Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

As you are well aware, there is a new movie out, 300, and I’m told it’s rather good. Due to a fair amount of bloody violence and topless women (according to ScreenIt), the MPAA slapped an R rating on it. That means that a lot of us have to wait until it comes out on DVD so we can use ClearPlay to filter out the objectionable.

That doesn’t change the fact the the movie is supposed to be based on a real Greek battle nor the fact that I happen to know a bit about ancient warfare. (Thanks History Channel!) Let me tell you all about those 300 soldiers. Those who have seen the movie can let me know how close to recorded history the film actually is.

The year was 480 BC and a mega-army of Persians (modern day Iranians) lead by Xerxes was marching to take over Greece. Learning of their attack, King Leonidas of Sparta petitioned the city elders for soldiers, but was refused. He managed to gather 300 of his most loyal soldiers and they headed to fight the invaders. The Spartans were professional well trained soldiers armed with a bronze or brass shield. They carried iron tipped thrusting spears, and wore body armor and helmets. Xerxes and his million man army, including 10,000 masked super-troops “Immortals”, vastly outnumbered the Spartans (whose force had grown to nearly a thousand with the addition of a contingent of Thespians). The Persian army, however was disadvantaged in several ways. For one, it was composed largely of a motley crew of forced conscripts, who for the most part wore little or no body armor and carried only wicker shields and swords.

The Persians had landed at Thermopylae where they would have to make their way through a narrow pass (appropriately named the Gates of Hell) in order to gain access to the rest of the country. Leonidas wedged his men shoulder to shoulder in that pass and the three hundred Spartan hoplite soldiers slew over 20,000 Persians in the first couple days of fighting. The luck of the Greeks was to come to an end, however, because a Greek traitor informed Xerses of a secret path around Thermopylae which the Persians took to surround the Greeks. All the Greeks were slain and the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, his head cut off and the body crucified.

In short, though numbers aren’t everything, the Greek’s defense against overwhelming odds is nothing short of amazing.