Leonidas was a son to the Spartan king, Anaxandridas II. It is not known when he was born but his name means "spirit of a lion". He had a half-brother named Cleomenes who became king when their father died. In 490 BC, Cleomenes was thought to have been mad and committed suicide. Leonidas became king of Sparta the next year and married his niece, Cleomenes daughter, Gorgo.
King of Sparta
The new king adopted many of the policies of his half-brother including the attacks on Athens. He further expanded his foreign policy to include a belligerent attitude towards the Persian Empire to the east. Trouble with Persia had begun in 546 BC when the Greek city-state of Ionia in Anatolia had been captured by the Persians. When Ionia rebelled in 500 BC, the Athenians lent their support by sending a small fleet. Persia's emperor, Darius, used this as an excuse to invade mainland Greece.
Battle of Marathon
The first invasion attempt in 492 BC ended in disaster for the Persians when their fleet was destroyed in a storm. In the same year as Leonidas' brother killed himself, the Persians launched a second invasion attempt. The Athenians prepared to meet the 25,000 Persians at Marathon and asked Sparta to send a contingent to assist them. Cleomenes replied that the Spartans were in the midst of an important religious festival and declined. Fortunately for the Greeks, the Athenians were able to defeat the Persians at Marathon without Spartan help. The Athenian general, Miltiades lost only 192 men compared to the Persians 6,400.
By the time the Persians invaded again, Leonidas was King of Sparta. He was at the forefront in confronting the Persians and when word came that the armies of the new Persian king, Xerxes, were on the move the Greeks were united in their response. An alliance of the Greeks city-states had been formed in 481 BC and command of the army given to Sparta while that of the navy went to Athens.
The slow moving Persian army gave Leonidas plenty of time to prepare and initially he had planned a defense of Thessaly but when it was learned that the 6-7,000 Greeks were faced with 200,000 Persians he changed his plans. In July 480 the Greeks withdrew to the narrow pass at Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
The Pass at Thermopylae was chosen with care. Though Xerxes had a huge army it was to no advantage in the narrow pass. The Greeks were armed with long spears that prevented the Persians from getting close enough to use their own weapons. The initial Persian assaults were repulsed and despite repeated attempts by the elite Immortals over the next two days, the Greeks could not be dislodged from the pass.
On the evening of the second day a Greek traitor named Ephialtes informed the Persians that there was a little known path through the mountains that would allow them to outflank the Greeks. Leondias was aware if the path and had left 1,000 Phocians to guard it. That night Xerxes sent Hydarnes with 10,000Immortals up the path. The Phocians took to the high ground and prepared to fight them but thePersians marched past them and continued on to confront Leonidas.
When the Greeks scouts reported that they had been outflanked Leonidas realized that his army was doomed. Any soldiers would wanted to leave were permitted to go but Leonidas would stay and fight. With him were 300 Spartans, 400 Thebans, and 700 Thespians. The small army formed in a circle on a hill and waited for the enemy. The Persians surrounded the valiant Greeks and the final fight ended with the deaths of all of the Greeks. The 300 Spartans were cut down as they defended the body of their king.
Battle of Salamis
Leonidas had saved Sparta but the Persians went on the capture and burn a deserted Athens. They were defeated by the Athenian navy at the battles of Salamis and Plataea the next year. These defeats put an end to Persian expansion into Greece. With the Persians gone a memorial was erected on the battlefield at Thermopylae which read "Tell them in Sparta, passerby / That here, obedient to their orders, we lie".
Two major motion picture tell the story of Leonidas: 300 Spartans made in 1952 and 300 made in 2006.
Sources:
The Histories - Herodotus - Penguin Books - 1955
The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography - Trevor N. Dupoy - Castle Books - 1995
 |
 |
