LEONIDAS
Welcome, visitor, to Thermopylai.
LEONIDAS
My name is Leonidas.
I am a king of Sparta, but do not think me
some idle aristocrat softened by luxury.
LEONIDAS
When Spartans go to war, I stand alongside
them shield to shield, and my spear tastes
the same blood as those of my men.
LEONIDAS
Thermopylai stirs many feelings in my heart.
LEONIDAS
Rage at the Persians' arrogance.
Regret that I could not do more.
LEONIDAS
But mostly, I feel proud.
Proud of my city, -
LEONIDAS
- and of my men, who fought to protect the
very soul of the Spartan people.
LEONIDAS
For those few fateful days, they were my brothers.
LEONIDAS
I miss them all.
LEONIDAS
Thermopylai was where a courageous group of
Spartans stood amongst other Greek soldiers
and held off the forces of King Xerxes, the
Persian.
LEONIDAS
When you're done, find me, and we'll speak
more.
NARRATOR
The Persian king Darius's cries of rage echoed
for years after his humiliating defeat at
Marathon.
NARRATOR
Even after Darius's death, his son Xerxes
continued to seek vengeance against the Greeks.
NARRATOR
According to Aischylos, "Asia (was) emptied
of all its men".
NARRATOR
Greek spies brought the news of Xerxes's imminent
invasion back to their homeland.
Afterwards, many discussions were had on the
best place to mount a defense.
NARRATOR
In the end, the Greeks decided on Thermopylai.
The area featured a narrow pass that could
act as a bottleneck for the Persian army,
negating their numerical superiority.
NARRATOR
It also offered naval advantages, offering
the Greek fleets opportunities for flanking.
NARRATOR
5,000 Peloponnesian Greeks set up at a fort
near the entrance of the narrow passage, otherwise
known as the "Hot Gates".
NARRATOR
Leading them was Leonidas, a Spartan king
who prided himself on supposedly being a direct
descendant of Herakles.
NARRATOR
Leonidas was accompanied by several elite
soldiers who together made up the famous 300
Spartans.
NARRATOR
The Persian army arrived in the summer of
480 BCE, preceded by a flood of rumors regarding
their strength and numbers.
NARRATOR
It was claimed they consumed 6,000 tons of
wheat every day, and that they dried every
river and brook they passed to quench their
near-insatiable thirst.
NARRATOR
During their march to Thermopylai, the Persians
faced no opposition, and in fact increased
their numbers further by recruiting more soldiers
from other Greek cities and places like Thrace.
NARRATOR
According to Herodotos, the last count of
the Persian fleet was numbered at 1,207 boats
mounted by approximately 240,000 men.
NARRATOR
He estimates the land army, meanwhile, was
made up of more than one million men.
NARRATOR
The Greek forces at Thermopylai were heavily
outnumbered.
NARRATOR
Xerxes believed that at the sight of his massive
army, the Greeks at Thermopylai would flee
in terror.
NARRATOR
Instead, they deliberated.
The majority of the Peloponnesians wanted
to engage the Persians on the Isthmus of Korinth.
NARRATOR
Leonidas, meanwhile, believed it was wiser
to stay put in Thermopylai.
NARRATOR
While the Greek forces debated, a Persian
horseman was sent to spy on the enemy.
NARRATOR
He returned to Xerxes with surprising news:
NARRATOR
Not only were the Greeks not fleeing, but
the Spartans guarding the fort were exercising
and combing their hair - a far cry from the
fearful soldiers Xerxes expected.
NARRATOR
To increase the pressure on the Greeks, Xerxes
waited four more days, then attacked on the
fifth.
NARRATOR
The Persians faced heavy resistance and suffered
many losses, and Herodotos says Xerxes "leaped
three times from his chair, seized with fear
for his army."
NARRATOR
The following day proved to be just as difficult
for the Persian forces, and the Greeks continued
to stand their ground.
NARRATOR
The Persians seemed poised to be held at Thermopylai
indefinitely until an inhabitant from the
region came forward with information.
NARRATOR
He told the Persians of another route which
could take them around Thermopylai.
NARRATOR
A Persian contingent was sent to verify the
information.
NARRATOR
While there were Greek soldiers stationed
to guard the route, they were forced to flee
from the Persians.
NARRATOR
Thus, on the third day of the battle, the
Greeks were surrounded by their enemy.
NARRATOR
With the Persians both in front of and behind
them, the Greek forces at Thermopylai realized
they had two choices:
NARRATOR
Flee to live another day, or stand and fight
till their last breath.
NARRATOR
Most of the Greeks chose the former option,
but some stayed, including Leonidas and his
300 Spartans.
NARRATOR
For the Spartans, dying a glorious death was
one of the highest honors they could achieve.
NARRATOR
The few members of Leonidas's Spartans who
did not participate in the last stand at Thermopylai
felt that they had missed an opportunity for
honor,
and either committed suicide or continued
living under the mockery and disgust of their
fellow citizens.
NARRATOR
The Spartans' last stand was not only for
glory, though.
NARRATOR
Had they not held off the Persians, the Greeks's
retreating forces would probably have been
cut down by enemy horsemen.
NARRATOR
On the morning of the third day, King Xerxes
was assured of his victory.
NARRATOR
However, that victory did not come easy.
NARRATOR
King Leonidas himself fell in battle, and
a furious fight broke out around his body.
NARRATOR
The Spartans fought to the last man, and when
they had all been slain, Leonidas's body was
brought before Xerxes.
NARRATOR
According to Herodotos, Persians usually honored
"the most courageous warriors", even if they
were enemies.
NARRATOR
However, Xerxes was so consumed by rage at
the Spartans' resistance that instead, he
cut off Leonidas's head and ordered it impaled
on a stake.
NARRATOR
A statue of a lion was later erected on the
hill of the Spartans' last stand, in honor
of Leonidas's bravery.
NARRATOR
Though they were victorious, the Battle of
Thermopylai shook the morale of the Persian
army.
NARRATOR
They had lost thousands of men, while Greek
casualties only numbered in the hundreds,
-
NARRATOR
- and due to the sacrifice of the Spartans,
the rest of the Greek army had been able to
successfully retreat and regroup.
NARRATOR
As a result, even as Xerxes set up camp at
the foot of Athens's Akropolis, ready to get
revenge for his father's humiliating defeat
at Marathon, the Persians were more anxious
than confident.
NARRATOR
They were more aware than ever that the Greeks
did not fear them, and were ready to die defending
their land.
NARRATOR
In the end, the Battle of Thermopylai was
still a loss for the Greeks.
NARRATOR
However, the battle gave the Greeks a boost
in morale that carried them all the way to
their decisive victory over the Persians in
the Battle of Plataia in 479 BCE.
NARRATOR
With the war against the Persians finally
won, the Greeks were able to honor the sacrifice
of Leonidas and his Spartans with memorials
and poems, -
NARRATOR
- forever solidifying the glory of Sparta's
military prowess.
NARRATOR
The newfound respect for Sparta was noteworthy,
because before the war, the city was seen
as no more than a bully who forced itself
into the affairs of others.
NARRATOR
Thermopylai changed opinions of Sparta for
the better, and gave them a legitimate claim
to be one of Greece's most powerful and influential
cities.
LEONIDAS
You've finished.
LEONIDAS
I hope you understand the magnitude of the
sacrifices made at Thermopylai.
LEONIDAS
Without them, the Greek people would have
surely ended as a footnote in a Persian history.
LEONIDAS
Is there something else you'd like to do?
LEONIDAS
If you think you're ready.
Let's begin.
LEONIDAS
First question.
LEONIDAS
Who was Xerxes's father?
LEONIDAS
Cyrus ruled many years before Xerxes.
Try again.
LEONIDAS
Artaxerxes was Xerxes's son.
Keep trying.
LEONIDAS
Alkibiades was an Athenian politician.
Try a different answer.
LEONIDAS
Yes.
One of the main reasons Xerxes invaded Greece
was to get revenge for Darius's defeat at
the Battle of Marathon.
LEONIDAS
Another question for you.
LEONIDAS
Which battle is seen as the final victory
against Xerxes's Persian forces?
LEONIDAS
No.
Try again.
LEONIDAS
The Battle of Marathon took place long before
Xerxes invaded.
Try another answer.
LEONIDAS
The Battle of Salamis ended with an impressive
Greek victory, but it did not send the Persians
home.
Keep trying.
LEONIDAS
Correct.
The Battle of Plataia helped put an end to
Xerxes's invasion.
LEONIDAS
One last question.
LEONIDAS
How many Spartans fought at the Battle of
Thermopylai?
LEONIDAS
No, that would not have been enough.
Keep trying.
LEONIDAS
Thirty Spartans against an army of Persians
makes for an exciting story, but also one
that is untrue.
LEONIDAS
Try again.
LEONIDAS
No.
If that were true, we would not have lost.
Try a different answer.
LEONIDAS
Yes!
300 of us stood against Xerxes's forces.
LEONIDAS
You've done well, visitor.
I have no more questions for you.
LEONIDAS
Farewell, visitor.
