- 300 SPARTANS BIOGRAPHY
- (Battle of
Thermopylae in 480 B.C.)
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- 300 SPARTANS were highly-trained MILITARY
HEROES who fought against the Army of 1 MILLION PERSIANS and were
famous for NEVER SURRENDERING. KING LEONIDAS declared to his army of 300
SPARTANS: "Eat hearty, lads, for today we dine in Hades" as they
ate their final meal.
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- The Spartans
were from the ancient city of Sparta, in the south of
Greece. The
government trained specific males from the age of 7 to become
tough and brutal soldiers and devote their lives to fighting as
a Spartan. If the children did not meet the standards of
toughness, they were left in the mountains and abandoned. The
Spartan females also underwent physical training to toughen them
up. The Spartiates (Spartan citizens) made up the finest army in
Greece. Each military unit comprised of only 40 men, giving them
more flexibility, movement and discipline. In Sparta, the women
had more power and education than any other women in the Ancient
world. Women also controlled their own properties.
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- The Spartan warriors fought
in a "phalanx": shoulder-to-shoulder unit, like a tank.
In 480 B.C., King Xerxes (Persian King)
and his Persian Army of reportedly 2 million invaded Greece in
the famous Battle of Thermopylae.
The Persians set out to conquer Greece, but the
King of Sparta, King Leonidas I
led his army of 300 Spartans
to prevent the Persians from passing. The 300 Spartans were
joined by other Greek forces, and made an army of 14,000. After
fighting for 2 days, one Greek resident betrayed the Greek army
by revealing a path that was behind the Greek lines to the
Persian army. King Leonidas sent away all the Greek troops after
realizing that the Persians had outmaneuvered them.
King Leonias' 300 Spartan fighters STAYED WITH HIM
to the END, along with
900 Helots (Greek slaves) and 700 Thespians (Townspeople). They
ALL REFUSED TO LEAVE. As they ate their final meal, Leonidas
allegedly declared: "Eat hearty, lads, for
today we dine in Hades."
Leonidas and his troops were
all killed King Leonidas was beheaded by the Persians in a
vicious act of insult to the Greeks.
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- The army of 300 Spartans is famous
for NEVER backing down, NEVER Surrendering and NEVER RETREATING. They
are a powerful example of courage and bravery, even when the
odds were against them.
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