00:11Many years ago, in the land of Greece, there was a man, a warrior, whose name was Leonidas.
00:19Leonidas was the warrior king of the ancient city of Sparta, whose surprising rise to the throne
00:25was by rare luck, an unforeseeable situation. He was the third son of king Alexandrides,
00:32the then king of Sparta. Alexandrides, they said, had two wives. His second wife,
00:39bore him a son first, named Cleomenes, and soon after, his first wife also bore him a son,
00:46named Darius. The birth of Darius was followed by the birth of Leonidas.
00:52So, you see, with the position of Leonidas in his family, kingship was far beyond his reach.
00:59When Alexandrides died, the throne went to his eldest son, Cleomenes. However, Cleomenes died
01:06without a son, to carry on after him. And so Darius, was next in line for the throne.
01:12But Darius lost his life during an adventure, in Sicily. This, was how the throne of Sparta,
01:19went to Leonidas. The time of Leonidas was a time of war, and strife. And his days as king,
01:27were very hard on him and his people, as well as the whole of Greece. Some years earlier,
01:32before the reign of Leonidas, the Persian king, Darius, had led his large Persian army, in an
01:39invasion against the Greeks. The invasion however, was a failed attempt, which led to the death of the
01:45Persian king, Darius. Now Leonidas was king. He was about to face a second Persian invasion.
01:52For Xerxes, the new Persian king, and son of Darius, continued with his father's ambition,
01:58and sought to conquer all of Greece. By 480 BC, Xerxes had assembled a vast army of 150,000 men,
02:07and a navy of 600 ships. Xerxes then launched an attack, and the Greeks responded with their
02:14own smaller army, of about 7,000 men. This showdown, resulted in what is known today,
02:20as the battle of Thermophilae. The most famous battle of the Greco-Persian wars, and one of the
02:26most famous battles in European ancient history. Before the battle began, Leonidas visited the
02:33renowned oracle of Delphi. There, the oracle prophesied. For you, inhabitants of wide-waved
02:40Sparta. Either your great and glorious city, must be wasted by Persian men. Or if not that,
02:49then the bound of Lacedaemon must mourn a dead king, from Heracles' line. The might of bulls or lions,
02:56will not restrain him with opposing strength, for he has the might of Zeus.
03:01I declare that he will not be restrained, until he utterly clears apart one of these.
03:08From the words of the oracle, Leonidas knew, he had only two options, to surrender to the Persians,
03:15or to stand and fight for what was theirs, even though it would mean his death.
03:20The brave warrior king chose the second option, to fight for his city, to fight and die for his people.
03:27Leonidas selected 300 of his Spartan men, those who had living sons, to carry on their bloodline,
03:34should they fall in battle. Then they joined forces with warriors, from other Greek states.
03:40With a total of about 7000 men, the Greeks went to war. They chose a narrow pass between the mountains
03:47of central Greece and the sea, called Thermopylae, as their first line of defense.
03:53With the narrowness of the pass, only a small number of the Persians, could advance at a time.
03:59This, was an advantage, on the part of the Greeks.
04:02The battle of Thermopylae, lasted three days. For the first two days, the Greek forces maintained the
04:10front line. With their clever phalanx formation, they prevented the Persians, from breaking through the
04:16narrow paths. Their long spears, heavy shields, and body armor, were another advantage over the
04:23Persians, who had shorter spears, weaker shields, and very light armor, made of woven linen.
04:30Unfortunately, on the third day, a Greek native, called Ephialtes, betrayed the Greeks, by revealing
04:37to the Persians, a path that led around the mountain, allowing them to surround the defending Greek forces,
04:43on both sides. News of the betrayal, soon reached Leonidas. Their position had been exposed.
04:51With the Persian army drawing very close. Leonidas made a decision. He was not going to retreat.
04:57He knew they were greatly outnumbered. He knew they wouldn't make it out alive. So, he gave each of his
05:04men, the chance to choose. To choose to turn around and go back home. Or stand their ground and fight
05:10till their
05:11death. Many of the warriors went back home. But none of the Spartans left. And in the end,
05:17there were only 700 thespians, 400 thebans, and the 300 spartans, who chose to remain and fight,
05:24alongside Leonidas. Xerxes demanded that the Greeks surrender their weapons. To which Leonidas replied,
05:31come and get them. After a heated battle, the Greeks were defeated. Leonidas and all his men, were slain.
05:41When Xerxes came to Leonidas corpse, at the end of the battle. He ordered his men to cut off Leonidas
05:47head, and stick it on a pole. This was a sign, that Leonidas was a huge thorn, in Xerxes flesh.
05:55With Leonidas out of the way. Xerxes and his remaining Persians, marched on to Athens.
06:01He could easily conquer all of Greece now, he presumed. But he was wrong. The news of what the
06:07Greek defenders did at Thermophilae, had quickly spread around Greece. And warriors began to rise
06:13from all corners of Greece. The courage and fearlessness of Leonidas, had boosted their morale.
06:19It had motivated them. It had replaced the fear in their hearts, with courage.
06:25Soon enough, a new set of defenders, assembled, against the Persians. And successfully defeated
06:31the Persian army, in the battle of Salamis, and the battle of Plataea. Which marked the end of the
06:37second Persian invasion. Indirectly, the Greeks defeated Thermophilae, led to their victory at Salamis,
06:44and Plataea. Thus, the sacrifice of Leonidas and his men, was not in vain.
06:51The battle of Thermophilae, left a long lasting legacy. It demonstrated the courage of a small
06:57number of warriors. Who, in the face of a much larger enemy, stood their ground, until the bitter end.
07:05The battle of the
07:09The battle of Thames, king of the sikon, was on the ground.
07:10The battle of Thames, king of the sikon, was on the ground.
07:23The battle of T-sikon, was on the ground in some media and the battle of the sikon,
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