The Battle of Thermopylae

Ancient Sparta

Jesse                                           Carr 1
English 101
Abby Luca
11/05/10
The Battle of Thermopylae
The “Battle of Thermopylae” was an amazing battle in ancient Greece that was fought between the empire of Persia, ruled by the tyrant Xerxes, and the city of Sparta, that was ruled by the great king Leonidas. The battle took place in 480 BC at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and lasted only for a period of three days. The Greeks were faced with incredible odds and a difficult battle against the Persian army. It was king Leonidas who led a small group of the Spartan elite soldiers against Xerxes army that was numbered in the millions. The battle is an incredible story because of the amazing courage that was shown by the Greeks and their superior fighting skills that held against the vast Persian army.

The Spartans were a very proud race of men and women. They inspired the teachings of victory and triumph like no other. They were taught never to surrender and never to give up no matter what the outcome was. The soldiers were trained for a lifetime to be the greatest possible soldiers that they could be. In his writing he states: “Spartan warriors were elite fighting men. They are still praised today for their discipline, physical training, and strategic skills” (Yarbrough 1). King Leonidas showed excellent courage leading his armies into such a difficult battle “and, out of all these elite Spartan warriors rose someone who even they considered to be extraordinarily brave, and heroic. That person was Spartan King Leonidas” (Yarbrough). The king was inspiration to his men and to all of Sparta.

Statue of Spartan Warrior

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The battle itself was meant to only slow down the vast Persian army. Victory over such odds was seemingly impossible. The rest of the Spartan army could not go into battle due to the olympic games that were being held at the time. The Spartan warriors knew this and went forth into battle despite the outcome.
The Greek army “realized that it was imperative that Xerxes be delayed as long as     possible so that the Athenians could desperately build up their navy. They decided to send     and expeditionary force north to meet Xerxes, to fight the Persians at hopeless odds, and     to sacrifice themselves in order to improve the chances of ultimate victory. They decided     to take this stand at Thermopylae” (Mesopotamia). The Greek armies with their allies went to hold the Persian forces until the remainder of the Spartan army could come and aid the others in battle. This was to allow the Athenians, allies of Sparta to build their navy and attack king Xerxes to aid in the defeating of the Persians.

The Greek forces fought the battle for three days at the pass of Thermopylae. The fight was a brutal one and king Xerxes did not expect to encounter such a small number of soldiers who fought so fiercely. The Greeks fought the Persians to the death and did not show any mercy on their men. Xerxes forces suffered heavy losses throughout the entire course of the battle. He expected to be able to defeat the tiny nation of Greece without any problem and never foresaw the devastating losses his army would suffer while fighting the Spartans. Xerxes sent all the men he had at the Spartans thinking that his great number of men would be able to defeat the tiny Spartan army but the pass of Thermopylae did not allow his number of soldiers to destroy the

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Greek army effectively. The pass allowed the Greeks to be able to fight the Persians without getting flanked or overwhelmed.

Hot Springs of Thermopylae

The Spartan elite soldiers were defeating the Persian army with their tactics of battle and their usage of the land that they were on. The Persian army could not break through the defense of the Spartan soldiers and find a way to defeat them. However, on the second day of battle, a Greek traitor named Ephialtes went to the Persian king and told him of a hidden path that circled behind the Spartans and would allow him the victory he needed to defeat them. This determined the final stand of the elite soldiers by king Leonidas. He sent most of his army home before the Persians closed in around them.
“Receiving intelligence that Ephialtes and the Immortals were advancing toward the rear,     the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on Kolonos, a small hill behind the wall. The     Thebans deserted to the Persians but a few were slain before their surrender was     accepted. While some of the remaining Greeks fought with their xiphoi, some were left     with only their hands and teeth. Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill     surrounded and the Persians rained down arrows until the last Greek was dead.     Archaeologists have found evidence of the final arrow shower” (Kerasaridis). Leonidas made his final stand and defeated all he could f the Persian army before being defeated on the third day of battle.

After the Spartans were defeated the Persian army was met with the entire Spartan army and other Greek armies not long after. The Persians suffered so many losses from Leonidas then from the remainder of the armies Xerxes was forced to withdraw his army from the nation of Greece.  The body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians and was decapitated. Many years
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later the Persians returned the body of Leonidas back to the Greeks. The Greeks buried all of their dead on a hill near the battle site and built a statue in honor of their fallen soldiers.
King Leonidas and his brave elite soldiers showed much courage and inspiration to all Spartans, fellow Greeks, and people in history to come. They proved that they would not surrender nor submit to a tyrant bent on conquest trying to take over a country. The Spartans were rumored to be descendants of Hercules himself and with their lifetime of training and battle skills it allowed them to hold off the Persian army so greatly and eventually be able to defeat them. The amount of courage and sacrifice is an inspiration to all who have discovered this great story.
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Works Cited

Yarbrough, Avis. “300 Spartans: A Brief History of the Battle of Thermopylae.” 07 Mar. 2007.     Web. 08 Nov. 2010

“Battle of Thermopylae.” Ancient Mesopotamia. 01 Jun. 2010. Web. 08 Nov. 2010

Kerasaridis, Fotis. “The Battle of Thermopylae.” Web. 08 Nov. 2010

Battelfield of Thermopylae