At the news of Xerxes's campaign, at a general Greek meeting, it was decided to end internal strife, unite and meet the Persians in Thessaly, in the passage to the Tempean Valley. There, the Thessalian cavalry could provide assistance to the Greek hoplites. However, there was another pass in Thessaly through which the Persians could pass and the Greeks, after deliberation, withdrew to the narrow pass of Thermopylae, leaving the Thessalians, who were forced to submit to Xerxes. Ground Army The Greeks were protected by Thermopylae, and the united Greek fleet guarded the sea near the coast of Artemisium, so that the Persians could not go around Thermopylae by sea.

Artist Johnny Shumate

Herodotus, “Greek History”, 7.201-234, 8.24-25

“So, King Xerxes pitched his camp at Trakhin in the Mali land, while the Hellenes were in the pass. Most Hellenes call this place Thermopylae, and local residents and neighbors call it Pyla. So, both armies stood opposite each other in these places. In the hands of Xerxes was the entire region to the north up to Trakhin, and the Hellenes occupied the areas south of the pass on the side of the Hellenic mainland.

The Hellenic forces, awaiting the Persian king in this area, consisted of 300 Spartan hoplites, 1000 Tegeans and Mantineans (500 each); further, 120 people from Orkhomenes in Arcadia and 1000 from the rest of Arcadia. There were so many Arcadians. Then from Corinth 400, from Phlius 200 and 80 from Mycenae. These people came from the Peloponnese. From Boeotia there were 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. In addition, the Hellenes called for help from the Opuntian Locrians with all their militia and 1000 Phocians.

Artist Igor Dzys

Leonidas came to Thermopylae, selecting for himself, according to custom, a detachment of 300 people and, moreover, those who already had children. On the way there, he also added to his detachment the Thebans I listed above under the command of Leontiades, son of Eurymachus. Leonidas so hastily annexed to himself only the Thebans out of all the Hellenes precisely because a grave suspicion of sympathy for the Medes hung over them. So, the king called them to war, wanting to make sure whether they would send an army to help or openly refuse an alliance with the Hellenes. The Thebans still sent him people, although they thought about treason.

Xerxes sent a scout horseman to find out the number and intentions of the enemies. When this horseman approached the camp, he could not, however, see the entire camp (after all, those who were behind the restored wall could not be seen). The scout noticed only the warriors standing guard in front of the wall. And at this time the Lacedaemonians were keeping guard in front of the wall. And he saw how some of them were engaged in bodily exercises, while others were combing their hair.

The king (Xerxes) ordered to wait for four days, still hoping that the Spartans would take flight. Finally, on the fifth day, since the Hellenes still did not think to move from their place, but, as he thought, continued to stand out of arrogant recklessness, the king in a rage sent the Medes and Kissi against them with orders to take them alive and bring them before his eyes. The Medes quickly rushed towards the Hellenes; [with each onslaught] many Medes fell, others took the place of those who fell, but did not retreat, despite the heavy damage. Then, one might say, it became clear to everyone, and especially to the king himself, that the Persians had many people, but few husbands [among them]. This fight lasted the whole day.

Having received severe rebuff, the Medes were forced to retreat. They were replaced by the Persians led by Hydarn (the king called them “immortals”). They thought it would be easy to finish off their enemies. But when it came to hand-to-hand combat, the Persians were no more successful than the Medes, but things went equally badly: the Persians had to fight in narrow spaces with shorter spears than the Hellenes. At the same time, the Persians were not helped by their numerical superiority. The Lacedaemonians fought valiantly with the enemy and showed their experience in military affairs in front of an inept enemy, by the way, this is what. Whenever they made a turn from time to time, they all took flight at once for the sake of appearance. At the sight of this, the barbarians began to press them with a battle cry and noise. The Spartans, overtaken by the enemy, turned to face the enemy and defeated a countless number of Persians. At the same time, however, few Spartans died. Since the Persians could not take possession of the passage, although they tried to storm it in separate detachments and as a whole mass, they also had to retreat.

Artist Johnny Shumate

During these battles, the king is said to have watched the progress of the battle and, in fear for his army, jumped up from his throne three times. So they fought that day, but the next day did not bring good luck to the barbarians. The barbarians attacked in the belief that, given the small number of enemies, they would all be wounded and would no longer be able to resist. The Hellenes stood in battle formation according to tribes and types of weapons, and everyone fought, replacing each other, except the Phocians. The Phokians were sent to the mountain to guard the mountain path. And the Persians, seeing that things were going no better than yesterday, retreated again.

Meanwhile, the king did not know what to do next. Then a certain Epialtes, son of Euridemus, a Malian, appeared to him. Hoping for a great royal reward, he showed the Persians the path leading through the mountain to Thermopylae, and thereby destroyed the Hellenes who were there... Xerxes accepted Epialtes’s offer and immediately, being extremely happy, sent Hydarnes with his detachment. The Persians left the camp about the time when the lamps were lit. This path was once found by local Malians and showed the way along it to the Thessalians against the Phocians (the Phocians, having fenced the passage with a wall, considered themselves safe from attack). However, since the trail was opened, the Malians have not used it at all. After crossing the Asopus, the Persians walked along this path all night. The Eteian Mountains rose to the right, and the Trakhinsky Mountains to the left. And now the morning dawn was already shining when they reached the top of the mountain. In this place of the mountain (as I said earlier) 1000 Phocian hoplites stood guard to protect their land and guard the path.

And the Phocians noticed that the Persians were already on the top, that’s how. After all, the Persians climbed the mountain unnoticed, since it was all densely overgrown with oak forest. There was complete silence, and when suddenly a strong crash was heard (from the leaves that naturally rustled under the feet of the soldiers), the Phocians jumped up and rushed to their weapons. At that moment the barbarians appeared. With amazement, the barbarians saw people in front of them putting on armor. For they, not expecting to meet any resistance, stumbled upon a detachment of warriors. Then Hydarnes, fearing that these were not Phocians, but Lacedaemonians, asked Epialtes where these warriors were from. Having received accurate information, he lined up the soldiers in battle formation. And the Phocians, under a hail of arrows, immediately fled to the top of the mountain and, thinking that the Persians were attacking them, were already preparing for death. The Phocians thought so, and the Persians, led by Epialtes and Hydarnes, did not even pay attention to them, but hastily began their descent.

Then defectors arrived with a message about the Persian outflanking movement. This happened at night. Finally, already at dawn, running down from the top, the “day guards” appeared [with the same message]. Then the Hellenes began to hold council, and their opinions were divided. Some were in favor of not retreating from their post, while others objected. After this, the army divided: part of it left and scattered, and each returned to his own city; others and Leonid decided to stay with them. They also say that Leonidas himself sent away his allies to save them from death. It was not proper for him and his Spartans, he believed, to leave the place they were sent to protect. So, the released allies left on the orders of Leonidas. Only the Thespians and Thebans remained with the Lacedaemonians. The Thebans remained reluctantly, against their will, since Leonidas held them as hostages; The Thespians, on the contrary, were with great joy: they refused to leave Leonidas and his Spartans. They stayed and fell along with the Spartans. Their leader was Demophilus, son of Diadromus.

Finally, Xerxes' hordes began to approach. The Hellenes, led by Leonidas, going to the mortal battle, now moved much further to the place where the passage widens. For in days past, some of the Spartans defended the wall, while others fought the enemy in the gorge itself, to which they always retreated. Now the Hellenes rushed hand-to-hand outside the passage, and in this battle the barbarians died in the thousands. Behind the ranks of the Persians stood the commanders of the detachments with whips in their hands and blows of the whips urged the soldiers forward and forward. Many enemies fell into the sea and died there, but many more were crushed by their own. No one paid attention to the dying. The Hellenes knew about the certain death that threatened them at the hands of the enemy who had bypassed the mountain. That is why they showed the greatest military valor and fought the barbarians desperately and with insane courage.

Most of the Spartans had already broken their spears and then began to hit the Persians with their swords. In this battle, Leonidas also fell after valiant resistance, and along with him many other noble Spartans. I learned their names because they deserve praise. I also learned the names of all three hundred Spartans. Many noble Persians also fell there; among them are two sons of Darius - Abrocom and Hyperanthes, born to him by Artan's daughter Frataguna. Artan was the brother of King Darius, son of Hystaspes, son of Arsam. He gave Darius all his property as a dowry for his daughter, since she was the only one he had.

So Xerxes' two brothers fell in this battle. A hot hand-to-hand fight began between the Persians and Spartans over the body of Leonidas, until finally the brave Hellenes snatched it from the hands of their enemies (at the same time they put the enemy to flight four times). The battle continued until the Persians and Epialtes approached. Noticing the approach of the Persians, the Hellenes changed their method of fighting. They began to retreat into the gorge and, having passed the wall, took up a position on the hill - all together, except for the Thebans. This hill was located at the entrance to the passage (where the stone lion in honor of Leonidas now stands). Here the Spartans defended themselves with swords, whoever still had them, and then with their hands and teeth, until the barbarians bombarded them with a hail of arrows, and some, pursuing the Hellenes in front, brought down a wall on them, while others surrounded them on all sides.

They were buried in the place where they fell. To them and those who fell even before Leonidas released his allies, a stone was placed there with an inscription that reads:

“They once fought here against three hundred myriads

There are only forty hundred Peloponnesian men in all.”

Of all these valiant Lacedaemonians and Thespians, the most valiant, they say, was the Spartan Dienecus. According to stories, even before the start of the battle with the Medes, he heard from one man from Trakhin: if the barbarians shoot their arrows, then a cloud of arrows will cause an eclipse of the sun. The Persians had such a great variety of arrows! Dienek, they say, was not at all afraid of the number of barbarians and answered lightly: “Our friend from Trachin brought excellent news: if the Medes darken the sun, then it will be possible to fight in the shadows.”

They say that two of the three hundred [Spartans] - Eurytus and Aristodemus - both could have survived if they had been unanimous and returned to Sparta (they were released by Leonidas from the camp and lay in the Alpenae, suffering from a serious eye disease). Or, not wanting to return to their homeland, they could at least die along with the others. Although both of these possibilities were open to them, they did not reach mutual agreement and disagreed.

Eurytus, having learned that the Persians had bypassed the mountain, demanded his armor. Then, donning armor, he ordered the helot to lead him to the fighters. Helot led Eurytus to Thermopylae, but then fled, and Eurytus fell into the thick of the battle and died. Aristodemus did not have the courage [to die] and remained alive. If only Aristodemus alone had returned sick to Sparta, or both of them together, then, I think, the Spartans would not have been angry with him. Now, when one of them fell, and the other (giving the same reason as his justification) did not want to die, the Spartans inevitably had to become very angry with him. In this way and with such a reservation, one legend says, Aristodemus arrived in Sparta unharmed. Others say that he was sent as a messenger from the camp and he could have made it to the beginning of the battle, but did not want this, and, deliberately delayed on the way, saved his life. Meanwhile, another messenger (his comrade) arrived in time for the battle and died.

Meanwhile, the Thebans, led by Leontiades, had to fight for some time together with the Hellenes against the royal army. Seeing that the Persians were gaining the upper hand and were pushing Leonidas’s detachment towards the hill, the Thebans separated from the Lacedaemonians and, stretching out their arms, went to meet the enemy. The Thebans declared - and this was the absolute truth - that they were entirely on the side of the Persians and from the very beginning gave the king land and water, and they came to Thermopylae only under duress and were innocent of the damage caused to the king. With such assurances the Thebans saved their lives, and the Thessalians testified to the truth of their words. True, they were not lucky in everything: when the Thebans approached, the barbarians captured some of them and killed them. Most of them, and first of all the chief Leontiades, by order of Xerxes, were branded with the royal mark (Leontiades' son Eurymachus was subsequently killed by the Plataeans when he, at the head of 400 Thebans, captured their city).

This is how the Hellenes fought at Thermopylae. And Xerxes ordered Demaratus to be summoned to him for questioning and began like this: “Demaratus! You are a man devoted to me. I judge this by your truthfulness. After all, everything turned out just as you said. Now tell me, how many Lacedaemonians are left and do they still have many such valiant fighters or are they all brave?” Demaratus answered: “King! The number of the Lacedaemonians is large, and they have many cities. And what you want to know, you will find out. There is a city called Sparta in Laconia, and there are about 8,000 men in it. They are all as valiant as those who fought here. The rest of the Lacedaemonians, however, are not like these, but still brave men.”

Artist Giuseppe Rava

Xerxes ordered the removal of the dead bodies and sent a herald to the soldiers in the fleet. The king did this with the bodies of the fallen. Of the total number of those who fell in his army at Thermopylae (and there were 20,000 people), Xerxes ordered to leave about 1000, and for the rest to dig graves and bury them. The graves were covered with leaves and covered with earth so that people from the ships would not see them. The herald, having crossed to Histiaeum, said this to the entire fleet assembled there: “Allies! King Xerxes allows anyone who wants to leave his place to go and see how he fights with these reckless people who dreamed of defeating the royal power! Nevertheless, for none of those who came [to see the fallen] did Xerxes’ act with his fallen soldiers remain a secret. And it was really even funny: of the total number of fallen Persians, only 1000 corpses lay in plain sight, while the fallen Hellenes - 4000 dead bodies - were all dumped together in one place.”

Ctesias, “Peach”, 21-24

“Xerxes undertook a campaign against the Greeks because the Chalcedonians, as I said above, tried to demolish the bridge and overthrew the altar that Darius had erected, and because the Athenians, having killed Datis at the battle of Marathon, refused to return his body to the Persians. Xerxes, raising an army of 800,000 men, besides war chariots, and equipping a thousand triremes, invaded Greece, building a bridge at Abydos. It was at this time that the Lacedaemonian Demaratus went to meet him in order to stop the attack on Lacedaemon. Xerxes, arriving at the Thermopylae Pass, sent against the Lacedaemonian strategist Leonidas Artaphanes, who commanded a thousand Persians. A great number of Persians died, while the Lacedaemonians lost two or three people. Then twenty thousand people were sent into battle, but they too were defeated. They were driven into battle with whips, but even driven by mastigons (overseers), they were defeated. The next day he ordered fifty thousand to renew the battle, but, having achieved nothing with these efforts, he stopped the battle. Phorax the Thessalian, Calliades and Timafernes, the most influential of the Trachinians, were then in the Persian camp with their troops. Xerxes called them, along with Demaratus and Aegius of Ephesus, to him and learned that he could defeat the Lacedaemonians by surrounding them. With these two Trachinians as guides to the Persian army, 40,000 men passed through the narrow passage and came to the rear of the Lacedaemonians; Thus surrounded, they fought bravely and all died.”

Artist Johnny Shumate

Diodorus, “Historical Library”, 11.2-10

“And the Greeks, when they learned about large sizes Persian armaments sent ten thousand hoplites to Thessaly to defend the Tempean Valley; Sinetius commanded the Lacedaemonians, and Themistocles the Athenians. These commanders sent envoys to the city-states and asked that soldiers be sent to join in the joint defense of the pass, because they passionately desired that all the Greek states should each contribute to the defense and act together in the fight against the Persians. But since a large number of The Thessalians and other Greeks who lived near the pass gave water and land to Xerxes' envoys; when they arrived, the two generals despaired of defending Tempei and returned to their own domains.

There were therefore one thousand Lacedaemonians, and with them three hundred Spartiates, while the rest of the Greeks who were sent with them to Thermopylae numbered three thousand. The Locrians, however, who lived near the pass, had already given land and water to the Persians, and promised that they would occupy the pass in advance, but when they learned that Leonidas had arrived at Thermopylae, they changed their tune and went over to the Greeks. And here also gathered at Thermopylae a thousand Locrians, an equal number of Melians, and almost a thousand Phocians, as well as four hundred Thebans of another party, for the inhabitants of Thebes were divided against each other regarding the alliance with the Persians. Now the Greeks, who had been assembled by Leonidas for battle, being in such numbers as we have said, remained at Thermopylae, awaiting the arrival of the Persians.

But when Xerxes arrived at the Gulf of Melis, he learned that the enemy had already captured the passage. Therefore, having united the armed forces here with his troops, he called upon his allies from Europe, a little less than two hundred thousand people, so that he now possessed, in total, no less than a million soldiers, not counting the personnel of the fleet. Total number the masses who served on the ships of war, and who carried provisions and general equipment, were no less than those whom we have already mentioned, so that the account usually given of the multitude gathered together by Xerxes should not cause surprise; for people say that an endless stream of carts followed an endless procession of people, and that the sea was covered with the sails of ships. However, it may have been the greatest army ever recorded that accompanied Xerxes.

Xerxes sent envoys to Thermopylae to find out, among other things, what the Greeks thought about the war with him, and he ordered them to make the following proclamation: “King Xerxes orders everyone to give up their weapons, go safe and sound to their native places, and be allies of the Persians , and to all the Greeks who do this, he will give large and best lands than those they now possess.” But when Leonidas heard the orders of the envoys, he answered them: “If we are to be allies of the king, we will be more useful if we retain our weapons, and if we must wage war against him, we will fight for our freedom better if we we will not give him up, and as for the land that he promises to give, the Greeks learned from their fathers to acquire land not with cowardice, but with valor.”

Artist A. Averyanov

Xerxes and his army marched against the Greeks at Thermopylae. And he put the Medes ahead of all other nations, either because he preferred their strength and courage, or because he wanted to destroy their detachment, because the Medes retained a proud spirit; the dominion exercised by their ancestors was only recently overthrown. And he also appointed, together with the Medes, the brothers and sons of those who had fallen at Marathon, believing that they would take revenge on the Greeks most violently. Then the Medes, formed for battle as we have described, attacked the defenders of Thermopylae, but Leonidas carefully prepared and concentrated the Greeks in the narrowest part of the pass.

The ensuing battle was very hot, and since the barbarians had the king as a witness of their valor, and the Greeks remembered their freedom, and were inspired to fight by Leonidas, all this led to surprising bitterness. Indeed, since when fighting, people stood shoulder to shoulder and were struck by blows in close combat, and the ranks were tightly packed, for a considerable time the battle was equal. But since the Greeks had an advantage in valor and in the size of their shields, the Medes gradually yielded, for many of them were killed, and quite a few were wounded. The place of the Medes in the battle was taken by the Cassians and Sakas, chosen for their valor, who advanced to support them; and entered the battle with fresh forces against the people who were tired, but after enduring the dangers of battle for a short time, beaten and driven back by the soldiers of Leonidas, they retreated. For the barbarians used small, round or irregular shape, shields that gave them an advantage in the open field, since they were thus able to move more easily, but in narrow places where they could not easily inflict wounds on enemies formed in close ranks, and whose body was protected by large shields, while they, being at a disadvantage by reason of the lightness of their protective armor, were repeatedly wounded.

At last Xerxes, seeing that the whole neighborhood around the pass was strewn with corpses, and that the barbarians were powerless against the valor of the Greeks, sent forward selected Persians, known as the “Immortals,” who were the most famous and honored among the entire army for their valiant deeds. But when they fled only after a short resistance, then in the end, when night fell, they interrupted the battle, the barbarians lost many killed, and the Greeks a small number.

The next day Xerxes, now that the battle was turning out contrary to his expectations, choosing from all the nations of his army such men as had a reputation for distinguished courage and courage, after a sincere appeal, announced before the battle that if they stormed the pass, he would generously reward them , but if they run, the punishment will be death. These people rushed at the Greeks like one mighty stream and with great ferocity, but Leonidas' soldiers, having closed their ranks at this time, and making their formation like a wall, entered the battle with fervor. And they went so far in their zeal that the ranks which were accustomed to engage in battle in turn did not change, and by reason of their infinite endurance of trials they proved the better and killed many of the chosen barbarians. They spent the day in confrontation, competing with each other; for the old soldiers challenged the fresh forces of the youth, and the younger ones competed themselves with the experience and merits of their older comrades. And when, finally, even the chosen barbarians fled, the barbarians who were in reserve blocked their path and did not allow the chosen soldiers to escape, and, consequently, they were forced to turn back and renew the battle.

While the king was in alarm, believing that no man would have the courage to go into battle again, a certain Trakhinian, a native of this region, who was familiar with the mountainous region, came to him. This man was brought to Xerxes and undertook to lead the Persians along a narrow and steep path, so that the people who accompanied him would go to the rear of Leonidas’s army, which would be surrounded and thus easily destroyed. The king was delighted, and showering the Trakhin with gifts, sent 20,000 soldiers with him under cover of darkness. But one person among the Persians named Tirrastides, a Cymean by birth, of a noble and honest lifestyle, deserted at night from the Persian camp to the camp of Leonidas, who knew nothing about the act of the Trakhinian, and warned him.

Leonidas, king of the Lacedaemonians, eager to obtain a reward for himself and for the Spartans great glory, ordered all the other Greeks to withdraw and seek safety for themselves, so that they could fight alongside the Greeks in the battles that still lay ahead; but as for the Lacedaemonians, he said, they should remain rather than abandon the defense of the pass, for it was fitting for the leaders of Hellas to die gladly in seeking to gain glory. Immediately, as soon as all the others had gone, Leonidas, together with his fellow-citizens, performed a heroic and astonishing deed, and, although the Lacedaemonians were few (he held only the Thespians), he, with no more than five hundred men in all, was ready to face death in the name of Hellas.

After the Persians, who were led by the Trakhinian, having made their way through difficult terrain, suddenly surrounded Leonidas between their troops, the Greeks, abandoning any thought about their own safety and preferring glory in return, unanimously asked their commander to lead them against the enemy before the Persians knew that their men had completed their circuit around them. And Leonidas, welcoming the desire of his soldiers, ordered them to quickly prepare breakfast, since they would have to dine in Hades, and he himself, in accordance with the order given to them, took food, believing that by doing so he could preserve his strength for a long time. time and withstand the stress of struggle. When they had hastily refreshed themselves and were all ready, he ordered the soldiers to attack the camp, killing all who came in their way, and fight their way to the great royal tent.

Then the soldiers, in accordance with the orders given to them, forming a dense detachment, attacked the Persian camp under cover of darkness, Leonidas leading the attack; and the barbarians, because of the surprise of the attack and because of ignorance of the reasons for it, fled together from their tents with great confusion and disorder, and, thinking that the soldiers who had gone with the Trachinian had died, and that the whole army of the Greeks had attacked them, they were struck with horror. As a result, many of them were killed by Leonidas's troops, and even more died at the hands of their comrades, who in their ignorance mistook them for enemies. As the night prevented any understanding of the true state of affairs, and the confusion that engulfed the whole camp was the cause, we may well believe, of great loss, since they continued to kill each other, in circumstances that did not allow the opportunity to look around, because there were no orders from the generals , neither any requirement for a password, nor, in general, any return of sanity.

Indeed, if the king had remained in the royal tent, he could also easily have been killed by the Greeks and the whole war would have reached a speedy conclusion, but, as it happened, Xerxes ran out to the noise, and the Greeks burst into the tent and killed almost everyone they found there. Throughout the night they wandered around the entire camp, looking for Xerxes - a reasonable act, but when dawn broke and all the circumstances of the case became clear, the Persians, noticing that the Greeks were few in number, began to look at them with contempt; However, the Persians did not dare to engage them face to face, fearing their valor, but they surrounded them on the flanks and rear, and, shooting arrows and throwing spears at them from all sides, they killed every single one. This is what concerns the soldiers of Leonidas, who guarded the passage at Thermopylae, and this is the end of their lives they met.”

Walking for 14 days along the shores of the Pagasei Gulf, they reached the city of Galos. Three days later, having crossed Othrid, it descended into the wide valley of Sperchei, all the tribes of which had previously expressed their submission by sending land and water to the Persian king. All the way to this valley, the Persians did not encounter obstacles, but they met them in the south of it: there, between the city of Anthelo, where the ancient Amphictyony gathered in a temple dedicated to Demeter, and the Locrian town of Alpenami, the path goes along a very narrow strip of seaside and, in the so-called “warm gate” (Thermopylae), it narrows twice so that it barely has the width of a cart. Here stood the allied Greek army, under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas. It occupied both of those very narrow places, and its position at Thermopylae was insurmountable as long as its communications with the sea remained free and until the road in its rear was occupied by the enemy along a narrow gorge through Mount Callidromus; To guard this road, 1000 Phocians were stationed on it. The Greeks believed that this detachment was sufficient to defend the Thermopylae Gorge.

Persian warriors. Palace bas-relief at Persepolis

When the Greeks saw the first Persian horsemen and heard about the countless forces of the enemies that filled the Spercheus valley, they lost heart. The Peloponnesians said that it was necessary to retreat; they wanted to stop for defense only on the Isthmus Isthmus. The Locrians and Phocians argued against this plan, whose areas would be abandoned defenseless to the prey of enemies if Thermopylae was left undefended. The Spartans and their brave king joined their opinion. It seemed to the Spartans that it would be an eternal shame for them if they gave into the hands of the barbarians the place about which so much is said in the myth of Hercules, the ancestor of their kings: here at the warm springs was his altar, here stood the city of Trakhina, where he made his last labors of Hercules; here flowed the stream of Diras, trying in vain to douse the blazing fire on which Hercules was dying; here was the most ancient meeting place of the Delphic amphictyony. The voice of the Spartans decided the matter. It was decided to defend Thermopylae, and in order to encourage his detachment, Leonidas sent the council of the union meeting on Isthmus a request to send reinforcements.

Xerxes was surprised to hear from the spy that the soldiers assigned to guard Thermopylae were engaged in wrestling and other gymnastic exercises and comb their hair. The former Spartan king Demaratus, who was in the Persian army, explained to him that this was a sign of their determination to fight; Spartans usually comb their hair before battle. Xerxes delayed the attack on Thermopylae for four days in the hope that they would leave without a fight, or in anticipation of the Persian fleet. Tradition says that he sent them a demand that they give up their weapons, and received a laconic answer: “come and take it”! According to another legend, one of the citizens of Trakhina wanted to frighten the Greeks with the words that the arrows of the enemies would obscure the sun, so countless were the enemies; then the Spartan Dienek answered him: “So much the better, we will fight in the shadows.” But the fleet still did not appear on the fifth day, as it fought with the Greeks at Artemisium; then the king moved troops against Leonidas. He sent the Medes and the Susian Kissians. Their attack was unsuccessful: high shields protected the Greeks from countless arrows, and their long spears overthrew many enemies. Xerxes, watching the battle of Thermopylae from a hill near Trakhina, ordered Hydarnes to lead a detachment of 10,000 immortals into battle, of which he was the leader. Leonidas moved his bravest warriors, the Spartans, against this detachment. They quickly attacked the Persians and killed many. Then they pretended to flee, and when the barbarians, as they expected, rushed after them with a loud cry, they suddenly rushed forward again and drove the Persians back with great loss. This is how the brave Spartans fought and showed that they were skilled warriors. Three times the Persian king stood up from his seat, peering at the battle of Thermopylae.

Map of the Greco-Persian Wars showing the site of the Battle of Thermopylae

The next day it resumed and was also unsuccessful for the Persians. Leonid's steadfast courage inspired the entire army. The Greeks went into battle with their tribal troops in orderly order; there was no hesitation in their ranks. Xerxes was embarrassed; but the betrayal of the greedy Greek brought him success, which his arrows and spearmen could not achieve. Before evening, the Malian Ephialtes came to the king and offered to show the Persians the path through the mountain. He hoped for great reward. Xerxes joyfully accepted his offer and ordered Hydarnes to follow him with a detachment of immortals. When night fell, the detachment left the camp and by dawn reached a pass over the mountain. The noise of leaves in the dense oak forest in the quiet hour of dawn was heard by the Phocians standing there; They realized that the enemy had approached them, quickly jumped up and grabbed their weapons. Hydarn was surprised to find warriors here; he feared that these were the Spartans, whose courage he had already experienced at the Battle of Thermopylae. But, hearing from Ephialtes that these were not Spartans, he led his army into battle. The Phocians could not withstand the arrows that the Persians showered on them: careless, taken by surprise, they timidly fled to the heights of Eta. The Persians, without pursuing them, went down the southern gorge of the mountain to attack the Greeks from the rear, when at the agreed time, around noon, a mass of troops would resume the attack from the front.

The fleeing guards brought news to the Spartan king at dawn that the Persians were beginning to descend from the mountain. A military council hastily gathered to decide what to do now that destruction threatens.

There would still be time to escape by a quick retreat from Thermopylae, and there were people who said that this should be done. But Leonidas would have disgraced himself if he had left the dangerous post entrusted to his protection by the Spartan government. He could not return to Sparta having fled from the enemy; Spartan custom was not like that. The Delphic oracle told the Spartans that either their country would be devastated or one of their kings would be killed; he predicted to them that the strength of the “lion” would not stop the enemies. This clearly showed Leonid what decision he had to make; he knew what the Spartan government expected from him, sending him to a forward position with a few and already elderly warriors and leaving him without reinforcements.

Leonid understood his destiny and thought about death without fear. But he did not want to involve warriors of other states in his death. Therefore, he released his allies from Thermopylae, while the route of retreat through Scarthea and Tronion to the south was still clear. He left to die with him in the battle of Thermopylae only the Spartans, Perieci and Helots who still survived, and the Theban hoplites, whom he took with him as hostages. The Locrian and Peloponnesian warriors willingly obeyed his orders to leave. But the Thespians, of whom there were 700 people, under the command of the brave Demophilus, firmly said that they would not leave. They voluntarily chose death in the battle of Thermopylae in order to save the honor of the Boeotian name.

The number of hoplites remaining with Leonidas was probably about 1200; In the morning he led them from the northern gorge forward into the last battle. At breakfast before leaving the Fermopil camp, he, as the legend says, told them that they would dine in the underworld. “They found the enemy already ready for battle: Xerxes made a sacrifice early in the morning, put his troops in battle formation, and waited for the agreed signal from Hydarnes to quickly move them against the Greeks. They were surprised to see that the Greeks themselves were coming towards them. The Greeks fought with the courage of lions in the Battle of Thermopylae against countless enemy forces. The Persians fell in heaps from the spears and swords of the hoplites, drowning in the swamp, pressed by them; the guards drove the rear ranks forward with whips, the onslaught overturned those fighting in front, and those driven by the whips trampled their lying comrades. The Greeks, who doomed themselves to death, performed miracles of courage: they walked forward, fought so that their spears broke and their swords became dull. Among the Persians killed were two sons Daria. But fewer and fewer Greeks remained. Leonidas, “the most praiseworthy man,” as Herodotus calls him, fell struck by a mortal wound in the chest. The Persians and Greeks fought over the possession of his body.

Four times the Greeks repulsed the enemies who rushed at them. Finally, they received news that the Persians, whom Ephialtes had led across Mount Ephialtes, were already approaching their rear; then they, tired, retreated behind the wall built by the Phocians across the second gorge; it was fortified with a ditch, along which the Phocians ran the Warm Springs. The Greeks locked its gates and defended themselves with twisted and broken weapons, with bare hands, teeth from the barbarians who stormed the wall. The Persians finally climbed the wall, broke it, and surrounded the Greeks. The last few who were still alive, the Lacedaemonians and Thespians, sat on a hill and calmly awaited death. The Persians killed them all. The Thebans, who had separated from the other Greeks, laid their helmets and shields on the ground, and, holding out their hands, shouted that they were friends of the Persians, that they went into battle only under duress. But before the Persians could understand their cry, many of them were killed; Xerxes sent an order to spare the surviving Thebans, but ordered the mark of the royal slaves to be burned on their leader Leontiades and on all of them; with this shameful stigma he sent them home.

The last battle of the 300 Spartans was the Battle of Thermopylae. Video

The number of Greeks killed in the Battle of Thermopylae probably extended to 4,000 people, the number of Persians killed was five times higher. Of the Spartans, two survived who were not in the camp on the last day; they were declared dishonorable because they were suspected of not going to battle out of timidity. One of them killed himself. Another restored his honor the following year with a heroic death at the Battle of Plataea. The Spartans glorified Leonid and his 300 warriors with songs and legends, holding holidays and games in their honor. At the place where the heroes of the Battle of Thermopylae fell, a copper lion was placed, the inscription on which told the traveler that Leonidas and his companions died fulfilling the orders of Sparta. They brilliantly proved the truth of the words spoken by Demaratus to Xerxes, that the Spartans would do everything that honor and laws demanded of them.

“The Battle of Thermopylae became one of those battles that entered the history not only of one or two states, but was able to firmly establish itself in world history and firmly settle in the minds and hearts of people. What was special about this battle? First things first.”

Strengths of the parties

This battle took place in September 480 BC. e. during the famous Greco-Persian War. In this battle, about 6 thousand Greeks held back the 250 thousand Persian army for several days. According to other sources, the Persian army had about 80 thousand soldiers. And ancient historians describe to them, in general, millions of armies. There is no single point of view on the size of the Persian army. However, everyone agrees that this army was incredibly huge for that time. Invading Greece Xerxes I planned to conquer Hellas due to significant numerical superiority. The Persian army consisted of various tribes and nationalities, so it is difficult to say anything about them fighting spirit Most likely, as at Marathon, they were driven into battle only by devotion to the king or fear of severe punishment. The allies in the Persian army were armed mainly with bows, short spears, clubs, daggers and light leather shields. The Persians themselves were slightly better armed.

In the Greek army, things were much better with this, since mostly volunteers who were extremely motivated took part in the Battle of Thermopylae. The question of the participation of the Helots in the battle remains open. The fact is that Helots were in an intermediate position in Sparta, somewhere between slaves and servants. However, the records of ancient historians preserve information about at least one Helot who participated in the battle. The morale of these warriors is questioned, but most likely they took part in the battle on the side of the Greeks. The main Greek army consisted of heavily armed warriors in strong armor with heavy round shields covering the entire body and with heavy protective helmets. Such equipment, when formed in a phalanx, made the Greeks practically invulnerable in a narrow space, which was Thermopylae Gorge.

Battle

The entire battle lasted only 3 days. But, despite its brevity, it was able to become legendary. Xerxes after a 4-day wait, the offensive began. On the 5th day, the first to attack were close relatives of those who died 10 years ago in the Battle of Marathon. The Greeks met them with dense rows of phalanxes. The attacking Persians fought with wild fury, but they failed to break the Spartans. The first wave of Persians fled with heavy losses. Second wave Xerxes sent the furious and warlike Kissi and Saks, but they were not successful either. The lightly armed Persian warriors, accustomed to fighting in open space, could not break the Greek defense. Then the king of the Persians threw a detachment into battle " immortals" - its elite guard. However, the Spartans skillfully used the tactics of a false retreat, and then abruptly met the upset ranks of the Persians, defeating them in Once again. While watching the battle, Xerxes rose from his throne several times in rage. The Persian position seemed hopeless. The next day the Persians attacked again. Xerxes promised them a reward for victory and death if they escaped. The battle was fierce, again and again the Persians threw new forces into battle, the Greeks took the places of their dead and did not yield an inch to the enemy. Xerxes retreated to his camp in complete bewilderment. There a local resident was brought to him Ephialta, who told him a secret path bypassing the Greek forces. That same evening, the 20 thousandth Persian army set off on a detour. On day 3, heroic defense the Greeks ended. The Phocians guarding the passage retreated, thereby giving the Persians the opportunity to surround the Spartans. Leonidas ordered the Greek allied forces to retreat to their cities. Only the Spartans, Thespians and Thebans remained in the gorge. The Greeks knew that they would not see victory, but they wanted to die fighting. Closer to the night Spartans headed by Leonid rushed to the attack, hoping to cause panic and confusion in the Persian camp and kill Xerxes. Diodorus talks about last battle Spartans as a living legend. The Greeks attacked the Persian camp and in a glorious battle were able to destroy many before they were all pelted with arrows and spears. In this battle, King Leonidas himself died, as well as Abrocom and Hyperanthes, the brothers of King Xerxes.

Results of the battle

From a strategic point of view, the battle was completely lost. Greeks were defeated, the Persians continued their conquest of Greece, and the huge losses of Xerxes’ army were easily compensated by the overall enormity of his army and looked insignificant against the general background. However, this battle was a huge moral victory for the Greeks. Also, although the Persians were victorious, their spirit and self-confidence were significantly damaged. Although this battle did not become the decisive stage of the Greek victory, it made a significant contribution to further victories and, as a result, to the victory of the Hellenes in the entire Greco-Persian War.

I first learned about the feat of the Spartans at the age of twelve, when I watched the American film “300 Spartans” directed by Rudolf Mate.

Then all the boys were inspired by this film and watched it several times. In every yard they played Spartans. They made spears, swords, and shields with an inverted letter “V”. The phrase “with a shield or on a shield” has become a catchphrase for us.

But I never even dreamed of seeing the site of the legendary battle of the Spartans with my own eyes.

And when I recently visited Greece, I visited the site of the battle between the Spartans and the Persians.

True, it has not been preserved. In 480 BC, when the Battle of Thermopylae Gorge took place, it was a narrow piece of land 20 meters wide on a cliff face. Now the sea (Malian Gulf) has receded, exposing a large area of ​​land.

Recently, I once again enjoyed watching the 1962 film “300.” In my opinion, the old film is incomparably better than the new one - the computer comic “300” on the same topic, which only more accurately reproduces the location of the battle.

In life, of course, everything was much more complicated than shown in the film.

The only reliable primary source about the feat of the 300 Spartans, on which later references are based, is Book VII of Herodotus.

For the first two days, the Greeks successfully repelled the attacks of the Persians, thanks to the fact that they were armed with long spears and acted harmoniously in the phalanx, covering themselves with large shields. The Persians could not turn around in the narrow passage and died en masse in a crush or being thrown off a steep bank.

Xerxes did not know what to do, and sent messengers to announce that he would reward the one who would show the way around the Thermopylae Gorge.

And then a certain local resident Ephialtes approached him, who volunteered to lead the Persians along a mountain path around Thermopylae for a reward. The path was guarded by a detachment of Phocians (from Central Greece) of 1000 soldiers. A selected Persian detachment of 20 thousand under the command of Hydarn marched secretly all night, and by the morning they unexpectedly attacked the Greeks. The Phocians sent runners to inform the Greeks about the Persian outflanking maneuver; The Greeks were warned about this at night by a defector named Tirrastiades from the Persian camp.

The Greeks found themselves surrounded. What was to be done?

Submitting to the will of circumstances, most of the units from the united Greek army went to their hometowns. Only 300 Spartans of King Leonidas, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans remained to cover the retreat. Thespiae and Thebes are cities in Greece through which the route of the Persian army inevitably had to pass, so the detachments of these cities defended their native land in Thermopylae.

Xerxes invited Leonidas to surrender. To which King Leonidas answered succinctly: “Come and take it!”

Leonid allegedly forced the Thebans to stay by force so that they would not run over to the enemies. According to Herodotus, during the retreat the Thebans separated and surrendered, thus saving their lives at the cost of being branded into slavery.

Not counting on victory, but only on a glorious death, the Spartans and Thespians accepted the battle. The Spartans had broken spears and struck their enemies with short swords. By the end of the battle, they didn’t even have any weapons left - they were dull, and then hand-to-hand combat began.

All the Spartans, of course, died. King Leonidas fell in battle, and the brothers of King Xerxes died among the Persians.

P.S. Watch and read my notes with videos about traveling around Greece: “Ancient Athens today”, “From Greece with love”, “At the Oracle in Delphi”, “Wonder of the World - Meteora”, “Holy Mount Athos”, “Apostle in Thessaloniki” , “Socrates is my friend”, “Mysteries ancient Greece", "The Legend of the 300 Spartans", "Therapeutic Theater Epidaurus" and others.

Nikolay Kofyrin - New Russian Literature - http://www.nikolaykofyrin.narod.ru

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Probably the legend about 300 Spartans, who courageously resisted the numerically superior enemy army until their last breath, were heard by everyone. Hollywood films dedicated to this plot caused a lot of noise, although one should not expect historical accuracy from them. How did the legendary actually take place? Battle of Thermopylae?

Persian warriors from the guard of the *immortals*. Fragment of a painting from the royal palace

Persian warriors. Palace bas-relief at Persepolis

King of the Persians Xerxes in the movie *300 Spartans*

Spartan formation

Hoplite - ancient Greek heavily armed foot warrior

Jacques-Louis David. Battle of Thermopylae, 1814