Introduction:
It is currently 480 BC in Ancient Greece. During this time period, Greece is split apart into city-states, with Sparta and Athens being the most prominent. The story focuses on Sparta, distinguished for its military strength and warrior culture. Sparta is ruled by a diarchy, which consists of two kings, one of each from the Agaidai family and the Eurypontidai family. At this point in history, the Agaidai king is the famed King Leonidas, while the Eurypontid is King Leotychidas. Together with the help of a council of elders, the Gerousia, they rule over Sparta.
Close to Greece is the Persian Empire, ruled by King Xerxes. Separated by just the Aegean Sea, the Persians have dreamt of taking over Greece for many years, first beginning with King Xerxes’s father Darius the Great. King Xerxes is plotting a new invasion of Greece to avenge his father’s defeat a decade later.
King Leotychidas,
The Persian army is prepared to march at once. My three-hundred-thousand troops are eagerly awaiting Ephialtes’s arrival. Once he arrives we shall depart for Greece.
– King Xerxes
Dienekes,
One of my spies that I stationed as King Leotychidas’s guard brought me a letter he received from a sketchy messenger. It was addressed to Leotychidas by King Xerxes from Persia. I believe he is scheming with Xerxes to invade and conquer Greece. I will stay silent about the issue and allow the letter to get to Leotychidas, with hopes he will write a response to Xerxes that we can use to uncover information. I think he also sent a Greek citizen, Ephialtes, to Persia to aid in the march, although I do not know in what way.
I need you to help gather warriors from all of the city-states around Greece. Send messengers around that the Persians are invading. You yourself must travel to Athens and warn them of the upcoming danger. We will need their assistance if what Xerxes says is true about the size of his army. It is not just their army we need, but also their navy. Goodluck dear friend.
– King Leonidas
King Xerxes,
I am pleased to hear of the immense army you have rounded up. I hope that Ephialtes has arrived by the time you have received this letter, and is helping navigate you through the terrain. There are some whispers here around Sparta of a Persian invasion; however, Leonidas is completely in the dark. Eventually word may get around to him, but I can always help from the inside when the time is right and you are closer. I hope the journey is not too dreadful.
– King Leotychidas
My dear Pleistarchus,
It was an extremely eventful day in the throne room today. Your father found proof of King Leotychidas working with King Xerxes to conquer Greece. He put his head to the sword in the middle of the hall, with all of the Gerousia to witness. He explained to them afterwards of what he had found. At first he was unconvinced, as anyone could have forged the letter; however, he intercepted a follow-up letter written by Leotychidas to confirm his suspicions. Your father still allowed the messenger to send Leotychidas’s letter to Xerxes, in hopes he does not realize Leotychidas is dead until it is too late. Your father announced that the Persians are currently marching towards Greece at this moment and we must gather troops and prepare defenses.
You must return from your training in Corinth and join me and your father in Sparta. There is much going on now.
– Your mother, Queen Gorgo
King Leonidas,
I write to you after I acquired the aid of Athens. They are helping stop the fighting between the other city-states and unite together as one army to fight against the common enemy. Spartan and Athenian messengers are riding among the lands, amassing soldiers for battle. Athens is also preparing their navy for battle as you requested. They will soon depart and stop the Persian navy from reaching the shores. The only way to Greece now is through marching from the North. I have heard rumors of you killing Leotychidas. Is this true?
– Dienekes
Dienekes,
Yes, I did execute King Leotychidas. I did not want him to learn of my knowledge and do something abrupt.
I fear the Persians will arrive in Greece shortly. There will not be enough time to gather all of the Greek armies together. We must hold off the Persians ourselves while the rest of the soldiers strategize. Please depart for Sparta as soon as possible and bring three-hundred of the most elite Spartans. Be sure all have sons to carry on their names. Send the rest of the warriors you have recruited to Athens to help fortify defenses.
We will organize ourselves at Thermopylae. The sheer numbers of the Persian army would be too difficult for us to deal with normally; however, with the narrow pass at Thermopylae between the mountains and the sea, the army will have no choice but to thin out. We will enact a hoplite phalanx to cover the land. Our role is not to win the war, but to give the rest of the Greeks enough time to organize against our common enemy.
– King Leonidas
The Journal of Herodotus: “The Histories”
Before embarking on the journey to Thermopylae, Leonidas made his way to the Oracle of Delphi to foresee his fate. It prophesied that this battle was essential to the eventual Greek victory although in the process, he would die. Although hearing the prophecy, Leonidas did not hesitate. He proceeded to march with Dienekes and the 300 elite spartans to Thermopylae. Along the way, a few thousand other soldiers joined them including some Athenians, Phocians, Thespians, and Thebans.
The soldiers arrived at Thermopylae a few days before the Persians. They had some time to organize defenses and strategize. A scout team found a hidden pass within the mountains of Thermopylae. If the Persians discovered this, they could outflank the Spartans. Leonidas stationed a thousand soldiers to guard this pass.
Once the Persians arrived, they camped across the sea-side for four days, giving their soldiers a rest from the fatiguing hike, but also in hope of scaring away Leonidas and his soldiers from the massive army. However, the Greeks did not budge. Xerxes then sent an envoy of soldiers to demand Leonidas to lay down his arms. “Come and take them,” Leonidas responded.
With that, the battle commenced. Xerxes began by sending the inexperienced soldiers, which the Spartans easily dealt with. Following this came the rest of the army, but due to the thin pass of Thermopylae, the Persians kept attacking in small waves, which helped even out the battlefield for the much smaller Greek army. This continued for two days, with the Persians finding no strategy that could outmatch the Spartan Phalanx. They tried barrages of arrows, but those just bounced off against the Spartan shields and armor. Even their finest soldiers, “The Immortals”, had failed to disrupt the effective battle tactic.
However, on the night of the second day, the Greek traitor Ephialtes located the hidden mountain pass. With the path undiscovered, Xerxes sent tens of thousands of his best soldiers to overtake the path, hidden in the darkness of the night. On the third day they surprised the Greek soldiers guarding the path. At this point, Leonidas knew the battle was soon to be over. He allowed all the Greek soldiers to retreat back to their homes, while he and the 300 spartans remained at Thermopylae.
After most of the remaining soldiers withdrew from the battle to warn of Persia’s arrival, King Leonidas, Dienekes and the three hundred Spartans heroically prepared for their last fight. They reconvened in an open area, where they fearlessly fought to the death, killing as many Persians they could.
Following the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas, Dienekes, and the three-hundred Spartans all fell, but they did not lay down their lives for nothing. The Greek armies had enough time to unify together and defeat the Persians over the next couple of years. The Greeks caused Xerxes and his troops to retreat back to Persia.
In Sparta the diarchy between the Agaidais and the Eurypontidais ended with Leotychidas’s traitorous actions. Afterwards Sparta was ruled by just the Agaidai family, starting with Leonidas’s son Pleistarchus.
The Greek soldiers that retreated from the Battle of Thermopylae carried on Leonidas’s legacy, telling the story of the three-hundred Spartans that fought to the death for all of Greece.