Battle of The 300

Sparta was the South Central region of Greece, known as Peloponnesus. Sparta was most known for two things: their military and The Battle at Thermopilice. This is where Leonidas I, a great King, let 300 Spartan Warriors in Sparta’s biggest battle which was fought against the Persians.

Spartan boys as early as age 7 were sent to military school to begin training to become warriors. There, they learned how to read, write, weld, and use weapons and military strategies. Once they were a part of the military and graduated from their training, the Spartans had to stay in the military until the age of 60. At this age, they were finally able to retire.

The great king of Sparta, Leonidas I, was born in the year 530 B.C., in Sparta, Greece. He was the son of Anaxandirides, who descended from the Greek Cult hero Heracles. Leonidas was sent to military school like the other boys of his age, where he received extremely strenuous physical conditioning and many years of military training to learn his skills to martial perfection. The product of this training and conditioning was the fiercest warrior and army that Ancient Greece, and possibly the world, had ever seen.

A Spartan heavy warrior (like Leonidas) carried three types of weapons: a long, thrusting spear, a short sword for stabbing, and a dagger. For protection, their armor consisted of a bronze crested helmet, a large round shield, a breast plate, and leg greaves (metal plates to cover the leg). These heavy warriors would usually wear a bright red cloak because they believed it was the most manly color. They fought grouped together, shoulder-to-shoulder, in a tactical unit called a phalanx, which would present many shields and spears. The phalanx was almost unstoppable from the front by an opposing attack. This formation’s weakness was the flanks and rear. These weak areas were not heavily armored and were very open to attack.

Thermopilice controlled the vital coastal road into Central Greece. To the east, was the island of Euboea. Mountains served to protect from the left. The northern region was used to block the advance of any hostile fleet; it protected the right flank of the Greek army at the battle of Thermopilice.

Leonidas carefully selected 300 of Sparta’s best warriors to defend Thermopilice. They were then accompanied by 4000 Peloponnesian troops on rout to Thermopilice in August 480 B.C. Luckily, they were also joined by 700 Thespians, 400 Thebeans, 1000 Phocians and 1000 Locrains, for a total of 7400 warriors. Simultaneously, the allied Greek state navy took positions at Artemision, which is at the northern end of the Euboea Island.