Why does leonidas

The ancient world, not unlike our own, was riven by conflicting national interests. In those days, Greece was not as we know it today but composed of many city states, of which Sparta and Athens were the most powerful. While they were rivals in many spheres, they banded together when there was an external threat. In the fifth century BCE, this was presented by Persia, against whom Sparta and Athens fought twice, once, victoriously at Marathon against King Darius, the second time against King Xerxes by land and at sea.

Xerxes wanted to reach Attica, then controlled by Athens. His plan was to funnel the Persians through Thermopylae and into his waiting phalanxes. Leonidas ordered a retreat of the Peloponnesians of whom he was leader in order to save their lives. Leonidas and his famed remained, along with some Thebans and Thespians, to fight the far larger Persian force.

Apparently, Xerxes offered to spare the lives of the remaining men if they laid down their arms. Leonidas ordered most of the Greek forces to pull back. Only the Spartans, as well as soldiers from Thespiae and Thebes , remained.

In the end, Leonidas and all of his troops were defeated. The Persians continued into Greece. However, they left the peninsula after losing in battle to the Athens navy.

Leonidas became legendary all over Greece. His story is still told today in books and movies. Do you know stories about any other great historical warriors? Take some time today to read the stories of Alexander the Great , Amanirenas , or Pheidippides.

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Who was Leonidas? What was Sparta known for? What was the Battle of Thermopylae? Wonder What's Next? Try It Out Ready to keep learning? Find an adult who can help you with the activities below! Explore ancient Greece today in pictures. Which of these locations would you most like to see in person? Explain to a friend or family member.

Feeling creative? Make a Greek shield like those the Spartans carried into battle. Dead heroes were worshipped, usually near their burial site, as intermediaries to the gods. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Battle of Marathon in B. The battle was fought on the Marathon plain of northeastern Attica and marked the first blows of the Greco-Persian War.

With the Persians closing in on the Greek capitol, Athenian general Herodotus was a Greek writer and geographer credited with being the first historian.

Sometime around the year B. One of the greatest ancient historians, Thucydides c. The term Ancient, or Archaic, Greece refers to the years B. Archaic Greece saw advances in art, poetry and technology, but is known as the age in which the polis, or city-state, was The two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta, went to war with each other from to B. The Peloponnesian War marked a significant power shift in ancient Greece, favoring Sparta, and also ushered in a period of regional decline that signaled the The classical period was an era of war and conflict—first between the Greeks and the Persians, then between the The story of the Trojan War—the Bronze Age conflict between the kingdoms of Troy and Mycenaean Greece—straddles the history and mythology of ancient Greece and inspired the greatest writers of antiquity, from Homer, Herodotus and Sophocles to Virgil.

Since the 19th-century By turns charismatic and ruthless, brilliant and power hungry, diplomatic and The so-called golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles B.

Pericles transformed his Live TV.