Battle of Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae was a famous historical battle that took place in 480 BC, during the Greco-Persian Wars, in Ancient Greece. It was fought between a small Spartan army, under Leonidas, and the Persian invading forces, commanded by General Mardonius.

The Thermopylae was a narrow land corridor located between the mountains and the coastal region, north of Athens and Thebes. Although the Spartan hoplites were defeated after ferocious battle, they significantly delayed the advance of the Persians, giving the rest of the Greeks precious time to get military organized to successfully fight the Persians.

During the second Persian invasion of Greece, Xerxes I, king of Persia, sent his powerful army through this region to conquer Athens and other city-States of ancient Greece. In order to hold off the massive enemy forces under Mardonius, Sparta sent a small military unit, led by their king Leonidas to the narrow pass of Thermopylae. This small Greek army consisted of 300 Spartan hoplites, 270 infantry men from Sparta’s Peloponnesian city-States neighbors, and about 500 soldiers from Thebes.

Since the land corridor was very narrow, only narrow columns of Persian infantry soldiers could make it through at a time. Thus, the Persians were repeatedly killed by the highly-trained and disciplined Spartan hoplites. This is how the courageous Greeks held the pass for four days, inflicting a lot casualties on the enemy. However, the Persians discovered a short-cut, a secondary path, whose location was perhaps given by a Greek local shepherd. It was mountain trail that led the Persians to the rear of the Greek positions.

On the fourth day of battle, as he became aware that they would soon be outflanked and surrounded by Xerxes I’s Army, Leonidas decided to send the bulk of the Greek forces back to Athens, staying behind with his 300 hundreds Spartan hoplites to fight the Persians and delay their advance, fighting to the death.

Below, map of Ancient Greece, with the Thermopylae pass being marked and the most important Greek city-States.

Spartan hoplites at the Thermopylae pass (reliefs sculpted in marble)