Monument of Leonidas

King Leonidas was the Spartan's Spartan. In 480BC, he led 300 hoplites, his personal guard, north to the pass of Thermopylae to fight a mighty Persian army under Xerxes. Leonidas could bring no more men, because a sacred festival would not allow more of the Spartans to go to war. Xerxes had, seemingly, brought everyone in the east against the Greeks. Although in his 60s, Leonidas personally led the defence of the narrow pass and held it for two days before his force was betrayed and cut down from the rear. The Persians killed everyone and mutilated the body of Leonidas. His defence, however, bought time and that time gave the Greeks their eventual victory. Leonidas' heroics were the epitome of being Spartan, and forty years later his remains were exhumed and the 'Leonidaeum', a monumental shrine, was built to inspire all those who looked upon it.