Battle Of Thermopylae Essay

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. Vastly 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 could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers (Number vary). The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to
Despite the turbulent nature of Greek politics,[9] the Spartans found themselves on the same side as the newly formed Cleisthenes democracy of Athens; though they didn't just kill their heralds, as the Athenians did, but threw them into a well, answering their demand for 'earth and water' with the retort "Dig it out for yourselves".[10]
Support gathered around these two leading states. A congress met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,[11] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys asking for assistance and to dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points after joint consultation. Herodotus calls them simply "?? ???????" (the Greeks) or "the Greeks who had banded together." Sparta and Athens had a leading role in the congress[12] but interests of all the states played a part in determining defensive strategy. Little is known about the internal workings of the congress or the discussion during its proceedings, though only 70 of the approximately 700 Greek cities sent