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Leonidas |
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Leonidas (lēŏn`ĭdəs), 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. See Persian Wars Persian Wars, 500 B.C.–449 B.C., series of conflicts fought between Greek states and the Persian Empire. The writings of Herodotus , who was born c.484 B.C., are the great source of knowledge of the history of the wars. ..... Click the link for more information. . Leonidas(died 480 BC, Thermopylae, Locris [Greece]) King of Sparta (c. 490–480 BC). He is noted for his heroic stand against the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, he sent most of his troops in retreat and with his 300-man royal guard withstood the Persian army for two days, battling valiantly to the last man. He became the object of a hero cult at Sparta, and he stands as the epitome of bravery against overwhelming odds. The legend that Spartans never surrender derived from this episode. Leonidas died 480 bc, king of Sparta (?490--480), hero of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which he was killed by the Persians under Xerxes How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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The conspicuous example is Thermopylae where a handful of Spartans under the leadership of Leonidas held off vast hordes of Persian invaders, succumbing only when they were betrayed. Athanassios Tsakris, * Alexandros Ikonomidis, ([dagger]) Spyros Pournaras, ([dagger]) Leonidas S. sailor Leonidas Dickerson had just written to his aunt in Danville, Virginia, to tell her what life was like guarding convoys of cargo ships [from German submarines]. |
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