SPARTANS: ELITE WARRIORS OF ANCIENT GREECE

Barry C. JacobsenDEADLIEST BLOGGER

"For the Spartans, it wasn't walls or magnificent

public buildings that made a city; it was their own

ideals. In essence, Sparta was a city of the head and

the heart. And it existed in its purest form in the

disciplined march of a hoplite phalanx on their way to

war!" - Bettany Hughes, Writer/Historian

Sometime around 1000 B.C., a handful of Dorian-Greek villages in the valley of

theEurotas in the southern region of

the Peloponnese called Laconia (or Lacedaemon), joined to form a single city-

state (“polis”), called Sparta. In time, Sparta became the leading Dorian city in

Greece. For a variety of reasons, by the 7th century B.C., Sparta had developed

into a unique political entity, one entirely devoted to the arts of war.

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION

Under the constitution established by the legendary Spartan

lawgiver, Lycourgos, all Spartan males were trained to one purpose: to become

the best soldiers in the world. While others worked their land, every Spartan

male had but one profession, the practice of arms.

This constitution, the “Great Rhetra”, was more than a set of laws or penal

codes. It encompassed all aspects of the Spartan life. The Great Rhetra not only

established the various branches of the Spartan government, and the

enumerated the powers of each; it told the Spartan how to conduct their lives.

These laws dictated the education of boys and girls. They told the Spartans the

proper way to speak (in short, pithy, sarcastic sentences; the style of which

came to be called “Laconic”); how they must wear their beards (without

mustaches) and their hair (long, it being said that long hair made a handsome

man handsomer; and made an ugly man look fierce!).

Statue of Lycourgos the Lawgiver, in modern Sparta

The Rhetra was designed to produce, by 20 years of age, a Spartan citizen ready

to take his place in this unique, warrior society. The history of Sparta is an

experiment in utopia; a perfect society comprised of supermen and women.

THE SPARTAN GOVERNMENT

Sparta was the world's first constitutional government; composed of

separate branches, each placing checks-and-balances upon the other.

At the top were two royal families. The senior was the Agiad, the junior

theEurypontid; both of which traced their lineage back to the semi-mythical

hero, Hercules. One or the other was expected to lead the Army in time of war;

while the other remained back in Sparta.

Representation of the two kings of Sparta, armed for war. Behind them

is the Dokana, symbol of the Immortal Twins, Castor and Pollux;

patron-heroes of Sparta. To the right is a member of the Royal Guard,

the Hippias

The role of the kings was both religious and symbolic. They were figure-heads

politically, though treated with great respect. Though they could propose laws,

the Spartan kings had no executive authority: that was reserved to the Ephors.

The Ephors were five annually elected magistrates; and were forbidden to stand

for reelection. They provided a balance for the two kings, who they rarely

cooperated with. They could, in fact, bring the kings up on charges of

malfeasance.

The senior law-making "house" was the council of elders, the "senate", called

theGerousia. It consisted of 30 members in total: the two kings plus 28

respected elders, 60 years of age or older. It could propose laws or lay aside

those laws passed the people it deemed "crooked".

“If the people speak crookedly, the kings and the elders shall be

setters-aside.” -The Great Rhetra

The junior "house" of the Spartan legislature was the "Apella". This was

the popular assembly of all Spartan males 30 years of age or older. They

could not propose new laws; but were required to pass or deny all laws proposed

in the Gerousia.

In this fashion, the Kings led Sparta in war; the Ephors ran the day-to-day affairs

of Sparta, and acted as a check the power of the kings; the Gerousia proposed

laws and acted as a check on the ephors; and the Apella represented the will of

the Spartan people, and checked the power of the Gerousia.

This system proved incredibly durable and stable. Unlike all other Greek city-

states, the Spartan system indured in largely this fashion with little civil strife

throughout the Classical Age.

THE UPBRINGING OF SPARTAN BOYS

Throughout his life, a Spartan was tested to see if he had "the right stuff" to be

considered one of these elite supermen. The first test of a Spartan citizen

started was at the child’s birth; when the newborn was inspected by the Ephors.

When a Spartan mother gave birth, the father called the Ephors to examine the

child. If it were found to have any deformities, the child would not be permitted

to live: only perfect specimens were fit to become Spartans. A baby found

wanting was taken to a spur of Mount Taygetos, and cast into a gorge. (In recent

years scholars debated the fate of these infants and the practice of infanticide.

Instead, it has been proposed that such infants were merely left on the

mountainside, with the possibility of adoption by passing shepherds or peasant

families. )

At the age of seven years, Spartan boys were taken from their mothers, and

enrolled in the Spartan military education system, called the Agoge ("the

rearing"). For the next thirteen years, the boys were systematically trained to be

Spartans. Only royal princes in direct line to inherit one of the two Spartan

throne were exempt from the Agoge.

The boys were under the direction of an official called

the Paidonomos (literally, the “Boy-Herder"!), whose job it was to oversee the

Agoge. This education focused on discipline, endurance, and on inuring the boys

to all forms of privation and suffering. They were taught wrestling and weapons-

handling; to throw javelin and discus, racing and leaping! Trained from boyhood,

the Spartans won more laurels in the ancient Olympic games than citizens of

any other Greek city-state.

The boys slept outdoors, all year around, by the banks of the Eurotas; cut-reeds

their only bed. Each had a single woolen cloak, issued at the start of each year,

to keep them warm in all weather. For food they were expected to forage in the

countryside, stealing what they couldn’t hunt; a valuable skill for soldiers on

campaign in foreign lands. However, while successfully stealing food was

rewarded, a boy who was caught in the act was whipped: only failure was

unforgivable in Sparta.

The boys also learned music and dance, which had military applications. (It was

said that the Spartans were the most musical people in Greece). Spartans

perfected the so-called "Pyrrhic Dance", the armed dance of the Greek warrior!

Performed in tight formation, this dance taught the Spartans foot work and to

operated in close-order with other warriors, as a single unit; invaluable in

phalanx warfare.

The Pyrrhic Dance, the armored war dance used by the Spartans to

teach their boys footwork

Along with the girls, Spartan boys performed complicated corral dances during

the frequent religious festivals (the Spartans were a pious people), and for these

even the maidens danced nude. Like all Greeks, the Spartans had no nudity

taboo, and these dances gave boys and girls both the means to perfect their

physical forms, and the forum in which to show them off!

By the time a boy graduated from this unbelievably harsh training, at 20 years

old, he was ready to take his place amongst the toughest and most disciplined

fighting force the world has ever known.

However, before he could call himself a Spartan, he had to overcome one more

hurdle: acceptance into a military mess (“sussition”). These military messes

were more than a dining facility. They were both barracks and mess-hall, in the

modern military sense. But they were actually more a combination of the

modern college fraternity with the Victorian Age's Gentleman's Clubs. In fact, it

is thought that they developed from the more ancient Greek institution of the

phratra, or “Brotherhood”; which in Latin is translated as “Fraternity”.

A Spartan youth who failed to gain acceptance into a sussition could never

become a full-fledged Spartan.

THE EQUALS

Once graduated from the Agoge, and accepted into a military mess, a young

Spartan took his place in the ranks of the Spartan army. However, he would

have to wait another decade before gaining the full rights of a Spartan citizen.

At age 30 a Spartan male was finally counted among the ranks of

the “Spartiates”,the fully enfranchised Spartan warriors.

These Spartiates were an elite few (never more than 5,000 at Sparta’s greatest

period of prosperity), and once attained a Spartan took his place in the

assembly of the people, the “Apella”. There he met with his fellow “Equals”

(Homoioi ), other full-fledged Spartiates, to vote "yay" or "nay" to all

measures proposed by the Gerousia.

Every Spartan male was allotted a portion of land upon which to support himself

and his mess. These plots, called kleroi, were actually granted to the Spartan

whilst still a child by the elders of his phratry (this from Plutarch, implying that

the phratrys, or Brotherhoods, inducted members at a very young age; likely

upon a hereditary basis.). The Spartans did not actually work their own kleroi,

however, as their time was devoted to learning and practicing the arts of war.

Instead, the land was worked by a slave/serf class called helots (see below).

THE SPARTAN ARMY

The Spartan Army (Stratos) was the finest fighting force in the Greek world for

three hundred years. It was composed of all adult Spartan males, organized into

companies (Enomotia), battalions (Lochoi), and regiments (Mora). At the peak of

their power, the Spartan army was composed of six such regiments/mora.

In their companies and battalions, the Spartan hoplites formed a dense,

compact battle formation called a phalanx. The phalanx was drawn up in files of

6 to 12 men deep. Each man stood close enough to his neighbors to overlap

their shields, presenting their enemies with an unassailable front of brazen

shields and thrusting spears.

One of Sparta’s two kings always commanded the Spartan army on campaign;

though on occasion smaller expeditions could be commanded by one of the

senior officers commanding the moras, the polemarchs.

Such was the reputation of the Spartans when it came to war, that other cities

would petition Sparta to send them a single Spartan, to lead their own forces as

their general!

During the Peloponnesian War, in response to appeals from the Sicilian city

ofSyracuse for help against the besieging Athenians, Sparta sent but one

Spartiate:Gylippus. He quickly took charge of the Syracusan defenses, and in

short order turned the tide of war against the hitherto successful Athenians. The

siege of Syracuse ended in utter disaster for Athens and triumph for the

Syracusans; in no small part because of the leadership provided by a single

Spartan!

SPARTAN ARMS AND ARMOR

Every Spartan was trained to fight as a heavily armored infantryman, called

ahoplite (“man-at-arms”).

The heavy equipment of the hoplite weighed between 40 and 60 pounds. Shield,

armor, and weapons were collectively known as a panoply.

The first piece of a Spartan hoplite’s panoply was his large, deeply dished round

shield, called an aspis. This shield was made of wood and covered with a thin

sheet of bronze. It covered the hoplite from chin to thigh. The young Spartan,

upon entering service in the Spartan phalanx, was given his first shield by his

mother; with the words, “With this, or upon it!” By this his mother meant for him

to come back with his shield, victorious; or carried home upon it, dead (Spartans

used their shields as stretchers, to transport the wounded or dead). The

Spartans put maximum importance on team work and maintaining their phalanx

formation in battle. Therefore, the shield was considered the premiere piece of

hoplite equipment; as a shield protected both the bearer and those around him.

To abandon his shield in battle was the most shameful thing a Spartan could do!

Spartan hoplite and panoply, circa 650 BC

The hoplites defensive equipment was augmented with a bronze helmet; a set

of bronze greaves (shin and knee protection); and a cuirass (torso protection)

made either of glued layers of linen (or leather covered in linen) or of bronze.

The hoplite’s large aspis covered his arms and thighs so well that armor for

these areas was considered unnecessary.

The Greek offensive weapon par excellence was the spear (“dory”). The

hoplite’s spear was made from a hardwood shaft, varying in length between

seven and nine feet. Its iron head and sturdy shaft made it an excellent weapon

for inflicting a deep and mortal wounds. The favorite targets were the exposed

throat and thighs of enemy hoplites; and the dory could even penetrate the

cuirass and helmet’s faceplate on occasion. Against the lighter shields and

armor of foreign, non-Greek foes the hoplite spear proved even deadlier; easily

penetrating the wicker shields of the Persian infantry Immortals during

the Persian Wars.

As a backup weapon, the hoplite also carried a sword. In the Greek world, this

varied in type, some shorter or longer, for cutting or thrusting. The two chief

types were theXiphos was the double edged strait sword; while the Kopis was

the forward-curving hacking sword. The Spartans used a very short version of

the Xiphos, not much more than a broad dagger. In the very close-in combat of

phalanx warfare, where hoplites stood toe-to-toe, pushing with shield against

shield, a shorter sword was both handier and deadlier. (When a Spartan youth

complained to his mother about the shortness of his sword, she replied, “Add a

step to it!”)

By the late 5th century B.C., the Spartans had largely abandoned both greaves

and cuirass: the exigencies of long campaigns far-a-field from Lacedaemon

emphasized the need for lighter gear. Pitched battles were few and seldom, and

for these the shield provided most of the hoplites protection in any case.

HELOTS and PERIOIKOI

Some time around the 8th century B.C., Sparta began to expand; conquering

many of its neighbors. Within a century, much of Southern Greece, the

Peloponnese, had become either Spartan territory or allies of the Spartans.

Those people who were subjugated outright by the Spartans during this period

were reduced in status to that of a serf; or, in the Doric dialect, helots (from

“Hel”, implying seizure or capture). These helots lived in their own agrarian

villages, working the land for their Spartan masters, and giving half of whatever

was produced to the Spartans.

The population of Spartan helots was quite large, encompassing many villages

in Laconia (the greater Eurotas river valley); and the whole of the southwestern

region of the Peloponnese, called Messenia. In a series of long and bitter wars,

the Spartans subjugated the Messenians, reducing the bulk of them to helotry (a

small portion fled Greece proper and established the city of Messenia, in Sicily;

where they could live in freedom).

]

View of “Hollow Lacedaemon” from the north near Sellasia; modern

Sparta can be seen in the distant middle-left, with Mount Taygetos

snow-capped on the upper-right (taken by author 1997)

Not all towns and villages around Sparta were reduced to servitude. Another

class of sub-citizen existed in Lacedaemon (the “Land of the Spartans”), with a

high degree of local autonomy. These were called perioikoi; or “dwellers

around” (meaning “around” Sparta). These villages had thrown their lot in with

Sparta as friends and allies early in the city's history; guaranteeing in the

process their safety from Spartan aggression.

Perioikoi lived in relative freedom from day-to-day interference by the Spartan

government. They were allowed, however, no independent foreign policy.

When Sparta went to war, the perioikoi were expected to contribute their own

hoplites to the Spartan army. In fact, as Sparta’s population dwindled

dangerously in the 4th century B.C., perioikoi hoplites were included into the

Spartan phalanx proper; serving under and beside the elite Spartiates.

THE KRYPTEIA

At age 18, Spartan youths underwent a selection process. Those who during

their years within the Agoge had shown the greatest promise were chosen for

membership in an elite group: The Krypteia.

Though the name means something akin to Secret Service, this instrument of

the Spartan government is best thought of as a Special Operations Command.

The overt mission of the Krypteia was to spy out and eliminate covert threats to

the Spartan state. Particularly, the young men were to identify and then

eliminate any threat of helot revolt.

Even the possibility of revolution among their serfs had to be squelched before it

could become reality. To this end, the Spartan government would each year

“Declare War” against its own helots; thus sanctioning the Krypteia to kill any

helot it thought necessary without incurring the guilt of murder.

Young Spartans of the Krypteia would routinely spy on the helots in their towns

and villages. Troublemakers were marked down for later liquidation. Even helots

who showed enough leadership qualities to constitute a future threat were

likewise assassinated. Only a docile helot was acceptable to the power-that-be

in Sparta.

But murder was not in-and-of-itself the main purpose of the Krypteia as an

institution. For that, any group of Spartan hoplites would have been sufficient.

No, the real purpose for the Krypteia was to prepare the best of Sparta's youths

for the cold-blooded realities of Spartan leadership; to ready them for command

and the highest offices in a state devoted to war and, in the final analysis,

oppression!

Only Spartans who had been selected for service in the Krypteia could expect to

rise, later in life, to the highest ranks and offices in the Spartan Army and state.

Only those who at a young age had spilled the blood of Sparta’s enemies were

deemed fit to eventually lead her.

NEXT: THE PERSIAN WARS

"For the Spartans, it wasn't walls or magnificent

public buildings that made a city; it was their own

ideals. In essence, Sparta was a city of the head and

the heart. And it existed in its purest form in the

disciplined march of a hoplite phalanx on their way to

war!" - Bettany Hughes, Writer/Historian

(For Part One, go here)

THE PERSIAN WARS

Sparta’s finest hour came in the early 5th century B.C., when Persia, the greatest

empire that the Ancient World had yet produced, launched two separate

invasions of Greece and Europe.

The Persian Empire had been founded by Cyrus the Great in the 6th Century B.C.

Under Cyrus and his successors, this empire had devoured all the other states of

the Middle East. By the dawn of the 5th century, the Persian Empire covered an

expanse of land that stretched from Libya in the west, to India in the east. Its

northern borders rested on the edge of the vast Eurasian steppes; its southern

on the Indian Ocean. In the west, the Persian Empire bordered on the Aegean

Sea; across which it eyed the turbulent, independent city-states of Greece with

suspicion and disdain.

In 546 B.C., the Cyrus the Great had incorporated the Greek cities along the

Aegean coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) into his empire. But in 500-499

B.C., these Greek cities of Ionia had rebelled against Persian rule. In this the

rebels were aided by the Ionian “mother city”, Athens; and the small city of

Eretria, on the island of Euboea. The revolt was short lived; but Persian memory

was long.

In 490 B.C., Darius I (called “the Great”) dispatched an expeditionary task force

under Datis and Artaphernes to punish Athens and Eretria. The size of the force

has at times been exaggerated, but was likely around 50,000 men. It was

transported across the Aegean by a substantial fleet of warships.

The Persians quickly overcame and destroyed Eretria. The force was then

landed at the beach of Marathon, only 25 miles from Athens.

The Spartans received a request from Athens for aid, but at that moment the

Spartans were in the midst of a religious festival, and would be delayed till its

completion, many days later.

So with only the 10,000 hoplites of their own city (plus a minor contingent from

the nearby town of Plataea), the Athenians engaged the Persians on their own at

Marathon.

The Battle of Marathon showed the world for the first time the inherent

superiority at close-quarters fighting of Greek hoplites over the lighter armed

archers of Asia. The Persian Army, despite its numerical advantage, was routed

and thrown (literally!) back into the sea.

Ten years later, Darius’ son and successor, Xerxes, launched a second invasion.

This one was far, far larger in size and scope than his father’s. Darius had sent a

punitive expedition; Xerxes led an invasion, the purposes of which was to bring

the free city-states of Greece into “the fold” of the Persian Empire.

To this end Xerxes massed an army of immense size, drawn from the farthest

regions of his vast empire. It included not only Persians, Medes, and Elamites,

the "first races" of the Perisan Empire; but contingents levied from the far-flung

corners of the empire and from beyond its fringes. Scythians from the steppes of

what is now the Ukraine marched in line with warriors from far southern

Ethiopia. Contingents from distant Bactria (Afghanistan) served with Ionian

Greeks from the Asian coast. The Greek historian Herodotus, who lived through

and wrote shortly after the Persian Wars (as the Greeks came to call them),

claimed that the Persian host numbered at over one-million fighting men.

However, most modern scholars believe the number to be between a quarter to

a half as much as Herodotus assumed. Even so, it was an army so large that it is

reputed to have drunk whole rivers dry as it passed!

Across the approximately one mile wide Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) a

pontoon bridge was erected. Made of several hundred biremes and triremes

lashed together and supported by several hundred tons of flax and papyrus

cable, it supportd a packed-earth road overwhich the Persian horde marched,

dry-footed, from Asia into Europe. This was a major engineering

accomplishment, the likes of which would not be seen till modern times.

The Thracians and Macedonians submitted to the Persians without a fight, giving

tokens of "earth and water"; symbols of obeisance to the Great King's authority.

The way was clear for Xerxes to march into Greece unmolested.

The Greeks took council at Corinth, to decide how best to meet this deadly

threat. After much debate, it was decided to dispatch an expeditionary force

toThermopylae (the "Hot Gates”), a spot along the coast where the mountains

come down to the sea, creating a narrow passage.

The battlefield at Thermopylae, looking from in front of the Phocian

Wall toward the narrow West Gate. The ancient shoreline has been

restored.

Though Thermopylae was not the only way the Persians could enter central

Greece, it was the only practical way. The vast Persian host was far too large to

feed itself on what it could carry, drag along, or steal from the surrounding

country as it passed. It relied on the fleet to carry or transport from Asia enough

stores to supply it as it marched south into Greece. Therefore, the army must

hug the coast, maintaining close contact with the equally vast armada Xerxes

had levied from his subject-states throughout the eastern Mediterranean. And

the coast road ran through Thermopylae!

THE LION AT THE HOT GATES

It was decided at Corinth that the Spartans would lead in this war to save

Greece from Persian domination. Therefore, the leader of the expedition to

Thermopylae would be one of the two Spartan Kings.

The ephors and kings took council, and consulted with the Oracle of Apollo at

Delphi. The“Pythia” returned a disturbing prophecy: either Sparta, or a

Spartan king, must perish! (For Athens, the Oracle’s prophecy was even more

terrifying: “Flee, doomed men, to the ends of the earth!” However, upon

“further review”, the Oracle modified the prophecy, adding that Athens would

find salvation in her “wooden walls”. The meaning of the latter was taken by

some leading Athenians, particularly her statesman, Themistocles, as meaning

that Athens' fleet, made of wood, would provide the wall of salvation between

her and the Persians.)

Idyllic Delphi, site of the Oracle. It was here the Greeks came to learn

their future from the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo.

At last it was decided that King Leonidas, of the senior branch of the monarchy,

the Agiad, would lead a picked band of 300 Spartans, to the pass of

Thermopylae; to spearhead and command a relatively small Greek advance

guard of some 7,000 hoplites to be posted there. Each of Leonidas’ 300 was

chosen for two attributes: first, that they were men of proven valor; and second,

that they all had living sons to take their place, should they fall! These were not

the lean, muscled young men portrayed on-screen. Considering that a Spartan

was not allowed to marry till he was 30 years old; and that “living sons” would

likely mean grown or nearly grown young men, then the picked 300 Spartans

were men in their 40s and 50s. Leonidas, born in the 540s, was himself a

vigorous man in his 60s at the time of Thermopylae!

Late in the summer of 490 B.C., Leonidas and the 300 marched north to the

pass, taking their station at the head of the allied force.

Statue of Leonidas at Thermopylae. While no contemporary statue of

the brave Spartan king exists, this modern one conveys an impression

true to what we know of this, Sparta's most famous ruler!

Religious festivals and the coming Olympic Games kept the Greek states from

immediately mobilizing their strength. It can also be speculated that in every

Greek polis there were men in positions of influence who were pessimistic

regarding resistance; and were simply hedging their bets, unwilling to commit

too much of their manpower resources to trying to stop the seemingly

unstoppable. Therefore few troops from other cities came to join the Spartans at

Thermopylae. In all, some 7,000 Greek hoplites and skirmishers would comprise

the defenders at the Hot Gates.

Though they brought only 300 out of the force of 7,000, the Spartans and their

king took command over the whole. One of the allied commanders, a Phocian,

questioned the Spartan’s right to leadership; when their contribution to the

coalition was so small. Leonidas asked, “How many soldiers did you bring,

friend?”

The Phocian replied, “We came with 1,000”.

Leonidas then asked him what he did for a living under normal circumstances.

The Phocian, replied, “I am a potter”.

Leonidas turned to another Phocian standing beside his command. “What do

you do, friend”? I am a farmer, this one answered.

Leonidas asked each of the Phocians standing nearby, and each gave a similar

answer to the first: they each had a “civilian” occupation.

The Spartan king finally gestured towards his men, busy oiling their armor and

sharpening their weapons.

“Well”, Leonidas pointed out, “I bring 300 soldiers”.[1] Every Spartan was a

soldier, a professional, every day of the year, in war or peace.

_________________________________________________

When the Persian hordes arrived and camped on the plain of the Spercheios

River, at the northern end of the Thermopylae pass; Xerxes had his tent set up

on a hilltop with a view of the pass. From there he could sit his high throne and

observe his warriors when they advanced into the narrow neck of the

pass.Looking down, he saw what he thought, in the distance, were women

sitting on stones, combing their hair. Standing beside Darius was a Spartan

traitor: their exiled former king,Demaratus.

“Those are no Amazons”, warned Demaratus; “they are the Lacedaemonians

(Spartans), your majesty: My own people, the bravest warriors in the world.

They wear their hair long by law; for in Sparta long hair is considered to make a

handsome man look even handsomer; and an ugly one look fierce!

“They comb their hair before going into battle. For the Spartans go into battle as

joyfully as other men go to a feast.”

Xerxes sent a herald forth to demand that the Spartans surrender. He warned

the Greeks that resistance was futile; that the Great King’s army was so vast,

“their arrows would blot out the sun”.

Dienekes, a Spartan officer who would later be esteemed by the Spartans as the

most valiant man to fight in the battle to come, quipped back to the Persian

herald, “All the better. Then we shall fight in the shade!”

The herald, astonished at this insolence, demanded one last time that the

Spartans lay down their arms.

Now Leonidas responded: “Molon Labe!”

This, in Greek, meant: “Come and take them!”

_________________________________________________

The pass of Thermopylae was divided by three so-called “gates”. The narrowest

section of the pass, where Mount Kallidromos pressed closest to the sea was the

“West Gate”. This was the entrance through which the Persians must pass to get

at the Spartans.

Beyond the “West Gate” the pass opened up to a plain wide enough for fifty

men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. It was here, in front of a ruined wall built in

the past by the local Phocian people, that Leonidas planned to fight his battle.

East of the Phocian Wall was the Middle Gate, and a mound which would later

play a part in the battles final chapter. Past these was the East Gate, terminus of

the pass of the Thermopylae.

That afternoon, the Great King watched from his high throne as his first division,

theMedes, funneled through the narrow West Gate.

The second people of the Empire, this division of the army gave pride-of-place

only to Xerxes own Imperial Guard, the Immortals. The Medes entered in their

battle splendor, stepping proudly in their long flowing embroidered robes and

trousers; cuirasses of bronze scale girding their bodies, shields of wicker and

short spears competing their panoply.

Supporting the Medes in this initial assault were the Cissians, another proud

people of the empire; differing from the Medes only in that they wore turbans

instead of the bullet shaped, Assyrian-style helmets of the Medes.

These two divisions together numbers 20,000 troops. But Xerxes was to

discover that though he had untold number of troops, he had few men!

On the plain in front of the Phocian Wall, the Spartan phalanx stood waiting,

drawn-up 12 ranks deep. Leonidas allowed the Medes to enter through the

narrows, between cliff and sea. But once their vanguard began deploying in

front of the phalanx, advanced with locked-shields; closing rapidly with the

Medes before their arrows could have much effect.

However brave, the Medes’ lighter shields and shorter spears were no match for

the great bronze-covered aspis and long thrusting spears of the Spartans. While

the armor and shields of the Spartans would turn or blunt their enemy’s blows,

Greek spears pierced both wicker shields and scale cuirass of the easterners.

Never before had these men of the Empire faced a foe so heavily armed; nor so

trained in close-quarter combat. All of their experience was against foes who

fought like themselves: at a distance with barrage of arrow or javelin; only using

the spear as a last resort, or to close and finish an enemy weakened by their

arrow storm.

But the Greek style of war proved its superiority that day, again confirming the

verdict of Marathon: that the Greek method of war was by far the deadlier. It

was one which distilled warfare down to its essence; to close with the enemy

and butcher him where he stood!

The Spartans showed on that day what a life-time’s training in arms could do for

a warrior. Though the battle raged all throughout that morning and into the

afternoon, the Spartans never fatigued; nor did their courage flag. Several times

Leonidas gave the command to fall back, and the Spartans would feign flight, as

though finally panicked into fleeing. The Medes and Cissians would break ranks

and give chase, falling for the ruse; only to have the Spartans turn about upon

them, reforming instantly their bristling phalanx of spears and locked-shields.

The carnage would then be especially terrible for the surprised and disordered

Medes!

Seeing his first efforts come to naught, Xerxes recalled the bloodied Medes late

in the day. To Hydarnes, commander of his elite Immortals, he now gave the

command to clear the pass of these pesky Spartans; bringing back only a few

survivors to be displayed in cages, as one does captured lions, throughout Asia!

Instead, to the Great King’s shock and horror, the Immortals received the same

rough handling the Medes had been dealt! Three times Xerxes leapt up from his

throne in terror for the fate of his soldiers; as they fell in droves beneath the

Spartan’s spears. Others were driven back upon the ranks behind them,

bumping these in turn back towards the narrowest section of the pass, where

the sheer press caused many to fall into the sea and perish.

The sun set that first day at Thermopylae with the Spartans still in possession of

the pass; and the Persian host shaken and demoralized.

The second day went much like the first, with division-after-division of the

Persian host entering the pass. All met the same fate as those who’d come

before.

The Spartans were "spelled" from time-to-time by the other Greek contingents.

Many had by this time succumbed to wounds or fatigue; and not a Spartan still

alive was free of wounds. But they held the pass, and for every one that fell

twenty of the foeman fell first.

That evening, Xerxes despaired of ever budging the Spartans from the Hot

Gates. There was fear among his officers that if he continued to order them to

what surely seemed suicide against the Greeks holding the pass, he risked

mutiny; especially among soldiers of the disaffected subject nations.

At that darkest moment, a Greek entered the Persian camp with information to

sell. This traitor, named Ephialtes of Trachis, was a "local" who knew the

surrounding hills. He offered (for a price!) to show the Great King’s troops a way

around Thermopylae, by a hidden trail through the hills which would bring the

Persians behind the Spartan position.

That evening Hydarnes and the remaining Immortals followed the traitor along

this narrow goat path. Up and over the girding mountains beside The Hot Gates,

till dawn found them descending again toward the sea. But now they were to the

east of the pass, behind the defenders and threatening to cut off their retreat.

Unlike Xerxes, Leonidas was aware of the threat this path posed to his position

in the pass. He had posted a force of Phocians in the hills along this track, to

guard against such an eventuality. However, seeing the mass of Immortals

descending toward their position, the Phocians loss heart and withdrew into the

hills; allowing Hydarnes’ force to continue on.

From the 1962 film, 300 Spartans: Hydarnes and the traitor, Ephialtes,

lead the Immortals through the mountains behind the Spartan position

in the pass.

Word of Hydarnes’ movement reached Leonidas at his station in the pass. The

Immortals were still in the hills, winding their way down, and the retreat road

back south not yet blocked. Realizing that the defense of Thermopylae was no

longer tenable, Leonidas dismissed the other Greek contingents, sending them

home. Greece would need them alive to fight another day.

For the Spartans, there could be no retreat.

Their pride and reputation would not allow it. Further, they had been ordered to

hold the pass at all costs; till reinforce or dead. As no reinforcements had

arrived, Leonidas and the survivors of the original 300 were prepared to obey

their orders, and die defending the Hot Gates.

Every Spartan spent his life in search of one thing more than any other: Kalos

Thenatos, the "Beautiful Death" in battle. Here was the perfect time, the

perfect place to leave an immortal name!

In any case, a rearguard must delay the Persians, allowing the rest of the Greek

forces to withdraw un-pursued by the Persian cavalry.

It should also be remembered that Leonidas was himself aware of the Delphic

Oracle’s prophecy: that either Sparta or a Spartan king must die! To save

Sparta, he was prepared to sacrifice himself as had kings of old; to propitiate the

gods with his own royal blood.

With the Spartans remained two other Greek contingents: those of the city of

Thebes, and that of another Boeotian town, the Thespians. The Thebans were

suspected of harboring pro-Persian sentiments (joining the Persians was referred

to as “Medizing”); and the Thespians begged to be allowed to stand with the

Spartans to the end. All would subsequently give their lives that day to buy time

for their comrades to escape.

Leonidas bid all remaining to eat a good breakfast that morning; for by evening,

they would all be dining in Hades!

At mid-morning, Xerxes ordered a frontal attack on the pass. Leonidas, knowing

that Hydarnes and the Immortals would soon be coming up from behind them,

ordered the Greeks forward to meet them and find death bravely.

Herodotus says that here, during these final hours, the carnage was at its worst

and the dead beyond counting. The dispirited Persian soldiers were driven

forward with whips by their officers; while the Spartans fought with the reckless

courage of men who know death awaits and have resigned themselves to taking

as many of their foemen with them as possible.

Spears were sundered, swords broken, shields shattered, till the Spartans had

nothing left to fight with but rocks picked-up from the ground; or like wild

beasts, their teeth and nails! Yet still they fought on.

At some point, fighting in the foremost rank, Leonidas fell. A great struggle

began over his body. Four times it switched hands; like a scene out of “The

Iliad”, as the Greeks and Persians battled for the body of the Spartan king. The

Spartans finally recovered the body, just as Hydarnes' detachment of the

Immortals appeared in their rear.

Two views of the hill where the Spartans made their final stand. Above,

the hillock viewed from near the ancient shoreline. Below, looking from

"last stand hill" toward the battle plain and the West Gate in the

distance. The road seen at the lower right is approximately where the

ancient shoreline ran.

Drawing off to a small hillock (known unofficially as “last stand hill”) the

Spartans and the other surviving Greeks formed a circle, around the body of

Leonidas. There they stood their ground, as the Persians pelted them from all

sides with missiles; till not a man remained alive.

The Persians had forced the pass, and Greece lay before them. But at the Hot

Gates they had paid a ghastly price for the real estate they had captured.

No source lists the number of Persian dead; but it is not likely that less than

25,000 Persian troops fell there (and the number may have been considerably

higher). Among the dead were two sons and two brothers of Xerxes himself.

Worst, the entire Persian army was demoralized. They had met the Greeks in a

place where numbers counted for little, where only courage and skill at arms

meant victory. In this they had clearly been bested! There was little doubt in the

minds of every man in the Great King’s host that had not the traitor shown them

a way around the pass, retreat or death would have been their only options.

In Sparta, the news from Thermopylae was greeted with no outward sadness.

Mourning robes were nowhere in evidence; nor was their wailing and

lamentations. The Spartans who had died were martyrs to Greek freedom, and

were honored above all men as heroes of Sparta.

Thermopylae was, in many respects, the Spartan Alamo. It became a source of

intense pride, and a rallying cry for every Greek. Free men had stood their

ground, and proven superior fighters to mere “slaves” of the Great King. By

giving Greece the pride and will to resist what had seemed an unstoppable

enemy, Thermopylae saved Greece. By extension, it saved Western Civilization!

At Thermopylae, atop the hill where the 300 had made their last stand, the

Spartans erected a memorial tablet. They commissioned the lyric

poet, Simonides of Ceos, to inscribe these words:"Go tell the Spartans, passerby that here, obedient to their laws, we lie."

The Persian invasion would end the following year. The Persian fleet was first

destroyed in the naval victory off Salamis against the combined fleets of the

Greek states. His supply line now compromised, Xerxes was forced to withdraw

with more than half of his army. The remaining portion of the Persian army,

under Xerxes’ brother-in-law, Mardonius, would be destroyed at Plataea; by a

Spartan-led coalition force. There the Spartan phalanx would withstand a

devastating arrow storm, followed by a charge of Persia’s finest armored

cavalry, led by Mardonius himself. The Persians were utterly routed, with

Mardonius slain in the fighting!

Thermopylae and Plataea demonstrated the superiority of the Spartan warriors

over all others. A reputation for invincibility was created, which would last for

two generations. Only against other Greeks would the Spartans meet opponents

worthy of their arms and which would challenge their hard-won status as the

greatest fighting men in the world.

A word about Leonidas.

He was not the greatest Spartan king. Before Thermopylae, he wouldn't have

rated amongst the top five. He is the only one that most people today, some

2,500 years later, can name. Like William Barret Travis, who commanded the

Texan defenders at the Alamo, the manner of his death reversed a life spent in

relative obscurity, and made his name immortal.

NEXT: PART THREE, THE LION AND THE SHARK

[1] A suspiciously similar story is attributed to the Spartan king Agesiilaus, some

36 years later. See Bradford, E. Thermopylae: the Battle for the West, De Capo

Press, 1980, P.66