The Battle of Thermopylae has been used as an analogy for many things including heroism despite impossible odds, selflessness, and duty to one's homeland. One of the effects of this battle was to ensure that Western civilization was not crushed in its infancy. All we know today of democracy, freedom, the right to speak one's mind and participate in government was defended at that pass to one degree or another.
The war had started earlier but now the Persians had amassed a huge army and were advancing on the homeland of the Greeks.
The Greek city-states were not entirely prepared for this but the Spartans had been made the head of their military. The Spartans had been the logical choice to head their defense for they lived an austere, almost militaristic, lifestyle. One of their sayings, "Come back with your shield or on it."
The Persians' army was large and not able to readily feed itself so it did not have the ability to make large maneuvers which would take time and potentially starve them. They had to take the direct route which was through a pass called Thermopylae. The Spartans knew this and prepared their defenses there. They rebuilt a wall and fort that had been there and waited, for they knew that time was on their side.
The Persians attacked with their best troops but most of them did not come back. Eventually internal treachery worked against the Spartans and another way to attack their defenses was revealed. Even after this new attack, the Spartans fought, and fought well, but could not hold. They fought to the last soldier.
The delay created allowed the Greeks to ready themselves. The Persians tried to also attack by sea and were defeated. A lot of damage was caused but their momentum was lost. The last of the Persians on Greek soil were defeated and the Greeks went on the offensive. The war ended in 492 B.C.
The Persians had one good shot to take control of the Greeks but it was thwarted by 300 soldiers who fought to the death. These soldiers could not have known that this battle would keep the tide of the war out of their enemy's hands. These men could not have known that their sacrifice would ensure representative government and self-rule for all time, nor cared. All they knew was that the only way for anyone to get to their homes, their families, and their way of life was through them.
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