Thermoplylae - the 300

We headed north from Kalamata to the city of Larissa in the central plain of Greece (i.e. very hot and dry, with no cooling sea breeze!). We therefore followed the path of Leonidas as he marched from Sparta to Thermopylae. It therefore seemed only right to divert from the new motorway and to stop at the site of the battle as we went past.

Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in European history. The Greeks were defeated but their legacy is the inspirational example it set due to the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass.

The battle was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae.

The Greek force of approximately 7,000 men (led by 300 Spartans) marched north to block the pass . The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million was more likely to have been some 10 to 20 times greater than the Greek numbers. After the second day of battle a local resident betrayed the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard the rear with 300 Spartans and around 1,000 others, most of whom were killed.

Simonides composed a well-known epigram, which was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound. the text is:

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
That here, obedient to Spartan law, we lie."