Battle in the Fermopil Gorge. The Battle of Thermopylae - the legendary battle in the Thermopylae Gorge

End of the Battle of Thermopylae

Meanwhile, the second day of the battle was ending at Thermopylae. Leonid sent messenger after messenger to the south with requests for reinforcements, but it was already clear that no one would come. The Spartans found themselves alone, and their ideas of honor rejected any thought of leaving their post. Soon after his arrival, Xerxes and his advisors learned of the existence of a path through the mountain that could be used to bypass the Spartans in the pass. Mount Callidromon is dotted with different paths - from narrow and steep goat paths to quite wide paths. The difficulty was that it was heavily overgrown with forest and it was almost impossible to cross the Callidromon without a guide. Even today, when this forest has become much thinner, it is still easy to get lost there even in daylight. Finally, the Persians found a local peasant named Ephialtes, who told them that there was one path called the Anopean Trail, and agreed to lead them for a reasonable price. That evening, as soon as it got dark, Hydarn led his “immortals” out of the camp and began to climb the mountain. Ephialtes showed them the way. All night the Persians laboriously climbed along the winding path, until the sky in the east began to turn gray and the ground became level. They entered a small plateau densely covered with oaks. The Persians made their way under the shade of oak trees. Last year's leaves rustled underfoot. Suddenly a noise was heard ahead of the detachment, the silence was broken human voices, and then the Persian soldiers saw the Greek hoplites hastily putting on their armor. Hydarn asked cautiously: “Are these the Spartans?” In fact, it was the same thousand Phocians whom Leonidas had assigned to guard the mountain path. When Hydarnes found out who they were, he lined up his warriors in battle formation and began showering the Phocians with arrows. The Phocians, having forgotten about the task entrusted to them, decided that they had become main goal the blow of the “immortals”. They fled to the top of the mountain and prepared to sell their lives dearly. However, as soon as they cleared the passage, the Persians hastily began their descent, not paying any attention to the Phocians. The question of where exactly the “immortals” passed gave rise to many disputes. More recently, W. C. Pritchett has studied the terrain in that area in detail and has proposed a path that fits fairly well by most criteria. Herodotus says that Hydarnes took with him the people he commanded - ten thousand “immortals”. There is no reason to doubt this. Then, if the road were a narrow goat path, which could only be followed in a column one at a time, the detachment would stretch for more than ten kilometers. This was no good, and Pritchett came to the conclusion that they should look for a wide path along which three or four people could walk in a row. There is one place in Herodotus's topography that is easy to find. He writes about this road: “It starts from the Asopus River, flowing through a mountain gorge.” The location of the Asop Gorge is difficult to dispute. Herodotus further writes that the Persians crossed Asopus before they began their ascent. This information allows us to conclude that they were on the eastern side of the gorge. About a kilometer east of the gorge there is a very convenient climb into the mountains. This is the shortest and easiest way to the mountains from the Lamian Plain. It follows the Chalkomat stream to the village of Eleuferochori, where the remains of an ancient fortress can still be seen standing at the start of the trail. This proves that the trail was used many centuries ago. Herodotus says that the Persians walked all night, and the Etean Mountains rose to their right, and the Trakhin Mountains to their left. This does not allow us to agree with any of the proposed routes through the mountains, especially considering that the Persians crossed Asopus before starting the ascent. The fact is that both Trakhin and Mount Eta are located to the west of the Asop Gorge. However, since Thermopylae itself is located in the territory of Trakhina, and Mount Eta can, without a doubt, be included in the Etean Mountains, we can assume that the Trakhino Mountains included the northern part of the Callidromon range. The explanation is rather clumsy, but we simply have no choice, especially if we remember the words of Herodotus that the Persians walked between these mountains “all night.” If this explanation is correct, then it turns out that the detachment was moving in a southerly direction along the western slope of Mount Callidromon.

The Nevropol plain south of the Liafitsa - Callidromon pass. It is located where the road to the pass and the road leading to Phocis meet. Most likely this is exactly the place where the Phocians stood.

Herodotus writes that the path ran along a mountain ridge. This is a fairly accurate description of the route from Eleuferochori through the Neropolis plain to the pass between the peaks of Liafitsa and Kallidromon. This road goes along a plateau located just below the ridge of the mountain, to the south of it. According to Herodotus, the Phocians positioned themselves to protect both the mountain path and the path to their homeland. Such a place could only be the Nevropol plain, which is located approximately two kilometers from the highest point of the trail. There is a small lake there, which nowadays dries up in the summer, but in ancient times could remain filled with water. all year round. In addition, there is a source there that is quite capable of supplying drinking water a thousand hoplites. At this point the road leading to Phocis and the Anopean trail connect. If the Phocians had positioned themselves closer to the pass, they would have been cut off from the road to Phocis. Moreover, any route through the passage between Liathitsa and Callidromon had to pass through here. Both Berne and Pritchett agree that the Phocians took their "last stand" on Mount Liathitsa, north of the trail, which is quite consistent with Herodotus' account of events. The Persians must have reached the top of the pass three-quarters of an hour later, at about half past six in the morning. First, Leonidas received news that the Persians had crossed the mountains from defectors who arrived under the cover of darkness. Then, at dawn, it was confirmed by observers stationed on nearby peaks. The Greek commanders immediately began to hold council. The majority were of the opinion that it was necessary to retreat before it was too late, and Leonidas, seeing the fear in their hearts, sent them away. He himself, a Spartan, would never leave his post. Together with the Lacedaemonians, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans remained. Herodotus believes that Leonidas forced the Thebans to stay, and points out that they all went over to the Persian side before the last battle. They say that when they all ate for the last time before the start of the battle, Leonidas said: “Let your breakfast be plentiful, O men, for we will dine in Hades!” The descent from the mountain would take the Persians several hours, and the Spartans intended to make the enemy pay dearly for their death. The Persians reached the top of the mountain and began their descent. Herodotus writes that the Anopean Path descends into the pass at the Alpen. With a fair degree of certainty, we can say that this city was located on a mountain ledge protruding towards the swamps, about 3 km from the Phocian wall, next to the eastern passage. It is easy to descend into the Alpen if you follow behind Mount Zastano and further down through Drakospilia. Such a journey, about 12 km long, could have taken the Persians from three to four hours. Xerxes delayed his speech until mid-morning. When the Spartans saw that his troops had entered the pass, they made no further attempt to defend the wall. Instead, the Lacedaemonians entered the widest part of the pass and formed there in the usual phalanx. Lightly armed helots covered their flanks. Here they took the fight, fighting with reckless fury. The Persians, who are said to have been driven into battle by whips, were forced to climb over mountains of corpses in order to reach the Greeks. Soon most of the Greek spears broke, and the hoplites drew their swords and moved closer, cutting into the sea of ​​faces before them. Leonidas fell and a particularly fierce battle ensued as both the Persians and Greeks sought to take possession of his body. The Persians captured it four times and the Greeks recaptured Leonidas’ corpse four times. The battle continued until news came from the posts that the “immortals” had reached the end of the path. Then the Greeks closed ranks and began to retreat behind the wall. They passed the gate and fortified themselves on a low (about 15 m) hill that overlooked the swampy plain. There they lined up in a circle and prepared to die. The Persians poured over the wall and tried to climb the hill, but were pushed back. At first the Greeks defended themselves with swords, and then, when the last swords broke, with their hands and teeth. They continued the battle until the Persians buried them under a hail of arrows. By midday everything was quiet.

The site of the “last stand” of the Spartans. The hill itself, which rises approximately 15m above the battlefield, was pinpointed shortly before World War II when excavations there uncovered hundreds of Persian arrowheads.

Herodotus tells of two Spartans who, at the time of the last battle, were sick and lay in the Alpenae, suffering from an eye disease. The first of them, named Eurytus, having learned that the Persians had gone around the mountain, demanded his armor. Then, since he could not see anything, Eurytus ordered his helot to lead him into the thick of the battle. The other, named Aristodemus, became frightened and retreated along with his allies. Upon his return to Sparta, dishonor and disgrace awaited Aristodemus. Only the desperate courage he showed the following year at the Battle of Plataea cleared him of the charge of cowardice.

On the last day of the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas and all that remained of his tiny army marched into the open space in front of the wall, intending to sell their lives dearly. A desperate battle unfolded over the body of the slain Leonid.

As for Ephialtes, a monetary reward was placed on his head. He fled to Thessaly, fearing that the Spartans would hunt him. Many years later, he returned to his homeland, Antikyra, where he was killed by a man who had something to do with him. personal accounts. The latter, however, demanded his reward. Around the time when the last Spartan fell in the Thermopylae Pass, the entire Persian fleet, enraged by the evening attack, put to sea and crossed the strait. The Greeks, who intended to maintain contact with their camp, lined up in shallow water, just off the shore. The Persians formed their ships in an arc and tried to encircle the small Greek fleet in comparison. Then the Greeks again came forward, ramming the sides of the lighter Persian ships. They suffered greatly in the ensuing skirmish, but were able to inflict even more serious damage on the enemy. The Persians retreated, finding that they had achieved little. Although no enemy could say who had won, the Greeks were well battered and the Athenians alone had 80 triremes damaged. Shortly after the battle, a thirty-oared ship, which maintained communication between the fleet and the Greek land forces, brought the tragic news of the battle at Thermopylae. The sailors' hearts trembled at the news of Leonid's death. Now there was no point in staying in place, and they weighed anchor and set off through the strait towards Euripus. The ships followed in a predetermined order: the Corinthians sailed in front, and the Athenians brought up the rear. The battered Greek fleet dragged itself south, passing first Euripus, then the site of the former Athenian victory at Marathon and, rounding Cape Sounion, arrived at Athens. The Persians did not notice the flight of the Greeks until the next morning - their movements were again covered by the haze hanging over the sea.

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“The Battle of Thermopylae became one of those battles that entered the history not only of one or two states, but was able to firmly establish itself in world history and firmly settle in the minds and hearts of people. What was special about this battle? First things first.”

Strengths of the parties

This battle took place in September 480 BC. e. during the famous Greco-Persian War. In this battle, about 6 thousand Greeks held back the 250 thousand Persian army for several days. According to other sources, the Persian army had about 80 thousand soldiers. And ancient historians describe to them, in general, millions of armies. Single point of view on quantity Persian army No. However, everyone agrees that this army was incredibly huge for that time. Invading Greece Xerxes I planned to conquer Hellas due to significant numerical superiority. The Persian army consisted of various tribes and nationalities, so it is difficult to say anything about their fighting spirit; most likely, as at Marathon, only devotion to the king or fear led them into battle severe punishment. The allies in the Persian army were armed mainly with bows, short spears, clubs, daggers and light leather shields. The Persians themselves were slightly better armed.

In the Greek army, things were much better with this, since mostly volunteers who were extremely motivated took part in the Battle of Thermopylae. The question of the participation of the Helots in the battle remains open. The point is that Helots were in an intermediate position in Sparta, somewhere between slaves and servants. However, the records of ancient historians preserve information about at least one Helot who participated in the battle. The morale of these warriors is questioned, but most likely they took part in the battle on the side of the Greeks. The main Greek army consisted of heavily armed warriors in strong armor with heavy round shields covering the entire body and heavy protective helmets. Such equipment, when formed in a phalanx, made the Greeks practically invulnerable in a narrow space, which was Thermopylae Gorge.

Battle

The entire battle lasted only 3 days. But, despite its brevity, it was able to become legendary. Xerxes after a 4-day wait, the offensive began. On the 5th day, the first to attack were close relatives of those who died 10 years ago in the Battle of Marathon. The Greeks met them with dense rows of phalanxes. The attacking Persians fought with wild fury, but they failed to break the Spartans. The first wave of Persians fled with heavy losses. Second wave Xerxes sent the furious and warlike Kissi and Saks, but they were not successful either. The lightly armed Persian warriors, accustomed to fighting in open space, could not break the Greek defense. Then the king of the Persians threw a detachment into battle " immortals" - its elite guard. However, the Spartans skillfully used the tactics of a false retreat, and then abruptly met the upset ranks of the Persians, defeating them in once again. While watching the battle, Xerxes rose from his throne several times in rage. The Persian position seemed hopeless. The next day the Persians attacked again. Xerxes promised them a reward for victory and death if they escaped. The battle was fierce, again and again the Persians threw new forces into battle, the Greeks took the places of their dead and did not yield an inch to the enemy. Xerxes retreated to his camp in complete bewilderment. A local resident was brought to him there Ephialta who told him secret path bypassing the Greek forces. That same evening, the 20 thousandth Persian army set off on a detour. On the 3rd day, the heroic defense of the Greeks was completed. The Phocians guarding the passage retreated, thereby giving the Persians the opportunity to surround the Spartans. Leonidas ordered the Greek allied forces to retreat to their cities. Only the Spartans, Thespians and Thebans remained in the gorge. The Greeks knew that they would not see victory, but they wanted to die fighting. Closer to night Spartans led by Leonid rushed to the attack, hoping to cause panic and confusion in the Persian camp and kill Xerxes. Diodorus tells the story of the last battle of the Spartans as if it were a living legend. The Greeks attacked the Persian camp and in a glorious battle were able to destroy many before they were all pelted with arrows and spears. In this battle, King Leonidas himself died, as well as Abrocom and Hyperanth, the brothers of King Xerxes.

Results of the battle

From a strategic point of view, the battle was completely lost. Greeks were defeated, the Persians continued their conquest of Greece, and the huge losses of Xerxes’ army were easily compensated by the overall enormity of his army and looked insignificant against the general background. However, this battle was a huge moral victory for the Greeks. Also, although the Persians were victorious, their spirit and self-confidence were significantly damaged. Although this battle did not become the decisive stage of the Greek victory, it made a significant contribution to further victories and, as a result, to the victory of the Hellenes in the entire Greco-Persian War.

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in September 480 BC. e. in the Thermopylae gorge.

Few historical event so famous and at the same time surrounded by so many myths and misconceptions as the Battle of Thermopylae Gorge. We have repeatedly heard the opinion that in this battle, 300 heroic Spartans held back a five-million-strong Persian army for several days (one of the most absurd misconceptions of Herodotus, but at the same time one of the most tenacious), and only betrayal led the Spartans to death.

According to another opinion, the Spartans, led by King Leonidas, sacrificed themselves to give Hellas time to prepare for the invasion. The reality, as often happens, looked completely different...

The defeat did not force the Persians to abandon the idea of ​​conquering Hellas. But preparations for a new invasion dragged on for 10 years. Death in 486 BC e. the Persian king Darius I led to the usual struggle for power for eastern despotism and other troubles in the form of uprisings of conquered peoples. It took Darius' successor and son Xerxes several years to resolve these problems. And when the new king strengthened his power, he immediately returned to the old idea.

It took almost 2 years to prepare for the great invasion. By the beginning of 480 BC. e. the basic preparations were completed. A huge fleet (1207 ships) pulled up to the coast of Asia Minor, and in Sardis, the capital of the Lydian satrapy, ground force, which consisted of representatives of various tribes and peoples, all with their own weapons.

Xerxes himself arrived here with his guard - 10,000 “immortals”. These royal bodyguards were called that way because the size of their detachment always remained the same: a new guardsman was immediately accepted in place of someone killed or deceased.

Herodotus, reporting on the size of the army assembled by Xerxes, wrote that for the campaign against Hellas, Xerxes gathered more than five million people, of which 1,700,000 were warriors. This figure is absolutely unrealistic, and it can only be explained by the fact that fear has big eyes, and then unprecedented fear reigned in Hellas.


In fact, the Persian army could hardly number more than 200,000 people. More simply could not feed himself, and there would not be enough for him drinking water in all the rivers and reservoirs that were to be encountered along the way. It should be noted that of these 200,000, no more than half (or rather a third) were real warriors, the rest represented numerous servants, transport workers, and builders.

However, such an army significantly exceeded the forces of not only any of the Greek city-states, but all of them combined. And if we take into account that precisely this unity did not exist among the Greeks, it must be admitted that the forces of Xerxes were extremely great and the danger for Hellas was actually formidable.

480 BC e. - a huge Persian army led by King Xerxes made the transition from Asia Minor to Europe through the Hellespont Strait (now the Dardanelles). At the narrowest point of the strait, which separates Asia from Europe, Phoenician builders built a cunning bridge that connected both banks: they placed ships side by side, laying a deck on top. However, a storm broke out, and only chips remained of the bridge.

The angry Xerxes ordered the builders to be executed, and the sea to be flogged and shackles placed in it so that in the future it would not dare to resist his will. After which they built a new bridge, much stronger than the previous one, and along it the Persian army moved to Europe. We crossed without a break for 7 days and nights.

The Greeks sent an army - about 10,000 hoplites - to delay the Persians on the distant approaches to the Peloponnese. At first, the allied army wanted to hold Xerxes to northern border Thessaly with Macedonia, but after that it moved to the Isthmian Isthmus, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the Balkans.

But in this case, many of the Greek cities on the mainland would be defenseless, and as a result the army moved to Thermopylae, a narrow pass in the mountains leading from Thessaly to Central Greece. At the same time, the Greek fleet of 271 triremes became a barrier for the Persian flotilla near Thermopylae, at Cape Artemisium.

Herodotus has a description of the Thermopylae Gorge. “So, near the village of Alpena beyond Thermopylae there is a road for only one cart... In the west of Thermopylae an inaccessible, steep and high mountain, extending to Eta. In the east, the passage approaches directly to the sea and swamps. A wall was built in this gorge, and there once was a gate in it. The ancient wall was built in ancient times and has mostly collapsed over time. The Hellenes have now decided to rebuild the wall and thereby block the barbarian’s path to Hellas.”

The Greek army consisted of permanent urban units of professional, heavily armed hoplite warriors, sent to act as an advance screen while the cities raised militias. At Thermopylae, up to 6,000 hoplites gathered; The Spartan detachment of 300 warriors was led by King Leonidas, son of Anaxandrides. He was also considered the commander-in-chief of the entire Hellenic army.

It should be noted that these 6,000 heavily armed warriors by no means constituted the entire Greek army. From various sources you can find out that there were up to 1,000 Spartan perieki (non-citizens) in the army, and for each Spartan hoplite there were 7 helot slaves, who were used as lightly armed warriors. It is possible to assume that in the detachments of other policies there were many warriors who were not included in the number of hoplites given by Herodotus.

According to modern estimates, the number of Greek soldiers gathered to defend the Thermopylae Pass could reach up to twenty 20,000 people. Modern historians estimate the Persian army at 70,000. Therefore, there could be no talk of any hundred or thousandfold superiority of the Persians.

The Greeks set up camp behind a wall blocking the narrow Thermopylae Pass. This wall was a low barricade, which was lined with heavy stones. The Persian army stopped at the city of Trakhina before entering Thermopylae. One local resident, telling the Hellenes about the large number of barbarians, added that “if the barbarians shoot their arrows, then the cloud of arrows will cause an eclipse of the sun.”

In response, the Spartan Dienek lightheartedly joked: “Our friend from Trachin brought excellent news: if the Medes darken the sun, then it will be possible to fight in the shadows” (in some sources this statement is attributed to King Leonidas himself).

Xerxes waited for 4 days, and on the 5th he sent the most combat-ready troops from the native Medes and Persians to attack. According to the historian Diodorus, the king sent in the first wave of attacks those warriors whose close relatives had died 10 years earlier in the Battle of Marathon.

The Greeks met them face to face in the gorge, while the other part of the soldiers remained on the wall. The Greeks feigned retreat, but then turned around and counterattacked the frustrated Persian troops. Then the Persian king replaced the Medes with the Kissians and Saks, famous for their belligerence.

The warriors of Xerxes, in lighter weapons and without drill training similar to the Greek, could not break through the dense phalanx of the enemy, hidden behind a solid wall of large shields. Before evening came, Xerxes' guard, warriors from the detachment of the "immortals", went into battle. But they retreated after a short fight.

On the second day, the king of the Persians sent warriors known for their courage (mostly Carians) into battle, with the promise of a good reward for success and death for fleeing the battlefield. The second day also passed in fruitless attacks. The Persians replaced the attacking troops; the Greeks, in turn, replaced each other in battle.

Xerxes did not know what to do next when he was approached by a certain local resident, Ephialtes, who volunteered to lead the Persians along a mountain path around Thermopylae for a reward. The path was guarded by a detachment of Phocians (from Central Greece) - 1,000 soldiers. A selected Persian detachment of 20,000 under the command of Hydarnes marched secretly all night, and in the morning suddenly attacked the Phocians. Having driven them to the top of the mountain, Hydarnes continued to move to the rear of the Hellenes guarding Thermopylae. The Phocians sent runners to inform the Greeks of the Persian outflanking maneuver; The Greeks were warned about this at night by a defector from the Persian camp named Tirrastiades.

The allies disagreed. Most, obeying the will of circumstances, went to their cities. Only 300 Spartans of King Leonidas remained, 700 Thespians under the command of Demophilus, son of Diadromus, and 400 Thebans under the command of Leontiades, son of Eurymachus.

The number of soldiers in the detachments is indicated at the beginning of the Battle of Thermopylae, but in two days of fighting the Greeks suffered significant losses. Thespiae and Thebes are cities in Boeotia, through which the route of the Persian army inevitably ran, so that the detachments of these cities defended their native land in Thermopylae.

Herodotus wrote his historical work at a time of enmity between Thebes and Athens, so he does not miss the opportunity to expose the Thebans as traitors to Hellas and reports that the Theban detachment was held by Leonidas against their will as hostages. But this version of Herodotus is refuted by both the fate of the detachment and the very logic of the war.

Counting not on victory, but only on a glorious death, the remaining Greeks took the battle at a distance from the previous place, where the passage widened. But even there the Persians could not turn around and died en masse in a crush or being thrown off steep bank. The Spartans' spears were broken; they struck the enemy with short Spartan swords in close hand-to-hand combat.

Leonidas fell in battle, and the Persians killed Abrokomus and Hyperanthes, the brothers of King Xerxes. Noticing the approach from the rear of a Persian detachment led by Ephialtes, the Greeks retreated to the wall, and then, having passed it, took up a position on a hill at the exit from Thermopylae. According to Herodotus, during the retreat, the Thebans separated and surrendered: by doing this, they saved their lives at the cost of being branded into slavery.

The Spartans and Thespians accepted last Stand. The Persians shot the latest heroes from bows and threw stones at them. According to the testimony of Herodotus, the Spartans Dienek, the brothers Alpheus and Maron, and the Thespian Dithyrambus distinguished themselves with their valor.

Of the 300 Spartans, only Aristodemus survived, who, due to illness, was left by Leonidas in the village of Alpena. Upon his return to Sparta, dishonor and disgrace awaited Aristodemus. No one spoke to him, they gave him the nickname Aristodemus the Coward. Over time, Aristodemus atoned for the non-existent guilt with his heroic death in the Battle of Plataea. According to rumors, one more Spartan survived, named Pantitus, who was sent as a messenger to Thessaly. Upon returning to Lacedaemon (the region where Sparta was located), dishonor also awaited him, and he hanged himself.

Diodorus presents the last battle of the 300 Spartans in legendary form. They allegedly attacked the Persian camp while it was still dark and killed many Persians, trying to hit Xerxes himself in the general confusion. Only when it was dawn did the Persians notice the small number of Leonidas’s detachment and pelted it with spears and arrows from a distance.

King Xerxes personally inspected the battlefield. Having found Leonid's body, he ordered his head to be cut off and impaled. According to Herodotus, up to 20,000 Persians and 4,000 Greeks, including Spartan helots, fell at Thermopylae. The fallen Hellenes were buried on the same hill where they took their last battle. A stone was placed on the grave with the epitaph of the poet Simonides of Keos:

Traveler, go and tell our citizens in Lacedaemon,
That, keeping their covenants, we died here with our bones.


Currently, the expression “300 Spartans” is used as a symbol of courage and heroism. Where did it come from? To answer this question, we should recall the Greco-Persian wars, one of the episodes of which was the battle of Thermopylae. Here are some basic facts.

In 484 - 481 BC. The Persian king Xerxes, preparing for war with the Greeks, concentrated an army of about 200,000 people on its border. Athens and part of the Peloponnesian states, under the leadership of Sparta, decided to bravely resist. The rest of the Greek city-states, convinced of the power of the Persians, remained neutral or directly supported Xerxes.

Persian troops crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) and moved west along the coast of Thrace to Macedonia, then south to Thessaly. The main one, after Xerxes, was the experienced military leader Mardonius. The Persian fleet moved along the coast, which, according to the historian Herodotus, consisted of one and a half thousand combat ships and three thousand transport ships.

Northern Greece was left by allied Hellenic (Greek) forces without a fight - defense of the passes south of the mountain Olympus required too large an army. The next convenient defensive position was Thermopylae. The passage in this gorge was no more than a few meters wide and represented an ideal position where even a small detachment of heavily armed hoplites could hold off an entire army for a long time.

The Spartan king Leonidas marched to Thermopylae at the head of a detachment of 7,000 hoplites and 2,000 archers. Almost all of them were militias of the Greek city-polises: Thebans and Thespians, except for Leonidas’s personal guard, consisting of purebred Spartans. The Spartans were famous throughout Greece as the most fearless and powerful warriors. “Win together or die together!” - said their law.

Leonid thoughtfully and carefully prepared for defense. With the main forces numbering about 6,000 people, Leonidas covered the Middle Gate of the passage, and placed a powerful guard detachment of 1,000 people on the slope located on the left flank of the mountain to block the path leading around.

When the Persians, on behalf of their king Xerxes, invited the Spartans to surrender their weapons, King Leonidas boldly replied: “Come and take it!”

As he expected, the Persians struck directly at the center of the pass, trying to decide the outcome of the battle with force of blow and numerical superiority, but the Greeks survived. A paradoxical situation arose: the most trained and numerous army in the world turned out to be powerless against a handful of Hellenes. This went on for three days, until a Thessalian named Ephialtes told the Persians about a path leading around Thermopylae. Xerxes immediately dispatched a detachment of his personal guard “immortals,” who quickly overpowered the Greek flank. Trying to hinder the Persian advance, Leonidas sent part of his small army of 4,500 men to block the Persian encirclement, but it was too late. Some of the reinforcements fell in battle, some retreated to the defenders.

By the time last battle Leonidas had about 5,000 warriors. Considering further defense pointless and trying to save most of the detachment, Leonid ordered them to retreat to join the main Hellenic forces, while he himself remained with his personal guard to cover their retreat. About 2,000 went south on the orders of the Spartan king to join the allied Hellenic forces. However, detachments of the Theban and Thespian militias, totaling about 2,000 people, refused to retreat, remained at Thermopylae and took the battle along with the Spartans. No one survived the bloody battle.

Paying tribute to the enemy, the Persians buried the fallen with military honors. Subsequently, a monument was erected over their grave.

Unfortunately, in world history Only the Spartans were hit, the other Greek heroes somehow fell out of people’s memory. If we compare all the participants in the Battle of Thermopylae: 300 dead Spartans, a thousand Greeks who fell in combat guard on a mountain slope, two thousand from among those who went to their rescue and two thousand militia from Thebes and Thespius, then the question involuntarily arises - why only three hundred Spartans? Does 5000 really not count? The fact is that the first to describe this feat was the Spartan poet Simonides of Keos, who, naturally, tried to extol his compatriots. He glorified the Spartans, but somehow “forgot” about the rest. Subsequently, many historians, studying the Battle of Thermopylae, often came to the wrong conclusion about the fate of the militia. Having information about their participation at the beginning of the battle and, thanks to Simonides of Keos, information about the death of only 300 Spartans, they misinterpreted their further fate. Someone wrote about their shameful flight from the battlefield, someone even attributed to them the complete surrender to the Persians. But for some reason no one could imagine a heroic death on the battlefield. But the dead militiamen deserve no less glory than the Spartans. The Spartan warriors of Leonidas could not retreat, according to the military code of honor. They were professionals and had to fulfill their duty to the end. But their allies did not have this duty. Moreover, Leonidas directly ordered them to leave to join the main forces of the Greek army, but they refused, deliberately dooming themselves to death.

The Battle of Thermopylae has become one of the most famous and “favorite” in almost any study of military history. This battle was necessarily mentioned both in textbooks and anthologies, and in many other publications devoted to the military history of the Ancient World in pre-revolutionary Russia.

This story about the battle of Thermopylae can be found in the book “Heroes and Battles: A Public Military-Historical Reader.” This book is over a hundred years old; it was published in 1887 in St. Petersburg. It was compiled by the famous former writer and military historian Konstantin Abaza. I present his essay in modern spelling.

“Xerxes, king of Persia, began to prepare for a campaign in Greece. Unprecedented preparations were made for the campaign; The ancient world had never seen anything like this: 56 nations, subject to the Persian king, rose from their place at his command. From the most remote countries, militias moved to assembly points, to the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates. It seemed that all of Asia was in motion. There were Indians here in their striped paper clothes; Ethiopians in lion skins; black balluhs, nomads Central Asia, on their horses as light as the wind; Medes and Bactrians in rich, colorful clothes; the Libyans on their four-wheeled war chariots and the Arabs on their ugly camels. There was so much that it was impossible to even count in the usual way. Then the king ordered to count out ten thousand and surround them with a fence; then release them, drive in others until the entire fence is filled, and do this until the entire army is counted. The royal order was carried out. One hundred and seventy times they filled and cleaned the fenced area. Then the king learned that one million seven hundred thousand troops were coming with him. The most reliable part of this terrible military force at that time were the Persians. According to the old custom, all noble Persians served in the cavalry, which is why the Persian cavalry was considered stronger and better than infantry, although there were more infantry. All the mountain peoples of the Persian monarchy constituted light infantry; She was an excellent archer and accurately threw a dart or sling. The heavy infantry had short swords and spears, a large bow with long arrows, carried small wooden shields in her hands and put on breast and leg armor. So she went into battle. Along with the army, military chariots set out on the campaign: some of them had scythes on wheels - they could mow people like they mow grass. These chariots usually began the battle, and the cavalry at the same time tried to cover the enemy flanks. The center of the Persian army moved behind the chariots. Here the king himself usually stood, on horseback or in a chariot, surrounded by courtiers and the royal retinue of “immortals.” This squad consisted of 10 thousand of the most noble Persians: not only they themselves, but also their horses were covered with shiny armor. All other troops, recruited from the conquered regions of the kingdom, did not have the same weapons, did not know discipline, and fought according to their own customs, as best they could. It was always very difficult to control such an army; in case of failure in one place, they all fled without looking back, and then it was impossible to stop him or build up for a new battle. In open places, on walls, and even then when dealing with wild peoples In Asia, the Persians almost always won, but in mountainous areas or when dealing with a skilled enemy, the Persians suffered defeats, despite their numbers. This was the case ten years before this campaign, when they invaded Greece for the first time. The Greeks defeated them at Marathon, fighting one against ten. The naval forces of the Persian king were also considerable; Among the peoples subject to his power, the Phoenicians and Greeks settled in Asia Minor were always considered excellent sailors. This time, 3 thousand transport ships were prepared for the supply of food and 1,200 combat ships ready to take the fight. And at the head of all these forces - both land and sea - there was one man, Xerxes, an arrogant ruler, whom the peoples worshiped as a god.

480 years before the birth of Christ, early spring, the hike began. Europe is separated from Asia by the Hellespont Strait; two wooden bridges were previously thrown across this strait, but they were blown away by a storm. Then Xerxes became furious. He ordered all the carpenters to be beheaded and heavy chains to be thrown into the sea as a sign that the sea should obey him. “You have insulted your master. Whether you like it or not, the evil sea will still cross your back to the other side.” The royal order was carried out exactly. Soon the new bridge was ready and at the same time preparations were made for the ceremonial crossing. At early dawn, as soon as the east turned red, a sacrifice was made. In the middle of the bridge, they lit incense in a special vessel and sprinkled it with myrtle branches. The fragrant incense rose to the sky. With the rising of the sun there was silence: the peoples of Asia, filled with awe, fell to the ground. The king, taking a golden cup in his hands, poured the previously prepared sacrifice into the sea and prayed to the rising star that it would grant victory to the Persian weapons; then he threw the cup along with the sword into the sea and gave a sign to move. Hundreds of thousands rushed to the bridges. For seven days and seven nights without a break, the troops crossed into Europe. Finally, this whole terrible stream poured into Thrace. On the plains of Thrace, the king reviewed his army. From the top of the high hill on which the golden throne was placed, he looked at the motley crowds of people on horseback and on foot passing by.

Like a wide stream of all-destroying lava, wild Asians poured Nordic countries Greece. No one even thought of resisting them; The cities, one before the other, hastened to send land and water to the winner - signs of their submission. New peoples joined the army of the Persian king, causing it to become larger and larger; The Persian fleet moved safely along the coast. Everything boded well: Greece was in dire danger.

Greece at that time was not united, but consisted of a dozen or more cities, and each of these cities with the land that belonged to it was considered a separate state, that is, it was governed by its own laws, had separate rulers and its own army. Often these small states quarreled among themselves and waged wars, but in case of danger they united their troops in time and with their common forces fought off common enemy. And the Persians were such a constant enemy of the Greeks. And their wars began because the Greek cities gave aid to their brothers, the Greeks, settled on the borders of the Persian monarchy, in Asia Minor. Of course, the Greeks, even combining all their forces, could not put up such a thing. large army which Xerxes led. But there was more order in the Greek army, strict military discipline was observed, especially among the Spartans - the main thing is that they loved their fatherland, their small homeland. That is why the Greeks fought with such courage, with such enthusiasm, which was not found among the Persians, especially at a time when the Persian kings began to recruit militias from different and distant parts of their monarchy. The Greek squads consisted of natural Greeks; they fought for a cause that was close and dear to everyone; all the warriors thought and felt like one person. It must also be said that the Greeks, as an intelligent, lively people, improved their military affairs: they came up with better formations, were excellent with weapons, knew how to adapt in battle - they had what is called the art of war. Particularly curious is the structure of the Spartan army, which was considered for a long time invincible. War for the Spartans was sometimes a welcome time of rest, because in peacetime they were malnourished and lacked sleep, spending all their time on difficult military exercises and menial work. When a warrior set out on a campaign, slaves came to his service for menial work, mules for transporting heavy loads, and he was left with only one pastime: either fight the enemy, or run around with his comrades, and throw a spear. The heavy Spartan infantry had excellent weapons; the most important thing was that it was a big shield. Leaving your shield and even fighting without a shield was considered a shame, a dishonor for a Spartan. The helmet, chest armor and shield well protected the heavy infantry from enemy arrows and spears; hand weapons were a javelin, a spear and a double-edged sword. Actually, the Spartans did not have light infantry, they despised it; but in those Greek cities where there was light infantry, it had the same weapons as the Persian - a bow and a sling. In the battle, the Greek light infantry fought scattered, in front and on the flanks of the heavy infantry; and this latter was already making an attack in a closed and deep formation of no less than twelve ranks. This formation was called a phalanx. Covered with shields, with spears at the ready, the warriors moved in a phalanx with quiet, measured steps to the sound of a flute. It was considered impossible to defeat such a phalanx, especially when it stood still. This is the kind of people - quick-witted, like-minded, skillful - the Persians had to fight with.
The Persians approached heavily and slowly, heading through Thessaly to the Thermopylae Pass, which opened the way to the very heart of Greece. Here were its most populous cities, lush pastures, fields covered with olive trees and vineyards: trade and crafts flourished here; Brave sailors dispersed from these harbors to the shores of Asia Minor, Crimea, the Caucasus, to the far coasts of Africa, Italy and Spain - either for trading or to settle in new free places. Between Thessaly and Locris, on the border of these two Greek regions, the Aeta mountain range abuts the sea, leaving a small passage; in the narrowest place - no more than seven fathoms. On one side, the Aegean Sea splashes into the rocky shore, and on the other, Mount Anopeia rises steeply. Previously, there was a trench here, and in front there was a dam, which is why the passage itself was called Thermopylae, which means in Russian “Gate of Warm Springs.” At the general council of the Greek leaders, they decided to take this place, but the Greeks, far from meeting the conditions, deployed only 6 thousand heavy infantry under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas; Actually, there were only 300 Spartans. Leonidas, having learned that the Persians had entered Thessaly, renewed the ancient rampart; He placed part of his detachment in front, and moved a thousand Phocians to the left, onto the mountain. There was a small path that led to the rear of the Greek detachment. The Persians were approaching, and when they reported to Xerxes that the passage was occupied, the king laughed loudly: an insignificant handful of people decided to hold back his millions! He sent envoys to Leonid with instructions to immediately issue weapons. “Come and take it,” the Spartan king Leonidas told the ambassadors. The Persians called it crazy to try to fight them. “There are so many Persians that they will darken the sun with their arrows,” said the ambassadors. “So much the better,” answered the Spartan, “we will fight in the shadows.” Xerxes hesitated to attack; he did not want to believe that the Greeks would decide to defend the passage, and gave them four days to think: let them go, the king thought, wherever they want, but the Greeks did not even think of retreating. The deadline passed, and the king ordered an assault on the gorge. "The enemy is approaching!" - one of the Greek guards shouted. "Great! - said Leonid. “And we are approaching the enemy.” Then he calmly arranged the phalanx for battle. The Persians immediately came across a high iron wall of tightly closed shields, from which clouds of fired arrows bounced off with a whistle; crowd after crowd rushed to break this wall, but it stood, as before, invulnerable, bristling with a row of long spears in the firm hands of the fighters. The pile of the dead grew higher and higher in front of them, like a living rampart thrown hastily by a skillful hand. Xerxes sent the bravest of his army, the “immortals,” but they also fell without breaking the Spartans. Not a single Persian wanted to go to obvious death anymore, then the king jumped up from the throne from which he was overlooking the battle, and in terrible anger ordered his army to be driven out with whips. A day passed, two, three, and many Persians died here; Much more of them would have died if there had not been a traitor among the Greeks, a resident of a nearby town. His name was Ephialtes. He ran over to the Persians and said that he knew the mountain path through Anopeia. A detachment of “immortals” secretly began to climb the forested mountain peak. The battle in the gorge died down; The Greeks sensed evil and looked back with alarm. On the sixth day they saw the Phocians, who let them know that the Persians would soon appear. The only choice was to retreat or die. The law forbade the Spartans to retreat, and they remained, but the Thespians did not want to abandon them: Leonidas kept the Thebans by force. In total, the Greeks numbered 1,400 people.

Morning came, the last for the defenders; it was the seventh day that a handful of Greeks held off an army of two million. The courageous king Leonidas put on royal clothes and, according to the customs of his people, made a sacrifice to the gods. With this ritual he celebrated a funeral feast for himself and his comrades. Then he took food with them and prepared for battle. The Persians heard a military cry; at this click they struck from the front. The Spartans unanimously and steadfastly repulsed the first blow, and, closing even more closely, extending their long pikes even further, they moved forward in a formidable formation. The Persians drowned in the sea, climbed the rocks, fled, lay down in a gloss - all the chalk of the phalanx, advancing at the usual measured pace. At that moment the Persians appeared from behind, to the rear of the phalanx. The Thebans immediately surrendered; but the Spartans and Thespians swore before the king to die, every single one. With courage and terrible force They now rushed back, clearing their way to a small hill. Many noble Persians fell in a crushing battle; the two royal brothers fell one after another. When the Greeks' spears broke, they grabbed their swords. Here and there in a small group of fighters rises heavy sword and dissects the “immortal” with his helmet and his armor. But they keep coming, and the Spartans are leaving. They are stepped on, trampled, crushed; Enemy strikes become more frequent, defenders weaken. King Leonidas rushed forward, raised his formidable sword, took two or three steps and fell to the ground, defeated. Around his body, a battle broke out more than ever - either the Persians gave in, or the Greeks retreated. Finally, the Greeks dragged the king's body into the middle and continued to repel the Persian attacks, surprising their enemies with their courage. But this was the last feat of the Greeks. They died every single one, lay down among the heaps of defeated enemies, among the fragments of spears, arrows and swords as their victory trophies.

Not a single victory glorified fighters as much as this defeat glorified them. The fallen Spartan heroes had the following inscription made on the stone there: “Passer, tell Sparta that, obedient to its laws, we lay here dead.” For a long time, the stone lion pointed out to travelers the very place where King Leonidas courageously fell.”

They write about the Battle of Thermopylae in our time. For comparison, I will give another description of the battle, found in the book by Alexander Toroptsev “1000 great battles: from ancient times to the 11th century”:

“Early in the morning the Hellenes woke up and began to prepare for battle. According to the customs of those centuries, the soothsayer Megistius, “having examined the insides of the sacrificial animal,” predicted the death of Leonid’s detachment. Before the Greeks had time to prepare for battle, a warrior ran into the camp and reported to the king about the trouble: a detachment of Phocians guarding the mountain path fled under the first onslaught of the Persians, opening the way for the enemy to the rear of the Greeks.

Leonidas immediately gathered people for a council and ordered everyone except the Spartans to leave the gorge. Now it was pointless to resist a strong enemy. We need to leave. To beat the Persians. King Leonidas ordered an elderly respected man to leave Thermopylae and Megistia. Megistius did not carry out the order, but only asked Leonidas to send his only son, successor of the family. The king understood the old man, the Greeks left the gorge, 300 Spartans, the soothsayer Megistius and King Leonidas, a small group of Thespians and a group of Thebans remained at the wall to cover the retreat of their compatriots.

Early in the morning, Xerxes gave the signal for the attack; a multi-colored cloud of the Persian army reluctantly moved to storm the wall. The Hellenes boldly went beyond the fortification, which they could not hold now, and began to approach the enemy. Three hundred Spartans, a small group of Thespians, King Leonidas and the old soothsayer Megistius entered into hand-to-hand combat (the Thebans wavered, became cowardly, went over to the side of the Persians, and saved their skins). This betrayal did not stop the Greeks, but only angered them. They fought like never before in their lives. The Persian soldiers were ready to retreat, but the commanders of the detachments stood behind them and beat with whips everyone who showed cowardice. A handful of Spartans and Thespians were winning a battle that could not be won. Having broken their spears, the Greeks took up swords. Corpses and bodies of the wounded lay here and there. Many “immortals” suffered death from King Leonidas, but he too fell, killed in an unequal battle. The Persians wanted to take his corpse and present it “as a gift” to their king. But the Greeks could not allow this to happen. A whole battle unfolded around Leonid’s body. The Greeks won! They were gaining time for their compatriots to get farther, farther away. The Hellenes learned that the Persians, led by the traitor, had descended from the mountain path and were about to strike them in the rear. They met this news courageously, picked up Leonid’s body in their arms and retreated behind the wall. There was their last fight. They all lay down as one over Leonid’s body, did not give it to the enemy, they covered it with themselves...

When the noise of the battle died down, when fear ceased to worry the hearts of the Persians and Xerxes himself, he, surrounded by his retinue, went among the dead bodies to look for Leonidas. I searched for a long time. Finally found it. And “he ordered that the king of Lacedaemon’s head be cut off and impaled on a stake.” Never before and never since had Xerxes shown such hatred towards his enemies. Because the king of the Persians was not so afraid of anyone in his life as Leonidas. And all the Persians who invaded Greece were afraid of him, and in the person of the Spartan king and all the Greeks. But is it possible to win a war by fearing the enemy? And wasn’t King Leonidas right in remaining with the allied army at the Thermopylae Gorge, and then with a handful of people covering the retreat of the Greeks?

Right That is why the Greeks honored Leonidas, and all warriors devoted to their homeland will honor the king of Sparta and remember his feat.”
300 Spartans

Year of manufacture: 2007
Country: USA
Genre: Action, Drama, War, History
Duration: 117 min
Translation: Professional (full duplication)
Director: Zack Snyder / Zack Snyder
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender
Description: The events of the film tell about the bloody battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, in which three hundred brave Spartans, led by their king Leonidas, blocked the path of the thousands-strong army of the Persian king Xerxes. Despite the numerical superiority of the Persians, the Spartans continued their stubborn defense, showing courage and bravery. Their fearlessness and heroism inspired all of Greece to unite against an invincible enemy, thereby turning the tide of the Greco-Persian Wars...

Why a myth? That's why. Because if there were exactly three hundred Spartans fighting in those days, then how can we explain the losses of the Greeks, who amounted to about 4 thousand killed and about 400 captured in that battle?

I tactfully leave the film of the same name aside as a good example of epic insanity, with its three-meter Xerxes wrapped in chains, war elephants the size of a good five-story building, and fighting rhinoceroses rushing into battle (by the way, there were films with this name filmed in different times already several, but I’m talking about the last one now, which made so much noise at the box office).


But let's return to the designated topic: so, according to many, in 480 BC. The Persian army of Xerxes in the town of Thermopylae (“Hot Gate”) was opposed by exactly 300 soldiers from the city of Sparta (led by the courageous King Leonidas). However, things weren't quite like that.

For the answer, let us turn to Herodotus, to the seventh book (“Polyhymnia”) of this work - the only reliable source about this battle, where in paragraphs 202 and 203 we read (the number of warriors is in bold): “The Hellenic forces that were waiting in this localities of the Persian king, consisted of 300 Spartan hoplites, 1000 Tegeans and Mantineans (500 each); further, 120 people from Orkhomenes in Arcadia and 1000 from the rest of Arcadia. There were so many Arcadians. Then from Corinth 400, from Phlius 200 and 80 from Mycenae. These people came from the Peloponnese. From Boeotia there were 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. In addition, the Hellenes called for help from the Opuntian Locrians with all their militia and 1000 Phocians ... "*. Through simple arithmetic calculations we get the figure: 5200 warriors (note: Wikipedia in the article “Battle of Thermopylae” gives other figures: 5920, however, this figure is erroneous, since the author of the Wikipedia article, when calculating the number of warriors from Mycenae, indicated “800”, instead of “80”, which explains the inaccuracy of the calculation).

So, we no longer see three hundred, but more than five thousand warriors. In this case, I especially focus on the word “warriors”, since Herodotus included only professional heavily armed warriors (hoplites) among them, while the same Herodotus, speaking about the number of Spartans, reports only on the number of hoplites, not counting these helots - a kind of state serfs in Sparta, whom the Spartans used as lightly armed warriors and servants, but with whom they did not share glory. Warriors from other Greek cities also had people similar to the Spartan helots. The number of Spartan helots in the Battle of Thermopylae can only be approximately calculated, since Herodotus is simply silent about their number. At the same time, according to the same Herodotus a year later (479 BC), in the battle of Plataea there were 7 helots for each Spartan hoplite; their ratio in the Battle of Thermopylae is unknown, but apparently it was approximately the same, based on the number of Greeks killed in the battle. In total, about two thousand Spartans took part in that battle.

According to the miscalculations of a number of experts, in the Battle of Thermopylae the Persian army was opposed by about 12,000 Spartans and their allies from other Greek city states, which, you see, is certainly not 300.

However, this circumstance in no way diminishes the feat of the Spartans and warriors from other Greek cities, because they were opposed by about 200 thousand Persian soldiers, including the elite units of Xerxes - the so-called “immortals”. In this battle, which lasted three days, about 20 thousand Persians fell (including 2 siblings of King Xerxes), while the losses of the Greeks in that battle are given at the very beginning of the article.

*Cit. from: "Historians of Antiquity", M., Pravda Publishing House, 1989, vol. 1 p. 189.



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