300 Spartans against the Persians. The end of the Battle of Thermopylae. Army of Xerxes and Greek militia

Commanders Tsar Leonidas I † King Xerxes I Side forces up to 6 thousand hoplites at the beginning of the battle,
500-1400 hoplites on the 3rd day approx. up to 200 thousand Losses 4 thousand killed,
OK. 400 prisoners approx. up to 20 thousand

Battle of Thermopylae(gr. Μάχη των Θερμοπυλών ) - a battle in September 480 BC. e. during the Greco-Persian war of 480-479. BC e. in the narrow gorge of Thermopylae, where a detachment of 300 Spartan hoplites heroically died, blocking the way for the Persian army of King Xerxes I.

The only reliable primary source about the feat of 300 Spartans and on which later references are based is Book VII of Herodotus. Regardless of Herodotus, the later author Ctesias of Cnidus told about the battle of Thermopylae according to Persian sources. Perhaps the work of Ctesias (surviving in the form of fragments) was used by Diodorus in his description of the feat of 300 Spartans. The rest of the ancient sources convey the already established legend with the addition of fictitious details.

background

The Greeks sent an army of up to 10,000 hoplites to detain the Persians at the distant approaches to the Peloponnese. At first, the allied army wanted to hold back Xerxes on the northern border of Thessaly with Macedonia, but then they retreated to the Isthm, the isthmus connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the Balkans. However, in this case, many Greek cities on the mainland would have been defenseless, and the army moved to Thermopylae, a narrow passage in the mountains from the region of Thessaly to Central Greece. At the same time, the Greek fleet became a barrier to the Persian flotilla at Cape Artemisia near Thermopylae.

Modern view of the Thermopylae passage at the battle site. The coastline has moved away from the mountains.

Here is how Herodotus described the Thermopylae passage:

“So, near the village of Alpeny behind Thermopylae there is a road for only one wagon ... In the west of Thermopylae, an inaccessible, steep and high mountain rises, stretching to Eta. In the east, the passage goes directly to the sea and swamps... A wall was built in this gorge, and there was once a gate in it... The ancient wall was built in ancient times and has mostly collapsed from time to time. The Greeks now decided to restore the wall and thus block the barbarian's path to Hellas. There is one village very close to the road called Alpen.

The feat of the Spartans

Modern monument to Tsar Leonidas

Of the 300 Spartans, only Aristodemus survived, who was left sick by Leonidas in the village of Alpena. Upon his return to Sparta, Aristodemus expected dishonor and disgrace. No one spoke to him, he was given the nickname Aristodem the Coward. According to rumors, another Spartan named Pantit survived, sent as a messenger to Thessaly. Upon returning to Lacedaemon (the area where Sparta was located), dishonor awaited him, and he hanged himself.

Diodorus reports the last battle of 300 Spartans in legendary form. They allegedly attacked the Persian camp while it was still dark and killed many Persians, trying in the general confusion to hit Xerxes himself. Only when it dawned did the Persians notice the small number of Leonid's detachment and threw spears and arrows at him from a distance.

After the battle

Commemorative epitaph (modern) at the site of the Battle of Thermopylae.

King Xerxes personally inspected the battlefield. Finding the body of Leonidas, he ordered to cut off his head and put him on a stake. Under Thermopylae fell, according to Herodotus, up to 20 thousand Persians and 4 thousand Greeks, including Spartan helots.

The fallen Hellenes were buried on the same hill where they took the last battle. A stone with the epitaph of the poet Simonides of Ceos was placed on the grave:

In the next 479 BC. e. the Persian army was completely defeated at the Battle of Plataea in Boeotia. In that battle among the Spartans, Aristodem distinguished himself, the only survivor of the 300 warriors of King Leonidas. He fought like a frenzy, leaving the ranks, and performed great feats only because, as the Spartans themselves believed, he was looking for death because of his guilt.

For the head of the traitor Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, Sparta announced a reward. He was then killed by a tribesman in a quarrel. The remains of King Leonidas were reburied in Sparta 40 years after his death. Residents of the city, 600 years after the battle, already in Roman times, held annual competitions in honor of the national hero. The names of all those who fell at Thermopylae were carved on the slab.

Other Battles of Thermopylae

The following battles also took place at Thermopylae:

In 279 BC e. the allied army of the Greeks stopped the Gallic invasion.
In 191 BC e. Here the Syrian king of the Macedonian dynasty Antiochus III was defeated by the Romans.

300 spartans in cinema

Based on the legendary feat, 3 films were shot in Hollywood:

Three Hundred Spartans (film) - historical film of the year with elements of melodrama. Differs from the 2007 film in relative historical accuracy (combined with unsportsmanlike figures of the Spartans).
300 (film) - film of the year, film adaptation of the graphic novel by Frank Miller, which tells the story of 300 Spartans in a fantastic treatment. It is a comic book film with stylized characters and low historical accuracy.

The Battle of Thermopylae is a battle during the war between the Persians and the Greeks, which took place in mid-September 480 BC. e.

One of the most brutal battles in the history of antiquity took place ten years after Darius sent his ambassadors to all Greek policies with a humiliating demand for obedience and recognition of the power of the Persians. "Earth and water" was demanded by the envoys of the powerful Persian king, to which almost all the cities of Ancient Hellas agreed. Only the Athenians, who executed the ambassadors, and the Spartans, who threw them into a well with an offer to get what they wanted there - both land and water, did not want to show humility. King Darius undertook an expedition to the shores of Attica, but the Persian army was defeated. After the death of the ruler, his father's work was continued by his son Xerxes.

From many peoples of the vast empire of the Persians, an unprecedentedly large fleet for that time was assembled and equipped with a powerful fleet. When the army of Xerxes set out to conquer southern Greece, the pan-Greek congress decided to follow the advice of the Athenian strategist Themistocles to confront the invaders at the Thermopylae Pass, the narrowest point in the path of the army. The calculation was correct. But in order for the battle of Thermopylae to end with the victory of the Hellenes, it was necessary to assemble a large army, which the Greek policies failed to do.

In mid-August, the Persian army appeared in front of the entrance to the gorge. The event, during which the feat of 300 Spartans was accomplished, was preceded by negotiations. The king of Sparta, Leonidas, refused the offer of Xerxes to surrender in exchange for freedom, new lands and friendly disposition.

Enraged, Xerxes ordered the allied Greek army to lay down their arms, to which, according to Plutarch, he received a worthy answer: "Come and take it." The most combat-ready detachments of the Persian army, at the direction of the king, launched an assault. Thus began the battle of Thermopylae - the battle that became the most striking episode of the Greco-Persian wars. In ancient sources, researchers give conflicting data on the number of participants in the battle. The data of modern historians on the balance of forces of the opponents and the losses of the parties are presented in the table.

For two days, the Greek soldiers managed to repel the attacks of the Persians, but Xerxes managed to make a roundabout maneuver and surround the defenders of Thermopylae. The outcome of the last battle for the Greeks was a foregone conclusion, since it was impossible to defeat the enemy army, outnumbering hundreds of times. The Greeks could only count on a glorious death on the battlefield.

It is not known for certain how many hoplites took the fight along with the Spartan king. Ancient sources indicate that there were also Thebans (who surrendered) and Thespians, who died along with a detachment, which consisted of 300 Spartans. The history of the feat of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of their native land has become a legend that has been educating and inspiring the youth of all European states for several centuries in a row.

The ruthless horde's heavy step,
Still heard in the audacious Thermopylae,
Since the mocking enemy has tested,
Spartan remarkable strength.

Dry shrubs died in the dust of the roads,
And Man held himself above death,
An inquisitive wanderer, despite the long term,
Read the message in the stone envelope.

"Go, raise to Lacedaemon,
That with honor we said goodbye to the white light.
In the hope that there will be no enemy throne,
Here to rule at the expense of the holy precepts.
Mkhitaryan Eduard

In the spring of 480 BC. e. The Persian army crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) from Asia to Europe. Xerxes personally led a new invasion of Hellas. The ruler of the Achaemenid Empire managed to gather huge forces for this purpose.
The hordes of Xerxes flooded Thrace, Macedonia and invaded Greek Thessaly. The Thessalian cities overwhelmingly surrendered voluntarily to the Persians.
The time has come for the Greek policies - members of the Hellenic Union to immediately occupy defensive lines. The original plan was to contain the onslaught of the Persians in the Tempe Gorge (in the north of Thessaly). However, this plan had to be abandoned due to the pro-Persian position of the Thessalians. The Thermopylae Pass, which was a natural border between Northern and Central Greece, was chosen as a new place for a defensive line.
Here is the testimony of Herodotus: "King Xerxes pitched his camp at Trachin in the Malian land, while the Hellenes - in the passage. Most of the Hellenes call this place Thermopylae, and the locals and neighbors call it Pyla. So, both troops stood against each other in these places " .
The Persian camp was located in the Trachinian plain. For 2500 years, the relief has changed a lot due to the alluvial sediments of the rivers. Now the width of the Thermopylae passage is from 1.5 to 5 km. In ancient times, the distance between the mountains and the sea was about 60 paces. In the place where the battle of 300 Spartans took place, the width did not exceed 16-20 meters.

Of course, there were not 300 warriors, but more than 7500 Greeks under the command of King Leonidas. However, this was a grain of sand for the Persian army of 250 thousand soldiers. The Greek army was quite motley in composition. King Leonid selected 300 selected Spartan warriors who already had children, so that not a single Spartan family would be interrupted in the event of the death of a warrior. When Leonid was persuaded to take about 1,000 soldiers with him, he said: “300 soldiers are enough to die, and 1,000 soldiers are not enough to win.”
Leonidas at Thermopylae. Painting by J. L. David 1814

At the narrowest point of the gorge they erected their fortifications. King Leonid knew about a secret path that could bring enemies here from the Trachinian plain. He left 1000 of his soldiers there to guard this territory. The main part of the Greek army occupied the narrowest place of the Thermopylae Gorge.
The Persian king Xerxes, having arrived here, first of all sends horse reconnaissance. The Persian scout literally drove into the Greek camp and was surprised that no one paid attention to him. A small number of the Spartans he saw continued to engage in daily activities: some sharpened weapons on stones, others performed gymnastic exercises, others combed their long hair, which they did not cut after the important victory for the Spartans in 495 BC.
When the scout returned, he told the king about the small number of Greeks. At that time, the former Spartan king Demarat served as an adviser to the Persian king. Once he was expelled from Sparta thanks to the slander of the brother of King Leonidas, allegedly King Demaratus was illegitimate. Out of resentment, he left Sparta and went over to the side of the Persians. So, he warned King Xerxes not to relax, for the scout saw the strongest and most courageous warriors throughout Greece. A few days later, King Xerxes offers the Greeks to surrender on the condition that everyone be left alive. To which King Leonid responds with his famous phrase: “Come and take it yourself” - (Μολὼν λαβέ).
One of the residents of a nearby town tells the Spartans that there are so many Persians that if they shoot all the arrows at the same time, these arrows will eclipse the sun. One of the Spartans utters the historical phrase: “Well, our friend from Trakhin brought us great news. If the arrows fired by the barbarians eclipse the sun, then we will fight in the shade when it's so hot all around." It was the month of August. Thermopylae (hot gate) is one of the hottest places in Greece due to the heat and two thermal springs located at the foot of the mountain.

The first attack failed, Demarat's warning was confirmed. The Greeks defended a narrow passage where it was impossible to deploy neither cavalry, nor chariots, nor archers, for which the Persians were famous. The Greek ranks in such a narrow passage were irresistible. By the end of the first day, the Persians suffered great losses, the loss of the Spartans amounted to 3 people. The second day also did not bring success to the Persians, although selected units of the "immortals" - the personal guard of King Xerxes - were thrown into battle.

Moreover, the Spartans on the second day used non-standard retreat tactics. When they retreated through the narrow space of the Thermopylae passage back, very closely closing their shields, the Persians had to stretch their soldiers in pursuit of the Greeks.

The Greeks attacked and massacred a huge number of Persians. King Xerxes became sad and thought it was time to retreat, but chance helped. A man from Thessaly appears in the Persian camp. Thessaly is known to be opposed to the southern Greeks. He points out to the king the secret Anapaean path, which leads directly to the rear of Tsar Leonid. Delighted, Xerxes sends a corps of "immortals", and at the dawn of the third day of the battle they encounter a detachment of Greeks who were guarding the passages from the Anapeia trail. Since the Persians were warned that the path was not guarded by the Spartans, they easily threw them off the mountain and sent messengers to King Leonidas, who reported that the position at Thermopylae was practically lost. However, King Leonidas decides to stay with the Spartans who survived by the third day of the battles, and he orders the rest of the soldiers to leave. A message is sent to the Greek fleet as well, so that they withdraw, since Thermopylae is practically lost. Several parts of the Greek army did not obey the order of the king, remained with the Spartans and took the last battle. All the Spartans and many other warriors were destroyed when the last demand for surrender was rejected. The Thebans raised their hands and surrendered, were subsequently enslaved. The fallen Hellenes were buried on the same hill where they took the last battle. A stone with the epitaph of the poet Simonides of Ceos was placed on the grave:
"Traveler, go erect to our citizens in Lacedaemon,
That, keeping their covenants, here we perished with bones.

Even before the start of the war, the Delphic oracle predicted that either all of Sparta or one of its kings would die during the war:
“Now I will speak to you, O inhabitants of vast Sparta:
Either your great and glorious city through the Perseid men
Will be cast into dust, otherwise - from the Heracles kind
Tears for the death of the king will shed Lacedaemon region "
2500 years later, with the help of archaeological excavations, it was possible to establish the similarities of the battle.
This is what the battlefield looks like now.

A monument dedicated to the feat of 300 Spartans was erected at the site of the battle.

King Leonidas holds a spear with an upper grip, as they held a spear in a combat position before a battle in a tight formation, which is called a phalanx.

Left and right - marble figures symbolically depict the Taygetus mountain range and the Evrotas river, symbolizing the Spartan state.

The letter on the shield of King Leonid means "Spartan state".

The relief depicts the Battle of Thermopylae, and the names of the participants in the battle are on the wreaths.

This monument was erected in honor of 700 Thespians who also participated in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Defending themselves, they died along with 300 Spartans and shared their fate. The naked male torso is an image of the God Eros. He was worshiped in the city of Thespia, which put up 700 warriors to participate in the battle.

The left wing is a symbol of the feat accomplished by the Thespians, the right broken wing is a symbol of the tragedy of the feat. The absence of a head is a symbol of the namelessness and obscurity of this feat: everyone knows about 300 Spartans, but no one remembers about 700 Thespians.

Now a valley opens from this place, which was formed due to alluvial sediments, and only in the distance is the blue stripe of the Malian Gulf of the Aegean Sea visible.
This monument reflects the significance of this battle, which is still studied in military academies, as a textbook example of when a convenient position can be successfully held for a long time by small forces against an enemy who has an overwhelming numerical advantage.
After the battle, King Xerxes ordered that Leonid's head be cut off and his body nailed to the deck of his ship. 40 years after the death of King Leonidas, his remains were reburied on the territory of Sparta. And 600 years after his death, the traveler of the 2nd century AD Pausanias tells about those games that were held in Sparta in honor of King Leonidas. The memory of this hero did not die throughout the ancient era, including during the era of the Roman conquest.
As for King Xerxes, such an act with the body of King Leonidas was non-standard. The Persians knew how to appreciate the valor and courage of others. However, the loss of 20,000 soldiers and the death of two Xerxes brothers in the battle against 2-4 thousand dead Greeks are the reasons that literally enraged the king and forced him to take such a low and blasphemous act.
Although the battle of Thermopylae was lost and the Persians captured Athens, the very example of using the advantage of the landscape in defense gave the Greeks self-confidence. And the victory was not long in coming. 3 weeks after the Battle of Thermopylae, the Greeks won a victory at Salomina. A year later, the Greeks will win a decisive victory over the Persians at Plataea.
331 BC is the end of the existence of the Persian Empire, the eternal enemy of the Hellenic culture.
In continuation of our acquaintance with ancient Greece, our path lay to Delphi.

New Delphi is located high in the mountains, at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level, on the outskirts of ancient Delphi.
The largest olive plantation in Greece - 5 million trees - is located in the area of the town of Amfisa.

In total, about 120 million grow in Greece. A year ago, a fire raged here and destroyed several tens of thousands of olive trees. The population of the town does not exceed 18 thousand people, many of whom leave in winter to earn extra money.
In the spring of 338 BC, the inhabitants of this city plowed up the territories that belonged to the Delphic oracle. In those days, this kind of act was regarded as the most cruel sacrilege. The Delphic oracle is the largest religious center and sacred place in ancient Greece. This Delphic union of Greek cities and tribes existed from the 8th century BC. 12 cities of Greece and southern Thessaly united to protect this religious sanctuary. This was the first attempt of the fragmented Greek tribes to gather into some kind of supranational formation. The Greek nation throughout its history has been fragmented. Even today, the Greeks are diverse in their ideological and political beliefs. In ancient times, this was even more emphasized. Each one is "to his own Socrates". By creating alliances on a religious and cultural basis, all differences were overcome.
The growth of Macedonian influence in the Greek world at that time was significant. The main defender of the sacred Delphi was the Macedonian king Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. As a result, the city was attacked for this offense, was destroyed, its possessions were divided among other cities, part was given to the Delphic religious center. Philip II did not stop there, he captured some cities of southern Greece. An anti-Macedonian coalition is formed against Philip, which as a result was defeated by Philip 2. Thus, Philip 2 for the first time in history manages to unite Macedonia and Thessaly into a single supranational entity. These were the long-term consequences of the fourth holy war. Wars were declared in case of violation of the parity of ancient Delphi. The first Holy War began in the 6th century BC against the city of Chris.
This small town is located on the way to Delphi at the foot of the mountain.

The inhabitants of this city decided to take taxes from all the pilgrims who come to Delphi for predictions. This was the reason for the war, given that, at times, quite rich caravans passed. For example, in 547 BC, King Croesus sent envoys to Delphi to find out if he should start military operations against the Persian Empire, which at that time was gaining strength. Between the two warring armies was the river Halys as a border, and the question of Croesus was whether it was worth crossing this river.
To receive the prophecy, he sends a large caravan of camels loaded with gold to Delphi. One of the many items is a huge golden lion figure on a white gold podium. Only the figure of a lion made of pure gold weighed 250 kg. The prophecy that Croesus received was as follows: "If you cross the Halys River, you will destroy the Great Kingdom." However, the Delphic oracle did not specify what kind of kingdom would be destroyed. And this great kingdom turned out to be the kingdom of Croesus himself. Accordingly, the war he started became disastrous for him. And his kingdom became part of the Persian Empire.
So, the war was completed by 585 BC, the city of Chris was destroyed, the territories were divided, and the Crissian plain was given to the Delphic religious center. In honor of the victory in the First Sacred War, sports competitions of the Delphic Games were established, which were held in Delphi in honor of the God Apollo. At first, only competitions were held in the art of singing to the accompaniment of the cithara, one of the sacred instruments of the God Apollo. After the First Holy War, sports competitions in wrestling and fisticuffs are introduced. And on the territory of the Crissey Plain, horse races were held. The first games of this kind were held in 592 BC.
This area is crossed by the water supply sector, which has been supplying water to the city of Athens since 1979. The capital of Greece has always suffered from a lack of life-giving moisture. The river Mornes flows in the west of Greece. First, an artificial lake with an area of 15.5 square kilometers was created. by diversion from the river. The length of the water pipeline, which was carried out, is 188 km, 15 tunnels have a length of 75 km. The technical solution of this water pipeline is unique in that in some areas the water flows under the pressure created from the bottom up.
New Delphi is such a tiny town that the bus barely fit to drop us off. And we needed two hotels.

The next morning we will meet with the Delphic oracle! I invite you too.

Probably the legend 300 spartans, who courageously resisted the numerically superior enemy army to the last breath, everyone heard. Hollywood films dedicated to this story made a lot of noise, although one should not expect historical accuracy from them. How did the legendary battle of thermopylae?

Persian warriors from the *immortal* guard. Fragment of painting from the royal palace

Persian Warriors. Palace bas-relief in Persepolis

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480 BC. e. during the Greco-Persian War. Persia at that time was a young aggressive superpower, seeking to expand its borders. Xerxes was a ruler endowed with great power, despotic and ambitious - he aspired to power over the world. He was feared, but not deified, as shown in the Hollywood movie. His appearance is also surprising - the king with piercings, hung with chains, looks, to put it mildly, strange.

King of the Persians Xerxes in the movie *300 Spartans*

The army of the attacking Persians was many times superior to the forces of the Greeks. According to various estimates, the number of Persians was from 80 to 250 thousand soldiers, the Greeks were from 5 to 7 thousand. Despite unequal forces, in the first two days the Greeks repulsed the attacks of the Persians in the Thermopylae gorge, but on the third day the course of the battle was broken. According to one version, the local resident Ephialtes told the Persians about the presence of a mountain bypass and showed him for a monetary reward, according to another, the Persians themselves discovered this path. Be that as it may, on the third day they were able to enter from the rear. The messenger warned the Spartans about this. Understanding the unsuccessful outcome of events, Leonid himself suggested that the Greeks disperse to their cities. He himself and his 300 Spartans remained.

Spartan formation

If we abandon the excessive romanticization and glorification of this decision, it becomes clear that Leonid had no other choice. Sparta had very strict laws - no one had the right to retreat from the battlefield without an order. If this happens, the Spartan will lose his civil rights, he will face shame and exile. Leonid understood that everyone would die, but he had no choice, retreat was impossible. The Spartan warrior was obliged to fight to the death, otherwise he would become an outcast in society, and he himself would wish for death, so as not to endure eternal insults and contempt.

Hoplite - ancient Greek heavily armed foot warrior

Most of the questions are the size of the Greek army. Herodotus says the following about this: “The Hellenic forces that were waiting for the Persian king in this area consisted of 300 Spartan hoplites, 1000 Tegeans and Mantineans (500 of each); further, 120 people from Orchomenus in Arcadia and 1000 from the rest of Arcadia. There were so many Arcadians. Then from Corinth 400, from Phlius 200 and 80 from Mycenae. These people came from the Peloponnese. From Boeotia there were 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. In addition, the Hellenes called to the aid of the Opuntian Locrians with all their militia and 1000 Phocians. That is, only 5200 soldiers. In addition, they had servants - helots.

Jacques-Louis David. Battle of Thermopylae, 1814

There were indeed 300 Spartans - the number of soldiers in the guard was constant, if one died, another took his place. But besides the Spartans, there were hundreds of Greeks from other city-states, totaling up to 5,000, and in the first two days of the battle they fought together at Thermopylae. But about 1000 Greeks, in particular the Thespians, remained of their own free will and after the order of Leonidas to return home. No one detracts from the merits and courage of the Spartans, but not only they died in an unequal battle that day. The losses of the Greeks in three days amounted to about 4,000 people, the Persians - 5 times more.

Probably, everyone heard the legend of 300 Spartans who courageously resisted the numerically superior enemy army to the last breath. Hollywood films dedicated to this story made a lot of noise, although one should not expect historical accuracy from them. How did the legendary Battle of Thermopylae actually take place?

(Total 11 photos)

Persian warriors from the guard of "immortals". Fragment of painting from the royal palace

Persian Warriors. Palace bas-relief in Persepolis

If we abandon the excessive romanticization and glorification of this decision, it becomes clear that Leonid had no other choice. Sparta had very strict laws - no one had the right to retreat from the battlefield without an order. If this happens, the Spartan will lose his civil rights, he will face shame and exile. Leonid understood that everyone would die, but he had no choice, retreat was impossible. The Spartan warrior was obliged to fight to the death, otherwise he would become an outcast in society and would himself wish for death, so as not to endure eternal insults and contempt.