300 spartans

[leseras]

Sure you have heard of the classical war story favourite. The 300 spartans standing at the stupid mountain pass with a phalanx formation holding out till the very end till the persians discovered a path around because of some traitor. However, has anyone though of what happened behind the scenes? To be honest, it was not 300 spartans only. I mean yes there really were only 300 spartans but there were troops from the other greek city states too. They sent more then the spartans in fact. There were some unsung heroes too. The leader of the Athenian navy was the one who saved those sorry spartan's butts. The persians could have just sailed around but who saved them? The athenians! Thats who! And remember that little path that lead to behind the mountain. It was not left empty initially. Leonidas had placed 1000 troops from a nearby town called Phocia there to prevent himself from getting flanked. However, they got scared before they fought and ran home. If you want to hate anyone, hate the Phocians. They probably caused the downfall of leonidas.
Just some interesting facts I found. Hope it was good for people who didn't know.
-leseras

[A Demented Goldfish]

Sure you have heard of the classical war story favourite. The 300 spartans standing at the stupid mountain pass with a phalanx formation holding out till the very end till the persians discovered a path around because of some traitor. However, has anyone though of what happened behind the scenes? To be honest, it was not 300 spartans only. I mean yes there really were only 300 spartans but there were troops from the other greek city states too. They sent more then the spartans in fact. There were some unsung heroes too. The leader of the Athenian navy was the one who saved those sorry spartan's butts. The persians could have just sailed around but who saved them? The athenians! Thats who! And remember that little path that lead to behind the mountain. It was not left empty initially. Leonidas had placed 1000 troops from a nearby town called Phocia there to prevent himself from getting flanked. However, they got scared before they fought and ran home. If you want to hate anyone, hate the Phocians. They probably caused the downfall of leonidas.
Just some interesting facts I found. Hope it was good for people who didn't know.
-leseras

Yes but the spartans go down in history becasue after the other greeks ran home due to being flanked by the persians, the spartans choose to stay (although they were acopenied by 1000 other troops)

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

Wait a minutes, soon you're gonna tell me that the Persians didn't have any vampire knights and that the Spartans didn't fight in their underpants either?

[leseras]

The spartans had body armour, chest plates made of bronze and helmets made of bronze too. The spartans went down in history not because they were crazy enough to stay behind. There were many other hoplites that were helping them, but once leonidas realised that he was going to lose cause of the Phocians, he ordered the rest of the greek hoplites to retreat. His 300 and 1000 other hoplites stayed behind not for glory, but to cover their retreat. It was a tactical move. He wanted to buy time for them to regroup and get fresh units so they could get new defensive spots. Leonidas was truly a wise man I would say.

[caesar_37th]

right. none of us knew that because we are idiots
1000 thespians stayed behind allong with the Spartans as a reargaurd action.

[leseras]

right. none of us knew that because we are idiots
1000 thespians stayed behind allong with the Spartans as a reargaurd action.

Not trying to be disrespectful/insultful, im just trying to post something interesting for those who don't know.

[Hader]

Not trying to be disrespectful/insultful, im just trying to post something interesting for those who don't know.

Well to be honest, I think most people who have played RTW enough would know that stuff in the first place. You hear the same stuff on the history channel shows too...

[Xerrop]

His 300 and 1000 other hoplites stayed behind not for glory, but to cover their retreat. It was a tactical move. He wanted to buy time for them to regroup and get fresh units so they could get new defensive spots. Leonidas was truly a wise man I would say.

Or maybe the other way round, his "wisdom" could also be caused by bad leadership. The Persians could have advanced too quick and cut them off.

[leseras]

Or maybe the other way round, his "wisdom" could also be caused by bad leadership. The Persians could have advanced too quick and cut them off.

Hmm thats a different perspective I never thought of. He could have been just a stupid idiot. Well some people think he stayed to fufill the prophesy about the king has to die and all.

[scougall9]

yeh! 2 hour long special about those really boring guys going on about persians making boat bridges and watching some really bad acting. =P i loved it!

[empr guy]

yeh! 2 hour long special about those really boring guys going on about persians making boat bridges and watching some really bad acting. =P i loved it!

i aslo enjoyed that program, very informative.

Lol, my high school history teacher had to spend so much time explaining to people that "300" was fake...

[Hader]

i aslo enjoyed that program, very informative.

Lol, my high school history teacher had to spend so much time explaining to people that "300" was fake...

I had to explain it to my teacher....

[|Sith| Max]

I had to explain it to my teacher....

Seriously? what kind of teacher is that? My history teacher has been doing the job for 30 years now. She aced her final exam with the maximum score. she knows everything that is not in the books, and can correct any mistake the books make. She would never make the mistake of thinking 300 to be a realistic film.

[Erdaron]

If Leonidas and allies didn't hold the pass as long as they have, naval victories wouldn't have mattered as much. Delaying Persian advance, and causing heavy casualties in the process, improved Greek odds later on. Leonidas probably understood as much. Certainly, Persians could have beat his force to Thermopylae. However, the advantage gained by holding the pass was too great. The risk was worth it.

[leseras]

I agree that the naval victories wouldn't have mattered. Its just that Leonidas might have been screwed without the navy thats all. Besides he killed, as experts estimate, tens of thousands and the estimated size of the persian army amounted to the hundred thousands. I suspect the spartans were merely there to delay them.

[Saint_jimmyz]

You forget that there were many more than 300 spartans and 1000 thespians in the pass originally. It was only after two or three days of fighting that he sent most of his troops away, and stayed there as a rearguard. So the several thousand spartans probably did kill thousands of Persians, but not as many as you see in that truly awful movie.

[Xerrop]

Well some people think he stayed to fufill the prophesy about the king has to die and all.

The problem with prophesies is that they emerge mostly after the events. That´s the only way how they could be fulfilled.

Sparta would have had a very stupid government when they let their kings (the guarantors of stability) die regulary. And remember the Athenians made a mythos out of their victory at Marathon. So the spartans needed an similar propaganda event. Why not using Leonidas who retreated too late and fought only to death because he had no other option left.

Even when we don´t know if he was a good and forecasting or just a bad commander he died in a (necessity) brave way. So the mythos of the 300 spartans could be developed.

[leseras]

You forget that there were many more than 300 spartans and 1000 thespians in the pass originally. It was only after two or three days of fighting that he sent most of his troops away, and stayed there as a rearguard. So the several thousand spartans probably did kill thousands of Persians, but not as many as you see in that truly awful movie.

Nah I didn't get the info from a movie. I think your idea about the spartan propagation is pretty logical. LOL maybe he really retreated too late. Though we have no hell way of knowing cause we weren't there to face 300thousand persians.

[Dave Strider]

Some say it's as low as 150,000 some say it's over 2 Million Persians

[|Sith| Max]

Not as much time as you are going to spend killing noob boxes because of that movie