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Thermopylae: The Ultimate Last Stand
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The Ultimate Last Stand

by Andrew Curry

Battle of Thermopylae

Even the Greeks knew it was probably a suicide mission.

The battle has been a symbol of heroic resistance for 2,500 years. Poets and historians from Herodotus to Byron have immortalized the battle at Thermopylae as history's ultimate "last stand." More recently, conservative classicists like Victor Davis Hanson have cited it as an example of how free, democratic societies can outfight despots. (That the warrior Spartans kept large numbers of slaves or helots – 900 of whom were in the battle at Thermopylae -- is generally overlooked in this line of argument.) Alongside the Spartans were 700 Thespians, another often-overlooked group of brave warriors.

The Spartan sacrifice bought time for the rest of the Greeks to prepare a naval defense against the Persians. Xerxes continued to pressure the Greek islands until he finally met the Greek navy in the Battle of Salamis. Most of the Persian fleet was destroyed, and with it Xerxes' push into Europe.

Go back to the beginning with Battle of Thermopylae, or read the previous article, Weapons Used at Thermopylae.