Leonidas , d. 480 B.C., king of Sparta. He succeeded (c. 491 B.C.) his half brother, Cleomenes I. When the Persians invaded Greece under Xerxes (480 B.C.), Leonidas with 300 Spartans and 5,000 auxiliaries was given the pass at Thermopylae to hold. There was treachery. Most of the Greeks got away, but the Spartans and 700 Thespians refused to flee and were killed. Herodotus immortalized the incident.

Battle of Thermopylae

In 480 BC, Xerxes (son of Darius, King of Persia) was in full preparation to invade Athens, the leader of the Greek city-states.

King Leonidas of Sparta, another city-state, had agreed to help stop the invading Persians, and marched with 300 hand-picked troops to Thermopylae on the north coast of Greece. Thermopylae was the best of three possible defensive areas in which Xerxes' invading army had to advance. This mountain gap along the coast was about 60 feet wide, and was the best location for a blocking action.
The word was "stand and die." After three days of fighting and having killed countless numbers of Xerxes' elite troops, they were finally overrun and the 300 Spartans were killed to the man, including King Leonidas. However, King Leonidas and his troops gave the rest of Greece more time to mobilize and increased their morale. Xerxes' eventually withdrew.

When Leonidas was preparing to make his stand, a Persian envoy arrived. The envoy explained to Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the huge Persian army.

"Our archers are so numerous," said the envoy, "that the flight of their arrows darkens the sun."

"So much the better," replied Leonidas, "for we shall fight them in the shade."

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