In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass
of Thermopylae in central Greece.
Amazingly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persians for three days in one of history's most famous last stands. A small
force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I of Persia (Xerxes the
Great) could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes is believed to have betrayed the Greeks by
revealing a goat path that led behind the Greek lines.
The Greeks were represented by three hundred Spartan armed men; one thousand from Tegea and Mantinea, half from each place;
one hundred and twenty from Orchomenus in Arcadia and one thousand from the rest of Arcadia, four hundred from Corinth, two
hundred from Phlius, and eighty Mycenaeans. These were the Peloponnesians present; from Boeotia there were seven hundred Thespians
and four hundred Thebans. In the final battle, when it became clear that the Persians were going to win, most of the Greek
allies retreated but Leonidas and 300 Spartan soldiers stayed to fight. Though they knew that they must die at the hands of
the Persians, they displayed the greatest strength they had.
The Spartans were reknowned for their ferocity and for their military strength and skill. Of the Greek city-states, the Spartans
were one of the few who actually had a standing army with professional soldiers. Other Greek city states had armies composed
of citizen soldiers who would arm and equip themselves at times of war, but no real standing professional army. The Spartans
had a strict military philosophy that made them strive to be as strong and disciplined as possible and to do away with all
other distractions.
