Leonidas was an ancient Greek king whose bravery in one battle made him famous for 2,500 years.
SPARTAN LIFE
Leonidas was the son of King Anaxandrias II of Sparta. Sparta was an ancient Greek city-state that brought up its citizens to be fiercely patriotic. Leonidas wasn’t heir to the throne so, like the sons of all Spartan citizens, Leonidas was sent to the agoge, a bit like an incredibly tough boarding school, at the age of seven. He became king after his half-brother died, around 490 BC.
PERSIAN INVASION
King Xerxes I, leader of the Persian Empire, tried to invade Greece in 490 BC but was defeated. Ten years later, he got together a massive army and navy and planned to make the whole of Greece part of the Persian Empire once and for all. Leonidas was put in charge of an alliance of Greek city-states, including Athens, to stop them at a pass between the mountains and the sea at a place called Thermopylae.
THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE
Leonidas probably had around 7,000 men under his command. Unfortunately, the Persian King Xerxes had more than ten times that number. Leonidas defended the narrowest part of the pass. The Persians sent a message to Leonidas asking him to lay down his weapons. He replied, ‘Come and get them,’ in true hard-nut style. Massively outnumbered, the Greeks fought bravely and held back the Persians. But then a traitor told the Persians about a path in the mountains so they could sneak behind the Greeks. Leonidas saw that this meant certain death. He sent most of the Greek army to safety, but bravely fought on with just 300 Spartan warriors. About 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans also stayed to help them fight. They delayed the Persians, but all of them died.
LEONIDAS THE HERO
Many Persian warriors were killed at Thermopylae. Xerxes was so angry about this that he had Leonidas’s head cut off and his body crucified. This was unusual, because Persians usually treated opponents they deemed worthy with respect. The following year, the Greeks put a stop to Xerxes’s invasion plans for good. Leonidas was celebrated as a hero, a shining example of fighting bravely against the odds and personal sacrifice for the good of his country.
Want to know what life was like in Sparta? See here.
