Fact and Fiction: What is what in 300?

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2007)

I will first note that I rated this film rather high (8 of 10) because I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography as well as the striking visual effects. I tend to put things in lists to make it easier to find what is important in my writing, so I will do that here as well.
This list will be divided into 2 parts, 1 for fact and 1 for fiction. I believe it will tend to help anyone who wishes to know what real in actual history and what was not (even though it was based on a graphic novel):
Facts:
1) There was in fact Greece city known as Sparta filled with much the same types of people as their Athenian neighbors, but with the addition of the extensive military training for men of exceptional physical disposition.
2) There was a King Leonidus as well as King Xerxes.
3) Spartans did use extremely large shields.
4) The Spartans' helmets, spears, swords, and shoe fittings were historically accurate in the film.
5) There was a rock corridor known as the Hot Gates.
6) There was a traitor named Ephialtes, who led the Persians behind the Spartan lines.
7) There was a storm that sank several Persian vessels.
8) Spartan women did indeed tell their husband soldiers to "Return with their shield or on it."
Fiction:
1) Spartan soldiers did not go into battle bare chested. They wore a heavy breast plate that covered their entire torso.
2) Spartan shields were not round, rather they were body length and curved inward; similar to Roman shields a couple centuries later.
3) Xerxes was not a 7 foot tall Indonesian, he was of average height for the time period and looked like a typical Mediterrean person of the time.
4) There were no rhinoceroses, elephants, naptha throwers, or various other characters that look extra-terrestrial.
5) Ephialtes was not a disfigured man.
6) The ocean was not next to the Hot Gates, rather it was a river.
7) King Xerxes never got within of a couple hundred feet of the total Spartan force.
I hope this helps those of you that were curious as to what was fact and what was fiction.