Thermopylae. A great place for the Greeks to hold off the mighty Persian army. Though the Persians out numbered them by thousands the Greeks had heart and better armor and swords. They had heart because they were willing to die for what they truly belived in. Also the Greek Atheians and the Spartans had better trained troops. All the Persians had were light armor. In 480 B.C.E a Persian force of aproximently 180,000 attacked 7,000 Athenians and Spartans led by the great Greek King, Leonidas. The Persian force was led by their king, Xerxes son of Darius. The battle was fought at Thermopylae pass. Thermopylae pass is a narrow coastal passage. The passage is between the ocean and a cliff/mountain. The clever Greeks knew this was the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass through so they could get to Athens. The battle lasted for three days. On the first day, the Persian King who sat in a golden throne on top of a mountain sent all his men including the immortals to attack the vastly out numbered Greeks. But he did not send his archers. He was going to save them for later. The Persian immortals were the Persian elite soldiers like the today's Navy S.E.A.L.S. The Persians believed that when one immortal died another would take his place. At the end of the day Xerxes pulled his men back to see how much damage he had done to the Greeks. King Xerxes was angered and surprised to see that he had lost so many men. He was also surprised that the Greek soldiers were barely scratched. In the morning the agitated Xerxes sent his men again to attack the Greek force. Again at the end of the day Xerxes pull his men out of the fighting. Again he was angered and surprised that he men had been so harshly beaten. Xerxes thought and thought about how he could get past the surprisingly strong Greek force. Finally a local man named Ephialtes of Trachis betrayed the Greeks in hopes of gaining power and wealth from the Persians. He told the Persians that there was a secret path around the Greek forces. Xerxes sent some of his remaining men to go surround the Greeks. But King Leonidas was aware that his force was being outflanked and sent the Athenian troops away and stayed with his 300 Spartans to fight the remains of the Persian army. (the spartans only sent 300 soldiers because the Spartans were very religious, and the important festival of Carneia coincided with the Pesian invasion. The bulk of the Spartan army therefore remianed in Sparta to celebrate the festival. The 300 Spartans that marched to Thermopylae were King Leonidas and his bodyguard. King Leonidas sent the Athenians away because they would have been killed so he held the Persians off so they could stay alive.The Spartan warriors were not able to fight while surrounded on two sides. Being surrounded the mighty 300 Spartans crumbed. Xerxes pulled his men back an told his archers to shower the Spartans with arrows. The Spartans were killed with the weapon that they despised the most. You might be wondering about how the Persian War started. Well I have the answer. It started because the Persian Empire attacked a wealthy Greek settlement. The citizens of the Greek settlement did not like being forced to fight into the Persian army and being forced to do what the Persians wanted them to do so they asked and pleaded with the mighty Athenians to come help them. The Athenians finally desided to come but left after defeated the small Persian garrison. The Persians were furious that they had lost the wealthy settlement so they went to the Greek settlement and burned the Greek settlement to the ground. The Persians wanted more revenge so the started a war with Athens (capital of Greece trade.) and most of the other city-states helped out at least a little bit.The casualties of the entire war was around 257,000. That may seem like a lot to you but it is actually not that much. What happened after the battle you ask? Well, the Persians went on to burn Athens to the ground. During that period the Greeks also destroyed the Persian navy during the battle of Salamis. As some of you may know this battle (the battle of Thermopylae) was turned into a movie. This movie, (300), was released in 2006. As you may know, King Leonidas was played by Gerard Butler. Xerxes was played by Rodrigo Santoro. Many critics agree that the movie is loosely based on the Battle of Thermopylae. The movie was based on a comic book by Frank Miller. The movie was directed by Zack Snyder. The movie was produced by Gianni Nunnari. The movie made a lot of money but people had mixed feelings about the movie. The movie is rated R because of its many bloody battle scenes and because of its inappropriate scenes. The battle showed that if you put your mind to something you will accomplish more than you thought possible.
Dear reader,
So far we have discussed what I was interested in learning and the sources for my research. This has prepared me for the final post because I have learned a lot about the Battle of Thermopylae, and I am now prepared to write the final post. Today I will be giving a preview of what you can expect to read in the final post. In my final post, I will be giving you the lowdown on the every detail of the Battle of Thermopylae. You will find out who command both armies, the number of soldiers on each side and key factors that helped the Greeks hold off the Persians and the factors that help the Persians get past the Greeks and onto Athens. I will also tell you how this lead to the Golden Age of Greece. So readers come back later for the final most exciting post yet!!! The Battle of Thermopylae." The Battle of Thermopylae. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/thermopylae.html>.
I chose this as one of my sources because it told me in detail about the battle and was VERY helpful for my research and the planning of my site. The text was clear and easy for me to understand. This comes from reed college, a well respected college in Oregon. "Ancient Greece - War - The British Museum." Ancient Greece - War - The British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/story/sto_set.html>. This comes from the British Museum in London, one of the most famous and most respected museums in the world. I chose this as one of my sources because it showed picture diagrams about the battle and was very helpful. It was helpful because it helped me understand it and was presented clearly. Connolly, Peter. First Ancient History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. This source is from Oxford University. I know this is not biased because Oxford University is a well known and respected college. I chose this as one of my sources because it had in-depth detail about the subject and a journal entry from a Persian archer. Hello readers today I am going to talk to you about my research questions. I am interested in the tactics King Leonidas and the Spartans used to hold off the attack for three days. I am also interested in why the the Persians chose that path to go through instead of going a different way. Lastly, I will be exploring why the Spartans sent only 300 soldiers instead of a bigger army.
Hello! I am creating this blog for one reason and one reason only, to teach you about the Battle of Thermopylae. You may be asking the following question: Why do you want to teach us about this? Well, this is a social studies project and because the topic of Sparta is really cool. Just to give you a summary of the Battle of Thermopylae, the Battle of Thermopylae was in 480 B.C.E. and was fought between 180,000 Persian Soldiers and 300 Spartans. The Battle of Thermopylae took place in Thermopylae which is a narrow coastal passage in Greece. Ok, enough spoilers. To find out more check out the other pages on this blog or watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhgMn9rvn_Y Thank you!
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