intense war training. The Greeks marched up to a narrow pass in­between the mountains and the sea known as Thermopylae (or The Hot Gates). There were about 300 Spartans with their king Leonidas, and 6,000 troops from the other Greek city­states. They were going up against an army of about 100,000 Persians. The Persians reached the pass, but many days had passed by before the King Xerxes sent out a scout to see where the Greeks were holding position. The scout told him that the Spartans were combing their hair and exercising. Xerxes knew to take caution because the Spartans were there to fight to the last man. The Greeks held the pass in a phalanx formation, a wall of shields and men lined up shoulder­to­shoulder. This formation and the narrow pass made it hard for the Persians to use their numbers against the Greeks. The Greeks held their ground with the phalanx and their longer spears held back the Persians. Unfortunately, there was a traitor from the Greeks who went to Xerxes and told him about this path that only the Greek locals knew about. The king sent his best men around on the path to attack the Greeks from behind. The Greeks found out that the traitor had given away the location of the path to Xerxes. The Spartans then sent most of the Greek troops home but the King Leonidas and his 300 men stayed and fought to the last man. They fought until their weapons broke and then they fought hand­to­hand­­they even used their teeth. The Persians finished the Spartans with one last huge volley of arrows.