Battles & Wars › Greece, Rome & Han › Battle of Thermopylae
Leonidas I and the 300 Spartans
king c. 489–480 BC; died August 480 BC· Person· Europe
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
Spartan king who led the Greek defense of the pass at Thermopylae in 480 BC and died there with his 300 Spartans.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Leonidas, of Sparta's Agiad royal line, marched with a picked force of 300 Spartans, each with a living son, plus several thousand allies to block Xerxes's huge army at the narrow pass of Thermopylae. They held for two days. When the Persians found a path around the pass, Leonidas sent most allies away and stayed with his Spartans, about 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. He was killed in the final fight, and most of his men died with him.
Why it matters
His stand became the West's model of a last stand for freedom. Militarily it bought time but failed; the decisive Greek victory came at sea, at Salamis.
Legacy and how we know
Herodotus, writing a generation later, is the main source. A monument with an epitaph credited to Simonides marked the site, and excavators found many Persian arrowheads on the hill of the last stand.
Still debated
Why he stayed, for honor, an oracle or a planned rearguard, is debated. Popular '300 alone' versions leave out the thousands of other Greeks.
Connections (2)
▸Leonidas I and the 300 Spartans died leading the Greek rearguard at the Battle of ThermopylaeWell documented
The connection
Leonidas commanded the whole Greek force, roughly 7,000 men, at the pass. Outflanked on the third day, he kept a rearguard to block the road while the rest of the army retreated south. He was killed that day. Once news came that the pass had fallen, the Greek fleet at Artemisium withdrew.
When and how
Thermopylae, central Greece, August 480 BC, against Xerxes's army.
How we know
Herodotus gives the account; the hill of the last stand yielded many Persian arrowheads in Spyridon Marinatos's excavations of 1939.
Debates and open questions
Day-by-day details depend on Herodotus alone. He says the Thebans were kept as hostages and then surrendered; later writers such as Plutarch disputed that charge.
▸Leonidas I and the 300 Spartans held the pass using the Phalanx (hoplite and Macedonian)Well documented
The connection
In the narrow pass, a phalanx of armored spearmen with overlapping shields could hold a front only tens of meters wide, where Persia's numbers and lighter-armored troops could not be fully used. The Greeks rotated units forward and used feigned retreats to draw Persians in.
When and how
Thermopylae's middle 'gate', August 480 BC, where an old Phocian wall gave the Greeks a fortified line.
How we know
Herodotus describes the unit rotations, the Spartan feigned retreats, and the Greeks' heavier armor and longer spears.
Debates and open questions
The pass's exact width in 480 BC is uncertain, because river silt has since pushed the coastline kilometers away.