Thermopylae, 480 BCE: Beyond the 300
Reconstruct the defense of the pass, the Persian advance, and the choices made by the Greek coalition. Compare the role of Spartan, Thespian, and other allied fighters with the later legend of the 300.
Connections9
Battle of Salamis: people, places, and context for the episode.
The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle fought in 480 BC, between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles, and the Achaemenid Empire under King Xerxes. It resulted in a victory for the outnumbered Greeks.
Herodotus: people, places, and context for the episode.
Herodotus was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy.
Hoplite: people, places, and context for the episode.
Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers.
Battle of Artemisium: people, places, and context for the episode.
The Battle of Artemisium or Artemision was a series of naval engagements over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece.
Ephialtes of Trachis: people, places, and context for the episode.
Ephialtes was a Greek renegade during the Greco-Persian Wars. Born to Eurydemus (Εὐρύδημος) of Malis, he revealed the existence of a path around the Greek coalition's position at Thermopylae to the Achaemenid Empire.
Thespiae: people, places, and context for the episode.
Thespiae was an ancient Greek city (polis) in Boeotia. It sits at the foot of Mount Helicon and near right bank of the Thespius River.
Thermopylae: people, places, and context for the episode.
Thermopylae is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. In Greek mythology the Hot Gates is one of the entrances to Hades.
Xerxes I: people, places, and context for the episode.
Xerxes I was a Persian ruler who reigned as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa.
Leonidas I: people, places, and context for the episode.
Leonidas I was Greek king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent from Heracles. Leonidas I ascended to the throne in c.