Bryce Uphold
Ms. Rossbach
Honors English II
3/6/24
The Battle of Thermopylae Imagine a small number of soldiers trying to defend their land from upwards of 10 times their people to almost 40 times their people. This was shown in The Battle of Thermopylae, which was a war that took place in ancient Greece around 480 BCE and only took 5 days. This was a defense against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, led by Xerxes, and the defense was led by an alliance of Greek cities and states which were under Leonidas I. They however got betrayed by a local named Ephialtes who gave the Persians an alternative route to flank the Greek soldiers. Though this war was fought hard and strongly, the Greek soldiers were eventually defeated in the glory of battle.
This was originally provoked by Xerxes’ predecessor Darius The Great, who sent people to Greek cities in 491 BCE and was trying to …show more content…
When the Persians decided to attack, the Spartans were in the middle of celebrating a sacred festival that did not allow them to engage in any military action. Since this was happening they sent only 300 Spartans and 900 Perioikoi which would slow down the Persians. The king of the Spartans (Leonidas) decided he would lead the army but once they got to the spot it was already being defended by other cities. These cities included Tegeans, Corinthians, Mantineans, Arcadians, Mycenaeans, Malians, Thespians, Phlians, Thebans, Phocians, and the Eastern Locrians. Each of these cities were only able to send a few hundred soldiers to defend. The Persians planned to release so many arrows that one soldier said it would block out the sun and so Leonidas replied with “Won’t it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?”. This quote was so famous that the Greeks 20th division said “We shall fight in the shade” as a reference to this glorious
Ms. Rossbach
Honors English II
3/6/24
The Battle of Thermopylae Imagine a small number of soldiers trying to defend their land from upwards of 10 times their people to almost 40 times their people. This was shown in The Battle of Thermopylae, which was a war that took place in ancient Greece around 480 BCE and only took 5 days. This was a defense against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, led by Xerxes, and the defense was led by an alliance of Greek cities and states which were under Leonidas I. They however got betrayed by a local named Ephialtes who gave the Persians an alternative route to flank the Greek soldiers. Though this war was fought hard and strongly, the Greek soldiers were eventually defeated in the glory of battle.
This was originally provoked by Xerxes’ predecessor Darius The Great, who sent people to Greek cities in 491 BCE and was trying to …show more content…
When the Persians decided to attack, the Spartans were in the middle of celebrating a sacred festival that did not allow them to engage in any military action. Since this was happening they sent only 300 Spartans and 900 Perioikoi which would slow down the Persians. The king of the Spartans (Leonidas) decided he would lead the army but once they got to the spot it was already being defended by other cities. These cities included Tegeans, Corinthians, Mantineans, Arcadians, Mycenaeans, Malians, Thespians, Phlians, Thebans, Phocians, and the Eastern Locrians. Each of these cities were only able to send a few hundred soldiers to defend. The Persians planned to release so many arrows that one soldier said it would block out the sun and so Leonidas replied with “Won’t it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?”. This quote was so famous that the Greeks 20th division said “We shall fight in the shade” as a reference to this glorious