# Battle of Thermopylae # Battle of Thermopylae ## Overview The Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE) was a famous last stand by a Greek force led by King Leonidas I of Sparta against the massive Persian army of Xerxes I during the second Persian invasion of Greece. @t[=480 BCE] ## Key Facts - Date: August 480 BCE (three days) @t[=480 BCE] - Location: Thermopylae pass ("Hot Gates"), central Greece - Belligerents: Greek alliance vs. Persian Empire - Commanders: Leonidas I (Sparta), Xerxes I (Persia) - Result: Persian victory, but costly delay [^1] ## The Battle - ~7,000 Greeks initially held the narrow pass against ~100,000–300,000 Persians (numbers debated) - Greeks exploited the narrow terrain to negate Persian numerical advantage - Betrayed by Ephialtes, who revealed a mountain path to outflank the Greeks - Leonidas dismissed most allies; ~300 Spartans, ~700 Thespians, and ~400 Thebans fought to the death ## Legacy - Epitaph by Simonides: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie" [^2] - Bought time for the Greek fleet at Artemisium and the subsequent victory at Salamis - Became the archetypal story of sacrifice against overwhelming odds --- [^1]: Herodotus, *Histories* 7.201–233 [^2]: Cartledge, P. *Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World* (2006) --- ## Review Queue - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "Date: August 480 BCE (three days)" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.201-233 (~430 BCE) [^1]; modern confirmation in Cartledge (2006) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "Location: Thermopylae pass ("Hot Gates"), central Greece" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.201 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "Belligerents: Greek alliance vs. Persian Empire" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.202-203 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: "Commanders: Leonidas I (Sparta), Xerxes I (Persia)" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.204, 7.208 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 14: "Result: Persian victory, but costly delay [^1]" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.223-233 (~430 BCE) [^1]; modern analysis in Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 17: "~7,000 Greeks initially held the narrow pass against ~100,000–300,000 Persi..." - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Greek numbers from Herodotus, *Histories* 7.202-203 (~430 BCE) [^1]. Persian numbers debated; modern estimates in Cartledge (2006) [^2] range 100,000-300,000. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "Greeks exploited the narrow terrain to negate Persian numerical advantage" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.211 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "Betrayed by Ephialtes, who revealed a mountain path to outflank the Greeks" - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.213-214 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 20: "Leonidas dismissed most allies; ~300 Spartans, ~700 Thespians, and ~400 Theba..." - when was this true? > 480 BCE event. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.222 (~430 BCE) [^1]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: "Epitaph by Simonides: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here o..." - when was this true? > Epitaph composed shortly after 480 BCE by Simonides of Ceos. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 7.228 (~430 BCE) [^1]; discussed in Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "Bought time for the Greek fleet at Artemisium and the subsequent victory at S..." - when was this true? > 480 BCE events. Attested by Herodotus, *Histories* 8.1-96 (~430 BCE) [^1]; modern analysis in Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 25: "Became the archetypal story of sacrifice against overwhelming odds" - when was this true? > Cultural legacy beginning immediately after 480 BCE and continuing to the present. Earliest attestation in Herodotus (~430 BCE) [^1]; modern cultural analysis in Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Date: August 480 BCE (three days)" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "Location: Thermopylae pass ("Hot Gates"), central Greece" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 12: "Belligerents: Greek alliance vs. Persian Empire" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 13: "Commanders: Leonidas I (Sparta), Xerxes I (Persia)" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "~7,000 Greeks initially held the narrow pass against ~100,000–300,000 Persi..." - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "Greeks exploited the narrow terrain to negate Persian numerical advantage" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 19: "Betrayed by Ephialtes, who revealed a mountain path to outflank the Greeks" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 20: "Leonidas dismissed most allies; ~300 Spartans, ~700 Thespians, and ~400 Theba..." - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 24: "Bought time for the Greek fleet at Artemisium and the subsequent victory at S..." - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[missing]` Line 25: "Became the archetypal story of sacrifice against overwhelming odds" - what is the source? > Herodotus Histories 7.201-233 [^1] and Cartledge (2006) [^2]. - [x] `@q[stale]` Line 23: "Epitaph by Simonides: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here o..." - Cartledge source from 2006 may be outdated, is this still accurate? > Still accurate. Cartledge (2006) remains a standard reference. The underlying historical facts are well-established.