True History Not Glorified Gore
Hollywood has long glamorized ancient history, but how much do they bend the truth? The bloody battles recreated for the Hollywood screen are sometimes stretched to unbelievable lengths, while some are straight from the history books.
“We Spartans have descended from Hercules himself. Taught never to retreat, never to surrender. Taught that death in the battlefield is the greatest glory he could achieve in his life. Spartans: the finest soldiers the world has ever known.” The number one box office seller since it came out; Frank Miller's movie 300 took movie goers by storm. Admitted by the director, the movie 300 is not based on real facts, but of the graphic novel Frank Miller had created back in 1999. Many have wondered about the real lives of the 300 Spartans, not just a glorified Hollywood version.
Armour
In the movie, the Spartans are depicted wearing virtually no armor. In fact, it was the Spartans heavy armor that protected them against the Persian weapons. Spartans wore breastplates and helmets with cheek protection. Their protection consisted of a shield that was bronze plated and about three feet in diameter. Their spears were their main weapon, measuring about 2.7 meters, but since these were prone to breaking, the Spartans also carried 60cm thrusting swords called xiphos and the less commonly used Greek sabre called a kopis.
The Army Masses
There were not really only 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermoplyæ, but due to the Spartans being a very secretive and tended not to write things down about the way they lived, there have been quite a few estimates on the numbers on opposing sides. Britannica estimates that there were not five million Persians, the number closer to 350,000. The Greeks initially had about 7,000 troops, but King Leondias, leader of the Spartans, was left to cover their retreat, leaving the Greek army with the 300 Spartans and 400 Thebans. According to the ancient historian Herodotus, there were also 700 Thespian hoplites that refused the order to retreat. The 400 Thebans ended up surrendering and being branded by the Persians.
The Battle
The Battle of Thermoplyæ is said to have begun around August 11th, 480BC. The fight between the Persian Empire and the Spartans only lasted three days until the Spartans were ultimately defeated. The total casualties for the Battle were 2,400 Spartans, Thespians and other Greek allies, and 20,000 from the Persian Empire. While the Battle continued between the remaining 1,400 Greeks that did not retreat and the Persians, allowed Athens to build up a small naval force and the subsequent result was a Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis (circa September, 380BC) forcing Xerxes I back to Asia as his navy was destroyed. There was one more Battle where the Greeks and Persians clashed, the Battle of Plataea, ending the war, and the Persian expansion into Europe.
The Spartans as a people failed though, as they were only focused on training warriors, while Persia was more geared towards education, medicine, and technology, among others. Present day, Persia is now known as the Iranian Pleateau, comprising today's Afghanistan and Iran. Sparta today has a population of about 18,200 people.
While it is exciting to see such an historic event come to life on the big screen, especially under the direction of Frank Miller, it is always beneficial to know the actual history behind the tales that are based on a true story. “We're in for one wild night.” The 300 Spartans truly fought until the bitter end.
