query: when did the battle of thermopylae occur?

title: Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

text: Greek regime that didn't took part in the battle. Battle of Thermopylae (1941) The Battle of Thermopylae, on 24–25 April 1941, was part of the German invasion of Greece during World War II. Following the retreat of Allied forces from the mountain passes at Olympus and Servia, British Commonwealth forces began to set up defensive positions at the coastal pass at Thermopylae, famous for the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The New Zealand Army's 2nd Infantry Division under Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg was given the task of defending the pass, while elements of the Australian 6th Infantry Division, under Major

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: Bibliography Further reading Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , "Máchē tōn Thermopylōn") 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, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ("The Hot Gates"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; Greek: , "Máchē tōn Thermopylōn") 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, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ("The Hot Gates"). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at

title: Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

text: Battle of Thermopylae (1941) The Battle of Thermopylae, on 24–25 April 1941, was part of the German invasion of Greece during World War II. Following the retreat of Allied forces from the mountain passes at Olympus and Servia, British Commonwealth forces began to set up defensive positions at the coastal pass at Thermopylae, famous for the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The New Zealand Army's 2nd Infantry Division under Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg was given the task of defending the pass, while elements of the Australian 6th Infantry Division, under Major General Iven Mackay, defended the village of Brallos. In

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: all Greek soldiers in the second Persian invasion. It is sometimes stated that Thermopylae was a Pyrrhic victory for the Persians (i.e., one in which the victor is as damaged by the battle as the defeated party). However, there is no suggestion by Herodotus that the effect on the Persian forces was that. The idea ignores the fact that the Persians would, in the aftermath of Thermopylae, conquer the majority of Greece, and the fact that they were still fighting in Greece a year later. Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: possibly up to 900 helots, and 1,000 Phocians stationed above the pass, less the casualties sustained in the previous days). From a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces. As long as they could prevent a further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle and could, thus, remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant they

title: Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)

text: Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 191 BC between a Roman army led by consul Manius Acilius Glabrio and a Seleucid force led by King Antiochus III the Great. It was the first major battle of the Roman–Seleucid War. The Romans were victorious, and as a result, Antiochus was forced to flee from Greece. At the outbreak of the war in 192 BC, Antiochus crossed from Asia Minor to Greece with a small force, expecting the various states in the region to support him as a fellow Hellene in resistance to Roman hegemony. However,

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoitre. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. Xerxes found the scout's reports of the size of the Greek force, and that the Spartans were indulging in callisthenics and combing their long hair, laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told the Spartans were preparing for battle, and it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great

title: Battle of Thermopylae (254)

text: formations and assault columns. The Thessalonicans mobilized to defend their city and beat off the attacks. The Goths abandoned the siege and moved off to invade Greece south of Thermopylae, seeking to loot the gold and silver wealth of Greek temples. The Greeks learned of the Goths' approach and the Roman pronconsul Marianus, the Athenian Philostratus and the Boeotian Dexippus mobilized a militia to block the pass of Thermopylae. The militia were armed with bronze or iron-tipped wooden pikes, small spears, axes and assorted weapons. They set to work fortifying the pass. Marianus gave a pre-battle speech to them, emphasizing

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Wary of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion. Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: to complete the conquest the following year. However, under pressure from the Athenians, the Peloponnesians eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and they marched on Attica. Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain, and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea. At the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army and ending the invasion of Greece. Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions. Thermopylae

title: Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)

text: only the Aetolian League actually joined forces with Antiochus; other states either remained neutral or sided with the Romans. Antiochus managed to capture some cities in Greece, but was unable to obtain reinforcements from Asia before in 191 BC a large Roman army under the consul Manius Acilius Glabrio crossed from Italy and advanced on his position. Knowing he was outnumbered around 2:1 by the approaching Roman army, Antiochus hoped to use the narrow pass at Thermopylae to his advantage, taking inspiration from the earlier Greek city-states' stand against the much larger Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae (480

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. By 480 BC Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian politician and general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium. A Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million, but today considered to have been

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: exact revenge for the Persian invasion of Greece, he faced the same situation, encountering a last stand of the Persian forces (under Ariobarzanes) at a narrow pass near Persepolis who held the invaders for a month, until their fall as the enemy found a path to their rear. There are even accounts that a local shepherd informed Alexander's forces about the secret path, just as a local Greek showed the Persian forces a secret path around the pass at Thermopylae. Curtius describes the subsequent battle fought by the surrounded, unarmed Persians as "memorable". Other analogous battles include: Informational notes<br> Citations

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: Xerxes' own procrastination. Far from labelling Thermopylae as a Pyrrhic victory, modern academic treatises on the Greco-Persian Wars tend to emphasise the success of Xerxes in breaching the formidable Greek position and the subsequent conquest of the majority of Greece. For instance, Cawkwell states: "he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success. ... Xerxes had every reason to congratulate himself", while Lazenby describes the Greek defeat as "disastrous". The fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont. Themistocles, therefore, suggested a second strategy to the Greeks: the route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica, and the Peloponnesus) would require Xerxes' army to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae, which could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians. Furthermore, to prevent the Persians from bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. Congress adopted this dual-pronged strategy. However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, should it come to that, whilst the

title: Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

text: 5th Panzer Division also attacked. The Australians and New Zealanders held out for an entire day, destroyed 15 German tanks and inflicted considerable casualties. With the delaying action accomplished, the rearguard retreated towards another defensive position at Thebes. The absence of the Greek Army, from a battle at a site as significant to the national psyche as Thermopylae, was controversial within Greece, as General Georgios Tsolakoglou had already capitulated. After the war, Aris Velouchiotis – a veteran of the 1941 campaign and leader of the Greek People's Liberation Army – argued that this fact was an eternal "shame" for the

title: Leonidas at Thermopylae

text: the time. The piece shows the Spartan king Leonidas prior to the Battle of Thermopylae. David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it. The crowded and theatrical scene that David depicts takes place in a time of war, seemingly in Greece from the Greek temple and temperate mountains in the background. The war we see is the Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 B.C. Thermopylae, which is a Greek word that means “hot gates,” was chosen to be the perfect place for this battle because of its mountainous geography and narrow passageway. This helped the Greeks hold a better

title: Thermopylae

text: Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: ("Thermopylai") , Demotic Greek (Greek): , ("Thermopyles") ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. The Hot Gates is "the place of hot springs" and in Greek mythology it is the cavernous entrances to Hades". Thermopylae is world-famous for the battle that took place there between the Greek forces (notably the Spartans) and the invading Persian forces, commemorated by Simonides in the famous epitaph, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here obedient to their

title: Battle of the Persian Gate

text: the most serious challenge to Alexander's conquest of Persia. Michael Wood has called the battle decisive and A. B. Bosworth refers to it as a "complete and decisive victory for Alexander". Similarities between the battle fought at Thermopylae and the Persian Gates have been recognized by ancient and modern authors. The Persian Gates played the role "of a Persian Thermopylae and like Thermopylae it fell." The Battle of the Persian Gates served as a kind of reversal of the Battle of Thermopylae, fought in Greece in 480 BC in an attempt to hold off the invading Persian forces. Here, on

title: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC)

text: his forces, who were then free to ravage the country. After these expeditions returned home, Brennus urged and persuaded them to mount a third united expedition against central Greece, led by himself and Acichorius. A Greek coalition made up of Aetolians, Boeotians, Athenians, Phocians, and other Greeks north of Corinth took up positions at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, on the east coast of central Greece. During the initial assault, Brennus' forces suffered heavy losses. Hence he decided to send a large force under Acichorius against Aetolia. The Aetolian detachment, as Brennus hoped, left Thermopylae to defend their homes. The

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: brevity, a Spartan style of verse that allows for varying interpretations of the meaning of the poem. Ioannis Ziogas points out that the usual English translations are far from the only interpretation possible, and indicate much about the romantic tendencies of the translators. It was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of Aristodemus and Pantites), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader

title: Thermopylae

text: was known henceforth as the Delphic Amphictyony and became the official overseer and military defender of the Delphic cult. The name of Hellenes, which was originally the name of a Boeotian tribe in Thessalic Phthia, (Achaea Phthiotis) may likely be related to the members of that league and may have been broadened to refer to all Greeks when the myth of their patriarch Hellen was invented. Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: ("Thermopylai") , Demotic Greek (Greek): , ("Thermopyles") ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race." Then the ambassador asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. To this Leonidas gave his famous answer: (pronounced ) "Come and get them." Such Laconic bravery doubtlessly helped to maintain morale. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as "to block out the sun", he retorted, unconcerned: "So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade." After the battle,

title: Thermopylae

text: laws we lie." Thermopylae is the only land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between Lokris and Thessaly. This passage from north to south along the east coast of the Balkan peninsula requires use of the pass and for this reason Thermopylae has been the site of several battles. In ancient times it was called Malis which was named after the Malians (), a Greek tribe that lived near present-day Lamia at the delta of the river, Spercheios in Greece. The Malian Gulf is also named after them. In the western valley of the Spercheios their land was

title: Battle of Mycale

text: in ancient history as the battles which decisively ended the second Persian invasion of Greece, thereby swinging the balance of the Greco-Persian Wars in favour of the Greeks. The Battle of Salamis saved Greece from immediate conquest, but it was Mycale and Plataea which effectively ended that threat. However, neither of these battles is as well known as Thermopylae, Salamis or Marathon. The reason for this discrepancy is not entirely clear; it might however be a result of the circumstances in which the battle was fought. The fame of Thermopylae certainly lies in the doomed heroism of the Greeks in

title: Battle of Crocus Field

text: south to the pass of Thermopylae, the gateway to central Greece. He probably intended to follow up his victory over the Phocians by invading Phocis itself, a prospect which greatly alarmed the Athenians, since once he was past Thermopylae he could also march on Athens. The Athenians therefore dispatched a force to Thermopylae and occupied the pass; there is some debate as to whether other contingents may have joined the Athenians at Thermopylae. Although it might have proved possible to force the pass, Philip did not attempt to do so, preferring not to risk a defeat after his great successes

title: Battle of Salamis

text: arrived earlier in the campaigning season (and not waited 4 days at Thermopylae for the Greeks to disperse). Time was now of the essence for the Persians – the huge invasion force could not be reasonably supported indefinitely, nor probably did Xerxes wish to be at the fringe of his empire for so long. Thermopylae had shown that a frontal assault against a well defended Greek position was useless; with the Allies now dug in across the narrow Isthmus, there was little chance of conquering the rest of Greece by land. However, as equally demonstrated by Thermopylae, if the Greeks

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis. However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible. Furthermore, this idea also neglects the fact that a Greek navy was fighting at Artemisium during the Battle of Thermopylae, incurring losses in the process. George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes' systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: to the battle, the Hellenes remembered the Dorians, an ethnic distinction which applied to the Spartans, as the conquerors and displacers of the Ionians in the Peloponnesus. After the battle, Spartan culture became an inspiration and object of emulation, a phenomenon known as Laconophilia. There are several analogous battles. Similarities between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Persian Gate have been recognized by both ancient and modern authors, which describe it as a kind of reversal of the Battle of Thermopylae, calling it "the Persian Thermopylae". Here, on Alexander the Great's campaign against Persia in 330 BC to

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: is arguably the most famous battle in European ancient history, repeatedly referenced in ancient, recent, and contemporary culture. In Western culture at least, it is the Greeks who are lauded for their performance in battle. However, within the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae was undoubtedly a defeat for the Greeks. It seems clear that the Greek strategy was to hold off the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium; whatever they may have intended, it was presumably not their desire to surrender all of Boeotia and Attica to the Persians. The Greek position at Thermopylae, despite being massively outnumbered, was nearly

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: on that battle. On the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two principal sources, Herodotus' and Simonides' accounts, survive. In fact, Herodotus' account of the battle, in Book VII of his "Histories", is such an important source that Paul Cartledge wrote: "we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all". Also surviving is an epitome of the account of Ctesias, by the eighth-century Byzantine Photias, though this is "almost worse than useless", missing key events in the battle such as the betrayal of Ephialtes, and the account of Diodorus Siculus in his "Universal History". Diodorus' account seems to

title: Battle of Thermopylae (254)

text: Battle of Thermopylae (254) The Battle of Thermopylae in 254 was the successful defense of the pass of Thermopylae by local Greek militia under Marianus, the Roman proconsul of Achaea, during an invasion of the Balkans by the Goths. In 254 the Goths invaded and plundered Thrace and Macedonia. In 1979, Herwig Wolfram regarded 254 as the date, while Mallan and Davenport in 2015 suggested 262. Goltz and Hartmann estimated 254 as the date. David Potter in 2016 rejected Mallan and Davenport's estimate and dated it to either 253 or 259. The Goths attempted to storm Thessalonica with close order

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: illustrate this point. Militarily, although the battle was actually not decisive in the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae is of some significance on the basis of the first two days of fighting. The performance of the defenders is used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers. There are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae. A well-known epigram, usually attributed to Simonides, was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae. It is also the hill on

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: stone lion was erected at Thermopylae to commemorate Leonidas. A full 40 years after the battle, Leonidas' bones were returned to Sparta, where he was buried again with full honours; funeral games were held every year in his memory. With Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the Saronic Gulf, where they helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of Salamis.

title: Battle of Thermopylae (323 BC)

text: 600 horsemen, while he left Sippas in command of Macedon. But the Thessalians, who initially supported Macedon, changed sides to the Athenian alliance and joined the Athenian general Leosthenes' forces in occupying the passes of Thermopylae, significantly outnumbering the Macedonians. Antipater was defeated in the ensuing battle and since he could not retreat because the Athenian coalitions' forces were stronger than his forces, he shut himself in the city of Lamia where he was subsequently besieged by Leosthenes' forces. Battle of Thermopylae (323 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 323 BC between the Macedonians and a coalition of

title: Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture

text: Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture The Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BCE has long been the topic of cultural motivation, as it is perhaps the most famous military last stand of all time. This "against all odds" story is passed to us from the writings of the Greek Herodotus, who was not present at the battle himself. He relates the story of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians defending the Pass of Thermopylae against almost "2 million" Persians on the third day of the battle. (For the first two days, the Greek force had numbered somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000.)

title: Battle of Thermopylae (323 BC)

text: Battle of Thermopylae (323 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 323 BC between the Macedonians and a coalition of armies including Athens and the Aetolian League in the pass of Thermopylae during the Lamian War. After Antipater received news of the outbreak of the war, he sent messengers to Craterus and Philotas who were in Asia with an army of over 10,000 soldiers, to come to his aid. But receiving news of the progress of the war and realizing that he couldn't wait for his reinforcements to arrive, he marched south to Thessaly with 13,000 foot soldiers and

title: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC)

text: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 279 BC between invading Gallic armies and a combined army of Greek Aetolians, Boeotians, Athenians, Phocians at Thermopylae. The Gauls under Brennus were victorious, and advanced further into the Greek peninsula where they attempted to sack Delphi but were completely defeated. Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a south-eastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BC. Although Gallic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the Balkan peninsula itself. From

title: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC)

text: As a token of gratitude, the Aetolians were accorded the right to participate at the amphictyonic convention. The Amphictyonic Soteria, were organised, and in 246 BC were renamed “Aetolian Soteria” and evolved into Panhellenic Games which took place every five years. Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 279 BC between invading Gallic armies and a combined army of Greek Aetolians, Boeotians, Athenians, Phocians at Thermopylae. The Gauls under Brennus were victorious, and advanced further into the Greek peninsula where they attempted to sack Delphi but were completely defeated. Gallic groups, originating from the various

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: manoeuvre. Finally, in mid-August, the Persian army was sighted across the Malian Gulf approaching Thermopylae. With the Persian army's arrival at Thermopylae the Greeks held a council of war. Some Peloponnesians suggested withdrawal to the Isthmus of Corinth and blocking the passage to Peloponnesus. The Phocians and Locrians, whose states were located nearby, became indignant and advised defending Thermopylae and sending for more help. Leonidas calmed the panic and agreed to defend Thermopylae. According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that, "Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun", Leonidas replied, "Won't

title: Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)

text: the Aetolians were forced to sue for peace. The battle reaffirmed the advantage of Rome's flexible maniple system against the rigid Hellenic phalanx, especially in battles fought on broken ground or from multiple directions. The battle was described by Appian (included below) and by Livy 36.16-19. Appian's account: Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC) The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 191 BC between a Roman army led by consul Manius Acilius Glabrio and a Seleucid force led by King Antiochus III the Great. It was the first major battle of the Roman–Seleucid War. The Romans were victorious, and as a

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: smaller one nearer the wall. The pass at Thermopylae was thus opened to the Persian army, according to Herodotus, at the cost to the Persians of up to 20,000 fatalities. The Greek rearguard, meanwhile, was annihilated, with a probable loss of 2,000 men, including those killed on the first two days of battle. Herodotus says, at one point 4,000 Greeks died, but assuming the Phocians guarding the track were not killed during the battle (as Herodotus implies), this would be almost every Greek soldier present (by Herodotus' own estimates), and this number is probably too high. When the Persians recovered

title: Battle of Thermopylae (254)

text: the defense of the pass by previous generations of Greeks and Romans. The Graeco-Roman forces successfully blocked the Goths' way at Thermopylae and the Goths returned home, albeit with considerable loot. The engagement was recorded by the contemporary historian Dexippus. A fragment of his work, discovered in Vienna in 2010, provides detail on the weapons, leadership and geography of the engagement. The fragment cuts off before the battle's outcome. Dexippus was used as source by the Byzantine chronicler George Syncellus, who mentioned the blocking of the pass and the Goths' return home with plunder. Battle of Thermopylae (254) The Battle

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: men have you brought us to fight against? Men that fight not for gold, but for glory." The Battle of Thermopylae has remained a cultural icon of western civilization ever since it was fought. The battle is revisited in countless adages and works of popular culture, such as in films (e.g., "The 300 Spartans" (1962) and "300" (2007), based on the events during and close to the time of the battle), in literature, in song, in television programs, and in video games. The battle is also discussed in many articles and books on the theory and practice of warfare. Prior

text: volunteer army of freemen defending native soil. The sacrifice of the Spartans and the Thespians has captured the minds of many throughout the ages and has given birth to many cultural references as a result. Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture The Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BCE has long been the topic of cultural motivation, as it is perhaps the most famous military last stand of all time. This "against all odds" story is passed to us from the writings of the Greek Herodotus, who was not present at the battle himself. He relates the story of 300 Spartans

text: Although modern historians have questioned the numbers presented by Herodotus, with most at around 100,000 to 250,000 invaders, the story has resonated with authors and poets for centuries over the inspiring bravery and resolution of the Spartans. The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is often used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain to maximize an army's potential, and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. Even more, both ancient and modern writers used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the superior power of a

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, fighting to the death. Others also reportedly remained, including up to 900 helots and 400 Thebans; these Thebans mostly reportedly surrendered. Themistocles was in command of the Greek Navy at Artemisium when he received news that the Persians had taken the pass at Thermopylae. Since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: "...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men." A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom: So almost immediately, contemporary Greeks saw Thermopylae as a critical moral and culture lesson. In

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: he selected only Spartans with living sons. The Spartan force was reinforced "en route" to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass. Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the "middle gate", the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of Trachis, that there was a mountain track that could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: could not remain in the same place for very long. The Persians, therefore, had to retreat or advance, and advancing required forcing the pass of Thermopylae. Tactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare. A hoplite phalanx could block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. Moreover, in the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry. The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, that could allow

title: HMS Thermopylae (P355)

text: took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She remained in service until December 1968 when she was put on the sale list. She was broken up at Troon during 1971. HMS Thermopylae (P355) HMS "Thermopylae" (P355) was a T-class submarine in service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Thermopylae", after the Battle of Thermopylae. Thermopylae was laid down on 26 October 1943 at Chatham Dockyard, and launched on 27 June 1945. Commissioned after the end of the

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are referred to by other authors, as in Aeschylus in "The Persians". Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Constantinople), also supports some of Herodotus' specific claims. George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of the narrow pass at Thermopylae, and to the extent that modern accounts of the battle differ from Herodotus' they usually follow Grundy's. For example, the military strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart defers to Grundy. Grundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: impregnable. If the position had been held for even a little longer, the Persians might have had to retreat for lack of food and water. Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory, but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. The battle itself had showed what a few free men, willing to do anything for victory against the invaders, could accomplish, and the defeat at Thermopylae had turned Leonidas and the men under his command into martyrs. That boosted the morale of

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: armies, and British Commonwealth forces in World War II made a defence in 1941 against the Nazi invasion metres from the original battlefield. On the fifth day after the Persian arrival at Thermopylae and the first day of the battle, Xerxes finally resolved to attack the Greeks. First, he ordered 5,000 archers to fire a barrage of arrows, but they were ineffective; they fired from at least 100 yards away, according to modern day scholars, and the Greeks' bronze shields and helmets deflected the arrows. After that, Xerxes sent a force of 10,000 Medes and Cissians to take the defenders

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: superiority by land and by sea. The number of Persian troops present at Thermopylae is therefore as uncertain as the number for the total invasion force. For instance, it is unclear whether the whole Persian army marched as far as Thermopylae, or whether Xerxes left garrisons in Macedon and Thessaly. According to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, the Greek army included the following forces: Notes: Pausanias' account agrees with that of Herodotus (whom he probably read) except that he gives the number of Locrians, which Herodotus declined to estimate. Residing in the direct path of the Persian advance, they gave all

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: universal terms, a small, free people had willingly outfought huge numbers of imperial subjects who advanced under the lash. More specifically, the Western idea that soldiers themselves decide where, how, and against whom they will fight was contrasted against the Eastern notion of despotism and monarchy—freedom proving the stronger idea as the more courageous fighting of the Greeks at Thermopylae, and their later victories at Salamis and Plataea attested. While this paradigm of "free men" outfighting "slaves" can be seen as a rather sweeping over-generalization (there are many counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: Following Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to sack and burn Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens. Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) preparing to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, demolished the single road that led through it and built a wall across it. As at Thermopylae, making this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the Saronic Gulf, so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese. However, instead

title: Battle of Thermopylae (1941)

text: hours of 20 April, the 2/11th Battalion, the third battalion comprising the 19th Brigade, also arrived at Brallos. Freyberg and Mackay had been informing their subordinates that there would be no more withdrawals, but both were unaware of higher level discussions on the evacuation. After the battle, Mackay was quoted as saying: "I thought that we'd hang on for about a fortnight and be beaten by weight of numbers." On the morning of 23 April, ANZAC Corps was ordered to retreat. It was decided that Thermopylae and Brallos would nevertheless be held by a rearguard comprising two brigades. The New

title: Leonidas at Thermopylae

text: needed a hero to sacrifice himself for the greater good of his country, and the story of Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae inspired him. This was all taking place during the French Revolution where enemy soldiers were closing in on the French borders; these events are similar to how the Spartans felt during the Battle at Thermopylae, the core theme of David’s painting. When Napoleon Bonaparte saw the exhibit of David’s latest paintings in 1799, “he criticized the lack of action and the fixed poses of the warriors in "The Sabine Women".” This critique by one of David’s heroes

title: Thermopylae

text: men, was captured and killed. In 1941 during World War II the ANZAC forces delayed the invading German forces in the area enough to allow the evacuation of the British expeditionary force to Crete. This conflict also became known as the Battle of Thermopylae. Such was the fame of Thermopylae that the sabotage of the Gorgopotamos bridge in 1942 was referred in German documents of the era as "the recent sabotage near Thermopylae". An ancient Amphictyony, probably the earliest centered on the cult of Demeter at Anthele or Anthela (Ἀνθήλη), which lay on the coast of Malis south of Thessaly.

title: HMS Thermopylae (P355)

text: HMS Thermopylae (P355) HMS "Thermopylae" (P355) was a T-class submarine in service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Thermopylae", after the Battle of Thermopylae. Thermopylae was laid down on 26 October 1943 at Chatham Dockyard, and launched on 27 June 1945. Commissioned after the end of the Second World War, she had a relatively quiet career. She immediately joined the 3rd Flotilla based in the Holy Loch. On 15 January 1950 she ran aground on Stevenson Rock, off Skerryvore, Inner Hebrides. In 1953 she

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: a force of 20,000 for the mission. The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea behind the cliffs that flanked the pass. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, the first town of Locris. At daybreak on the third day, the Phocians guarding the path above Thermopylae became aware of the outflanking Persian column by the rustling of oak leaves. Herodotus says they jumped up and were greatly amazed. Hydarnes was perhaps just as amazed to see them hastily arming themselves as

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in mountain warfare). Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route. It is often claimed that at the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. In fact, as noted below, the pass was 100 metres

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war. On this occasion, the ephors decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, Leonidas I. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the "Hippeis". This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army. The legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that the

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: The king later had the Theban prisoners branded with the royal mark. Of the remaining defenders, Herodotus says: "Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth." Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded, and the Persians rained down arrows until every last Greek was dead. In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, which changed the identification of the hill on which the Greeks were thought to have died from a

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. The Thespians, resolved as they were not to submit to Xerxes, faced the destruction of their city if the Persians took Boeotia. However, this alone does not explain the fact that they remained; the remainder of Thespiae was successfully evacuated before the Persians arrived there. It seems that the Thespians volunteered to remain as a simple act of self-sacrifice, all the more amazing since their contingent represented every single hoplite the city could

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'. The first line of the epigram was used as the title of the short story "Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We…" by German Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Böll. A variant of the epigram is inscribed on the Polish Cemetery at Monte

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: by Leonidas (Herodotus admits that there is some doubt about which actually happened). The contingent of 700 Thespians, led by their general Demophilus, refused to leave and committed themselves to the fight. Also present were the 400 Thebans and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans. Leonidas' actions have been the subject of much discussion. It is commonly stated that the Spartans were obeying the laws of Sparta by not retreating, but it seems it was actually the failure to retreat from Thermopylae that gave rise to the notion that Spartans never retreated. It is also possible that, recalling

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: Xerxes again sent in the infantry to attack the pass, "supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist." However, the Persians had no more success on the second day than on the first. Xerxes at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp, "totally perplexed". Later that day, however, as the Persian king was pondering what to do next, he received a windfall; a Trachinian named Ephialtes informed him of the mountain path around Thermopylae and offered to guide the Persian army. Ephialtes was motivated by the desire for a

title: Leonidas at Thermopylae

text: full view of the background which resulted from the removal of trees and branches from the earlier sketch. Classical male figures were included from the beginning of David's sketches for "Leonidas at Thermopylae". In "Leonidas at Thermopylae", it is implied that the war is deeper than just the main figures in the foreground, with hundreds of other warriors in the battle too. In the foreground, we see that chaos has broken out and the army seems to be in shambles, while the leader of the army remains calm as the war progresses around him. The emphasized man in the center,

title: Leonidas at Thermopylae

text: Leonidas’s high status and primary role in this battle. Carved on the side of a rock of the left side is the phrase, "Go, passer-by, to Sparta tell/Obedient to her law we fell." This signals that Leonidas and the other soldiers know their fate and are prepared to die, all in the name of their country. Leonidas at Thermopylae Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil on canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. The massive painting has the dimensions of about thirteen feet by seventeen and a half feet and

title: Thermopylae (clipper)

text: In 1872, "Thermopylae" raced the clipper "Cutty Sark" from Shanghai back to London. "Thermopylae" won by seven days after "Cutty Sark" lost her rudder. From 1882 onward, "Thermopylae" took part in the Australian wool trade; however, on this route "Cutty Sark" proved faster. In 1897 she was sold to Portugal for use as a naval training ship and renamed "Pedro Nunes". On 13 October 1907, the Portuguese Navy towed her down the Tagus river using two warships, and before Amelia de Orleans, Queen of Portugal, she was torpedoed with full naval honours off Cascais. Thermopylae (clipper) Thermopylae was an extreme

title: Thermopylae (clipper)

text: Thermopylae (clipper) Thermopylae was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co of Aberdeen, to the design of Bernard Waymouth of London. "Thermopylae" was built for the Aberdeen Line, which was founded in 1825 by George Thompson. She measured 212' × 36' × 20.9', with tonnage 991 GRT, 948 NRT and 927 tons under deck. The under deck coefficient was 0,58. Rigged with royal sails, single topgallant and split top-sails. "Thermopylae" was designed for the China tea trade, and set speed records on her maiden voyage to Melbourne—63 days, still the fastest trip under sail.

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: to the Spartans. Herodotus' colorful account of the battle has provided history with many apocryphal incidents and conversations away from the main historical events. These accounts are obviously not verifiable, but they form an integral part of the legend of the battle and often demonstrate the laconic speech (and wit) of the Spartans to good effect. For instance, Plutarch recounts, in his "Sayings of Spartan Women", upon his departure, Leonidas' wife Gorgo asked what she should do if he did not return, to which Leonidas replied, "Marry a good man and have good children." It is reported that, upon arriving

title: Thermopylae

text: adjacent to the Aenianes. Their main town was named Trachis. In the town of Anthela, the Malians had an important temple of Demeter, an early center of the Anthelan Amphictiony. The land is dominated by the coastal floodplain of the Spercheios River and is surrounded by sloping forested limestone mountains. There is continuous deposition of sediment from the river and travertine deposits from the hot springs which has substantially altered the landscape during the past few thousand years. The land surface on which the famous Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC is now buried under of soil. The

title: Thermopylae

text: shoreline has also advanced over the centuries because of the sedimentary deposition. The level of the Malian Gulf was also significantly higher during prehistoric times and the Spercheios River was significantly shorter. Its shoreline advanced by up to 2 kilometers between 2500 BC and 480 BC but still has left several extremely narrow passages between the sea and the mountains. The narrowest point on the plain, where the Battle of Thermopylae was probably fought, would have been less than wide. Between 480 BC and the 21st century, the shoreline advanced by as much as in places, eliminating the narrowest points

title: Thermopylae

text: her older local cults, and perhaps a reference to the gates of Hades. A Greek myth mentioned that Heracles had jumped into the river in an attempt to wash off the Hydra poison infused in the cloak which he could not take off. The river has become hot and stayed that way ever since. Thermopylae is primarily known for the battle that took place there in 480 BC, in which an outnumbered Greek force probably of seven thousand (including the famous 300 Spartans, 500 warriors from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 from Arcadian Orchomenos, 1000 from the rest of Arcadia,

title: Battle of Dytiatyn

text: Battle of Dytiatyn Battle of Dytiatyn was one of battles of the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921 also referred to as the "Polish Thermopylae" (together with Battle of Zadwórze and Battle of Wizna). It took place on 16 September 1920 between units of the 8th Polish Field Artillery Regiment from Płock and the 8th Mounted Red Cossack Division of the Red Army near the village of Dytiatyn (now in Ukraine, northwest of Halicz). Battle is one of Polish Thermopylae. The Poles defended themselves on a grassy hill above sea level but after they ran out of ammunition they were massacred by

title: Battle of Zadwórze

text: Battle of Zadwórze Battle of Zadwórze (sometimes referred to as the "Polish Thermopylae") was a battle of the Polish-Soviet War. It was fought on August 17, 1920 near the train station of , a small village located 33 kilometres from the city centre of Lwów (now Lviv). The battle, lasting roughly 24 hours, resulted in the complete destruction of the Polish forces but at the same time halted the Soviet advance, preventing the forces of Siemion Budionnyi from seizing Lwów and so contributing to the successful defence of Warsaw. The battle has been called a Polish Thermopylae. By mid-August 1920

title: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC)

text: Aetolians all joined the defence - the old and women joining the fight. Realising that the Gallic sword was dangerous only at close quarters, the Aetolians resorted to skirmishing tactics. The Gauls destroyed Kallion, on the borders between Eurytania and Aetolia, committing horrible atrocities, but the resistance of the entire Aetolian population at the site Kokkalia, where also the elderly and the women and children fought, dealt a decisive blow to the Galatian threat. According to Pausanias, only half the number who had set out for Aetolia returned. Eventually Brennus found a way around the pass at Thermopylae but the

title: Battle of Węgrów

text: the battle to Thermopylae. Maria Konopnicka also wrote a poem about the event, in which she referenced Barbier's work. As a result, the battle is sometimes called the "Polish Thermopylae." Battle of Węgrów Battle of Węgrów was one of the most important skirmishes of January Uprising in the Russian Partition of Poland. It took place February 3, 1863 near Węgrów in east Masovia. On January 22, Polish partisans liberated a town from Russian forces. Here Poles established a military base, in a few days gathering almost 3,500 soldiers. But the Russians decided to recapture Węgrów by rapid attack force composed

title: Battle of Salamis

text: the women and children of Athens had been evacuated "en masse" to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen. Famously, the much smaller Greek army held the pass of Thermopylae against the Persians for three days before being outflanked by a mountain path. Much of the Greek army retreated, before the Spartans and Thespians who had continued to block the pass were surrounded and killed. The simultaneous Battle of Artemisium was up to that point a stalemate; however, when news of Thermopylae reached them, the Allied fleet also retreated, since holding the straits of Artemisium was now a moot point. The Allied

title: Battle of Salamis

text: in the nearby straits of Artemisium. In the resulting Battle of Thermopylae, the rearguard of the Greek force was annihilated, whilst in the Battle of Artemisium the Greeks had heavy losses and retreated after the loss at Thermopylae. This allowed the Persians to conquer Phocis, Boeotia, Attica, and Euboea. The Allies prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth while the fleet was withdrawn to nearby Salamis Island. Although heavily outnumbered, the Greek Allies were persuaded by the Athenian general Themistocles to bring the Persian fleet to battle again, in the hope that a victory would prevent naval operations against the

title: Thermopylae

text: This was the locality of Thermopylae. Thus those living near the temple were called "Amphictyones" ("dwellers-round"). The immediate "dwellers-round", presumably the first members, were the small states Aeniania, Malis and Doris. Certainly Thessaly did have a share including the states of the Boeotian tribes who lived around Thessaly ("perioikoi", "living around"). Boeotia and Phocis, the most remote of them may have joined during or after the "First Sacred War", which led to the defeat of the old priesthood, and to a new control of the prosperity of the oracle at Delphi. As a result of the war, the Anthelan body

title: Thermopylae

text: turns and has been the site of many vehicular accidents. The hot springs from which the pass derives its name still exist close to the foot of the hill. Thermopylae means "hot gates" and the name is related with its hot sulphur springs. This is also, in Greek mythology, the place of the cavernous entrance to Hades. The first mentioned Amphictyony was centered on the cult of Demeter which was located at the city of "Anthela" near Thermopylae. The delegates to the Amphictiony were dubbed the "Pylagorai" (or gate-assemblers in Greek), since Demeter was a local goddess in many of

title: Battle of Zadwórze

text: When the forces of Budionnyi finally regrouped and restarted their march northwards, it was already too late and the Battle of Warsaw ended with a complete defeat of the Red Army. The 1st Cavalry Army was later defeated in a Battle of Komarów, which became known as "the biggest cavalry battle since the 18th century." Because of the heroic defense and high casualties, the battle of Zadwórze was nicknamed the "Polish Battle of Thermopylae". Among the Polish soldiers killed in the battle was 19-year-old Konstanty Zarugiewicz, a student of the 7th course of primary school and a veteran of the

title: Legacy of the Battle of the Alamo

text: Legacy of the Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo left a substantial legacy and influence within American culture and is an event that is told from the perspective of the vanquished. Within weeks of the battle, it began to be compared to the Greek stand at the Battle of Thermopylae. Efforts to preserve the Alamo have largely been an Anglo-American cause. The first major calls to restore parts of the Alamo occurred after 1860, as English-speaking settlers began to outnumber those of Mexican heritage. Likewise, according to Schoelwer, within "the development of Alamo imagery has been an

title: Leonidas at Thermopylae

text: Leonidas at Thermopylae Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil on canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. The massive painting has the dimensions of about thirteen feet by seventeen and a half feet and was completed in 1814. The convoluted piece took David almost fifteen years to complete, with him separating his work into two periods from 1799 to 1803 and 1813-1814. Leonidas at Thermopylae was purchased, along with "The Intervention of the Sabine Women", in November of 1819 for 100,000 francs by Louis XVIII, the king of France at

title: Battle of Saragarhi

text: In June 2016 the Chief of the General Staff Sir Nick Carter did the same at a special British Sikh Association dinner. The battle has frequently been compared to the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small Greek force faced a large Persian army under Xerxes I in 480 BC. In both cases, a small defending force faced overwhelming odds, fighting to the last man and inflicting an extremely disproportionate number of fatalities on the attacking force. In September 2017, "Saragarhi: The True Story", a documentary by UK-based journalist-filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal, was screened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to

title: Battle of Plataea

text: is nearly as well known as Thermopylae, Salamis or Marathon. The reason for this discrepancy is not entirely clear; it might, however, be a result of the circumstances in which the battle was fought. The fame of Thermopylae certainly lies in the doomed heroism of the Greeks in the face of overwhelming numbers; and Marathon and Salamis perhaps because they were both fought against the odds, and in dire strategic situations. Conversely, the Battles of Plataea and Mycale were both fought from a relative position of Greek strength, and against lesser odds; the Greeks, in fact, sought out battle on

title: Battle of Vasilika

text: garrisons besieged by the Greeks. Battle of Vasilika The Battle of Vasilika was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence on August 25, 1821, near Thermopylae. The Greek insurgents managed to destroy an Ottoman relief army on its way to the forces of Omer Vrioni in Attica, and captured the supplies and baggage. 800 Turks were killed and 220 captured. Greek trophies included 18 flags, 2 cannons, and 800 horses. The Turks retreated to Lamia, to the north of Thermopylae. This victory prevented the Ottoman army in Attica and Evia to enter the

title: Battle of Vasilika

text: Battle of Vasilika The Battle of Vasilika was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence on August 25, 1821, near Thermopylae. The Greek insurgents managed to destroy an Ottoman relief army on its way to the forces of Omer Vrioni in Attica, and captured the supplies and baggage. 800 Turks were killed and 220 captured. Greek trophies included 18 flags, 2 cannons, and 800 horses. The Turks retreated to Lamia, to the north of Thermopylae. This victory prevented the Ottoman army in Attica and Evia to enter the Peloponnese and deliver the Ottoman

title: Battle of the Utus

text: Huns' army in the Battle of Utus, forced Attila to abandon any thought of besieging the capital. Instead, Attila marched south and laid waste the now-defenseless Balkan provinces (including Illyricum, Thrace, Moesia, Scythia and both provinces of Roman Dacia) until he was turned back at Thermopylae. Callinicus of Rufinianae wrote in his "Life of Saint Hypatius", who was still living in Thrace at the time, that "more than a hundred cities were captured, Constantinople almost came into danger and most men fled from it", although this was probably exaggerated. Peace was only restored when a treaty was signed a year

title: Battle of Tempe Gorge

text: had managed to hold their ground for the day, allowing the main forces to escape through Larissa. The Australians and New Zealanders moved throughout the night, with elements fighting further delaying actions as they withdrew, and by dawn on 19 April occupied a new defensive position around Thermopylae. The 16th Brigade's casualties during the battle were around 80 killed or wounded and 120 captured. The New Zealand 21st Battalion lost four killed or wounded. German losses were around 140 killed or wounded. As a result of the battle, the 2/2nd Battalion was largely broken up, and did not fight as

title: Last Stand of the 300

text: and his 300 Spartans, considered by many to be the greatest soldiers the world has ever known. Vastly outnumbered, the Greek Spartans held up the Persians advance for three days, until they were overrun by Persian forces. The film also focuses on the lead up to the Battle of Thermopylae revealing that the Greeks might have played a part in the Ionian Revolts in Asia Minor in 499 to 493 B.C. It brings its viewers into understanding ancient warfare when the documentary focuses on the naval battle around Thermopylae, strategic and tactical considerations, and the aftermath of the battle which

title: Battle of Zadwórze

text: 1918 defence of Lwów, for which he was awarded with Virtuti Militari and Krzyż Walecznych. His body was never found. In 1925 when the authorities of Warsaw and the commanders of the Polish Army decided to build a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, his mother Jadwiga Zarugiewiczowa was chosen as the person to select the coffin to be transported to Warsaw and buried in the grave. Battle of Zadwórze Battle of Zadwórze (sometimes referred to as the "Polish Thermopylae") was a battle of the Polish-Soviet War. It was fought on August 17, 1920 near the train station of

title: Battle of Artemisium

text: losses. They thus debated whether they should withdraw from Artemisium, whilst they awaited news from Thermopylae. Themistocles ordered the men to slaughter and barbecue the flocks of the Euboeans, so that they would not fall into Persian hands. Abronichus arrived on the liaison ship from Thermopylae and told the Allies of the destruction of the Allied rearguard at Thermopylae. Since holding the Straits of Artemisium now no longer held any strategic purpose, and given their losses, the Allies decided to evacuate immediately. The Persians were alerted to the withdrawal of the Greeks by a boat from Histiaea, but did not

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: was watching the battle. According to Ctesias, the first wave was "cut to ribbons", with only two or three Spartans killed in return. According to Herodotus and Diodorus, the king, having taken the measure of the enemy, threw his best troops into a second assault the same day, the Immortals, an elite corps of 10,000 men. However, the Immortals fared no better than the Medes, and failed to make any headway against the Greeks. The Spartans apparently used a tactic of feigning retreat, and then turning and killing the enemy troops when they ran after them. On the second day,

title: Battle of Thermopylae

text: the fighting men they had - according to Pausanias 6,000 men - which added to Herodotus' 5,200 would have given a force of 11,200. Many modern historians, who usually consider Herodotus more reliable, add the 1,000 Lacedemonians and the 900 helots to Herodotus' 5,200 to obtain 7,100 or about 7,000 men as a standard number, neglecting Diodorus' Melians and Pausanias' Locrians. However, this is only one approach, and many other combinations are plausible. Furthermore, the numbers changed later on in the battle when most of the army retreated and only approximately 3,000 men remained (300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans,