In the year 480 BC the ruler of the Persian empire, emperor Xerxes I, is preparing to take his revenge. Several years earlier, his father, Darius, had attempted an invasion of the Greek peninsula, seeking to add it to his empire. After a failed invasion however, the Greeks began to instigate revolts throughout the empire, postponing Darius’ plans for a second invasion. By the time Darius had finished putting down the revolts in his empire, he had grown old and died. Xerxes was going to avenge his father and finish what Darius had started, the conquest of Greece.

Initially demanding “earth and water” (a token of submission in ancient times), all of the city states complied, save Athens and Sparta. The Athenian court tried the emissaries as spies and executed them as such, but the Spartan government wasn’t quite so formal, and supposedly kicked the emissaries down a well. Twice.
Xerxes, his offer for the Greeks to surrender …show more content…
Sparta sends King Leonidas I, along with his personal bodyguard, known as ‘The 300’ to block the only road passable to the massive Persian army.
Recruiting men along the way, Leonidas arrives at the pass with an army of about 7 thousand men, 1 thousand of which were stationed along a secret side path so that the defenders couldn’t be outflanked. The Greek army held the pass for 7 days before a local Phocian sold the location of the side path to Xerxes men, and were outflanked and defeated. Although they were defeated, their last stand is one of the most famous in history, and is used around the globe as an example of the effect that superior training and defending one’s home soil can have on the ability to fight for their