Battle of Thermopylae

The primary source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his Bibliotheca historica, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. Diodorus is fairly consistent with Herodotus' writings.[13] These wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are referred to by other authors, as by Aeschylus in The Persians.

Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Constantinople), also supports some of Herodotus' specific reports.[14] George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of Thermopylae, and led some modern writers (such as Liddell Hart) to revise their views of certain aspects of the battle.[15][16] Grundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise on that battle.[17]

On the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two principal sources, Herodotus' and Simonides' accounts, survive.[18] Herodotus' account in Book VII of his Histories is such an important source that Paul Cartledge wrote: "we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all".[19] Also surviving is an epitome of the account of Ctesias, by the eighth-century Byzantine Photios, though this is "almost worse than useless",[20] missing key events in the battle such as the betrayal of Ephialtes, and the account of Diodorus Siculus in his Universal History. Diodorus' account seems to have been based on that of Ephorus and contains one significant deviation from Herodotus' account: a supposed night attack against the Persian camp, of which modern scholars have tended to be skeptical.[21][22]

Map of Greece during the Persian Wars from the Ionian Revolt.

The city-states of Athens and Eretria had aided the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC. The Persian Empire was still relatively young and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples.[23][24] Darius, moreover, was a usurper and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule.[23]

The Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved, especially the Athenians, "since he was sure that [the Ionians] would not go unpunished for their rebellion".[25] Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece.[26] A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC secured the lands approaching Greece, re-conquered Thrace, and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia.[27]

The Spartans throw Persian envoys into a well

Darius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states in 491 BC asking for a gift of "earth and water" as tokens of their submission to him.[28] Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed by throwing them in a pit; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well.[28][29] This meant that Sparta was also effectively at war with Persia.[28] However, in order to appease the Persian king somewhat, two Spartans were voluntarily sent to Susa for execution, in atonement for the death of the Persian heralds.[30]

Darius then launched an amphibious expeditionary force under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, which attacked Naxos before receiving the submission of the other Cycladic Islands. It then besieged and destroyed Eretria.[31] Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia.[32]

The site of the battle today. Mount Kallidromon on the left, and the wide coastal plain formed by accretion of fluvial deposits over the centuries; the road to the right approximates the 480 BC shoreline.

At this, Darius began raising a huge new army with which to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian province revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition.[24] Darius died while preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I.[33] Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt and quickly restarted preparations for the invasion of Greece.[34] No mere expedition, this was to be a full-scale invasion supported by long-term planning, stockpiling, and conscription.[34] Xerxes directed that the Hellespont be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (cutting short the route where a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC).[35] These were both feats of exceptional ambition beyond any other contemporary state.[35] By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges.[36] According to Herodotus, Xerxes' army was so large that, upon arriving at the banks of the Echeidorus River, his soldiers proceeded to drink it dry. In the face of such imposing numbers, many Greek cities capitulated to the Persian demand for a tribute of earth and water.[37]

The Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the strategic guidance of the Athenian politician Themistocles, to build a massive fleet of triremes to resist the Persians.[38] However, the Athenians lacked the manpower to fight on both land and sea, requiring reinforcements from other Greek city-states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece requesting "earth and water" but very deliberately omitting Athens and Sparta.[39] Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading cities. A congress met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,[40] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys to request assistance and dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points, after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed and chaotic Greek world, especially since many of the supposed allies were still technically at war with each other.[41]

The congress met again in the spring of 480 BC. A Thessalian delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe, on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.[42] A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. However, once there, being warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed through Sarantoporo Pass and that Xerxes' army was overwhelming, the Greeks retreated.[43] Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.[42]

Themistocles, therefore, suggested a second strategy to the Greeks: the route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica, and the Peloponnesus) would require Xerxes' army to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae, which could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, jamming up the overwhelming force of Persians.[44] Furthermore, to prevent the Persians from bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. Congress adopted this dual-pronged strategy.[44] However, in case of Persian breakthrough, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, while the women and children of Athens would evacuate en masse to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen.[45]

Map showing Greek and Persian advances to Thermopylae and Artemisium

The Persian army seems to have made slow progress through Thrace and Macedon. News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy.[46] At this time of the year, the Spartans, de facto military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of Carneia. During the Carneia, military activity was forbidden by Spartan law; the Spartans had arrived too late at the Battle of Marathon because of this requirement.[47] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war.[47][48] On this occasion, the ephors decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, Leonidas I. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the Hippeis.[49] This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army.[48]

The legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that the Spartans had consulted the Oracle at Delphi earlier in the year. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy:

O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus,
Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country

Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.[50]

Herodotus tells us that Leonidas, in line with the prophecy, was convinced he was going to certain death since his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so he selected only Spartans with living sons.[49]

The Spartan force was reinforced en route to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass.[51] Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the "middle gate", the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before.[52] News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of Trachis, that there was a mountain track that could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a manoeuvre.[53]

Finally, in mid-August, the Persian army was sighted across the Malian Gulf approaching Thermopylae.[54] With the Persian army's arrival at Thermopylae the Greeks held a council of war.[55] Some Peloponnesians suggested withdrawal to the Isthmus of Corinth and blocking the passage to Peloponnesus.[55] The Phocians and Locrians, whose states were located nearby, became indignant and advised defending Thermopylae and sending for more help. Leonidas calmed the panic and agreed to defend Thermopylae.[55] According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained that, "Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun", Leonidas replied, "Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?"[56] Herodotus reports a similar comment, but attributes it to Dienekes.[57]

Xerxes sent a Persian emissary to negotiate with Leonidas. The Greeks were offered their freedom, the title "Friends of the Persian People", and the opportunity to re-settle on land better than that they possessed.[58] When Leonidas refused these terms, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to "Hand over your arms". Leonidas' famous response to the Persians was "Molṑn labé" (Μολὼν λαβέ – literally, "having come, take [them]", but usually translated as "come and take them").[59] With the Persian emissary returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.[60]

A flow map of the battle

From a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces.[77] As long as they could prevent a further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle and could, thus, remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor.[77] Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant they could not remain in the same place for very long.[78] The Persians, therefore, had to retreat or advance, and advancing required forcing the pass of Thermopylae.[78]

Tactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare.[77] A hoplite phalanx could block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. Moreover, in the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry.[77] The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, that could allow their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in mountain warfare).[79] Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route.[80]

Topography of the battlefield

Map of Thermopylae area with a reconstructed shoreline of 480 BC.

It is often claimed that at the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time.[52] In fact, as noted below, the pass was 100 metres wide, probably wider than the Greeks could have held against the Persian masses. Herodotus reports that the Phocians had improved the defences of the pass by channelling the stream from the hot springs to create a marsh, and it was a causeway across this marsh which was only wide enough for a single chariot to traverse. In a later passage, describing a Gaulish attempt to force the pass, Pausanias states "The cavalry on both sides proved useless, as the ground at the Pass is not only narrow, but also smooth because of the natural rock, while most of it is slippery owing to its being covered with streams...the losses of the barbarians it was impossible to discover exactly. For the number of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great."[81]

On the north side of the roadway was the Malian Gulf, into which the land shelved gently. When at a later date, an army of Gauls led by Brennus attempted to force the pass, the shallowness of the water gave the Greek fleet great difficulty getting close enough to the fighting to bombard the Gauls with ship-borne missile weapons.

Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or "gates" (pylai), and at the centre gate a wall that had been erected by the Phocians, in the previous century, to aid in their defence against Thessalian invasions.[52] The name "Hot Gates" comes from the hot springs that were located there.[82]

The terrain of the battlefield was nothing that Xerxes and his forces were accustomed to. Although coming from a mountainous country, the Persians were not prepared for the real nature of the country they had invaded. The pure ruggedness of this area is caused by torrential downpours for four months of the year, combined with an intense summer season of scorching heat that cracks the ground. Vegetation is scarce and consists of low, thorny shrubs. The hillsides along the pass are covered in thick brush, with some plants reaching 10 feet (3.0 m) high. With the sea on one side and steep, impassable hills on the other, King Leonidas and his men chose the perfect topographical position to battle the Persian invaders.[83]

Today, the pass is not near the sea, but is several kilometres inland because of sedimentation in the Malian Gulf. The old track appears at the foot of the hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. Recent core samples indicate that the pass was only 100 metres (330 ft) wide, and the waters came up to the gates: "Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument."[84] The pass still is a natural defensive position to modern armies, and British Commonwealth forces in World War II made a defence in 1941 against the Nazi invasion mere metres from the original battlefield.[85]

• Maps of the region:[86][87]
• Image of the battlefield, from the east[88]

A Persian soldier at the time of the Second Achaemenid invasion of Greece.

When the Persians recovered Leonidas' body, Xerxes, in a rage, ordered that the body be decapitated and crucified. Herodotus observed that this was very uncommon for the Persians, as they traditionally treated "valiant warriors" with great honour (the example of Pytheas, captured off Skiathos before the Battle of Artemisium, strengthens this suggestion).[114][120] However, Xerxes was known for his rage.

After the Persians' departure, the Greeks collected their dead and buried them on the hill. After the Persian invasion was repulsed, a stone lion was erected at Thermopylae to commemorate Leonidas.[121] A full 40 years after the battle, Leonidas' bones were returned to Sparta, where he was buried again with full honours; funeral games were held every year in his memory.[113][122]

With Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the Saronic Gulf, where it helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of Salamis.[111]

The Capture of the Acropolis and the destruction of Athens by the Achaemenids, following the battle of Thermopylae.

Following Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to sack and burn Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens and accomplished the Achaemenid destruction of Athens.[123] Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) preparing to defend the Isthmus of Corinth, demolished the single road that led through it and built a wall across it.[124] As at Thermopylae, making this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the Saronic Gulf, so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese.[125] However, instead of a mere blockade, Themistocles persuaded the Greeks to seek a decisive victory against the Persian fleet. Luring the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet was able to destroy much of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, which essentially ended the threat to the Peloponnese.[126]

Fearing the Greeks might attack the bridges across the Hellespont and trap his army in Europe, Xerxes now retreated with much of the Persian army back to Asia,[127] though nearly all of them died of starvation and disease on the return voyage.[128] He left a hand-picked force, under Mardonius, to complete the conquest the following year.[129] However, under pressure from the Athenians, the Peloponnesians eventually agreed to try to force Mardonius to battle, and they marched on Attica.[130] Mardonius retreated to Boeotia to lure the Greeks into open terrain, and the two sides eventually met near the city of Plataea.[130] At the Battle of Plataea, the Greek army won a decisive victory, destroying much of the Persian army and ending the invasion of Greece.[130] Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions.[131]

Hidush (Indian soldier of the Achaemenid army), circa 480 BC. Xerxes I tomb. Herodotus explained that Indians participated on the Second Persian invasion of Greece.[132]

Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in European ancient history, repeatedly referenced in ancient, recent, and contemporary culture. In Western culture at least, it is the Greeks who are lauded for their performance in battle.[133] However, within the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae was undoubtedly a defeat for the Greeks.[134] It seems clear that the Greek strategy was to hold off the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium;[77] whatever they may have intended, it was presumably not their desire to surrender all of Boeotia and Attica to the Persians.[77] The Greek position at Thermopylae, despite being massively outnumbered, was nearly impregnable.[111] If the position had been held for even a little longer, the Persians might have had to retreat for lack of food and water.[78] Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory,[111] but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. The battle itself had shown that even when heavily outnumbered, the Greeks could put up an effective fight against the Persians, and the defeat at Thermopylae had turned Leonidas and the men under his command into martyrs. That boosted the morale of all Greek soldiers in the second Persian invasion.[111]

It is sometimes stated that Thermopylae was a Pyrrhic victory for the Persians[4][5] (i.e., one in which the victor is as damaged by the battle as the defeated party). However, there is no suggestion by Herodotus that the effect on the Persian forces was that. The idea ignores the fact that the Persians would, in the aftermath of Thermopylae, conquer the majority of Greece,[135] and the fact that they were still fighting in Greece a year later.[136] Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis.[lower-alpha 3] However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible.[137] Furthermore, this idea also neglects the fact that a Greek navy was fighting at Artemisium during the Battle of Thermopylae, incurring losses in the process.[138] George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes' systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to Xerxes' own procrastination.[135] Far from labelling Thermopylae as a Pyrrhic victory, modern academic treatises on the Greco-Persian Wars tend to emphasise the success of Xerxes in breaching the formidable Greek position and the subsequent conquest of the majority of Greece. For instance, Cawkwell states: "he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success. ... Xerxes had every reason to congratulate himself",[139] while Lazenby describes the Greek defeat as "disastrous".[134]

The fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example it set.[137][140] Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass.[133] Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: "Salamis, Plataea, Mycale and Sicily are the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men".[141] A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom:

So almost immediately, contemporary Greeks saw Thermopylae as a critical moral and culture lesson. In universal terms, a small, free people had willingly outfought huge numbers of imperial subjects who advanced under the lash. More specifically, the Western idea that soldiers themselves decide where, how, and against whom they will fight was contrasted against the Eastern notion of despotism and monarchy—freedom proving the stronger idea as the more courageous fighting of the Greeks at Thermopylae, and their later victories at Salamis and Plataea attested.[142]

While this paradigm of "free men" outfighting "slaves" can be seen as a rather sweeping overgeneralization (there are many counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to illustrate this point.[77]

Militarily, although the battle was actually not decisive in the context of the Persian invasion, Thermopylae is of some significance on the basis of the first two days of fighting. The performance of the defenders is used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers.[143]

There are several analogous battles.

The Persian Gates narrow pass

Similarities between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of the Persian Gate have been recognized by both ancient and modern authors,[168] which describe it as a kind of reversal of the Battle of Thermopylae,[169] calling it "the Persian Thermopylae".[170] Here, on Alexander the Great's campaign against Persia in 330 BC to exact revenge for the Persian invasion of Greece, he faced the same situation, encountering a last stand of the Persian forces, commanded by Ariobarzanes, at a narrow pass near Persepolis who held the invaders for a month, until the enemy found a path to their rear. There are even accounts that a local shepherd informed Alexander's forces about the secret path, just as a local Greek showed the Persian forces a secret path around the pass at Thermopylae.[169][171] Curtius describes the subsequent battle fought by the surrounded, unarmed Persians as "memorable".[172]

After Mariupol's fall to invading Russian forces on 16 May 2022, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak compared the Siege of Mariupol to the Battle of Thermopylae, stating: "“83 days of Mariupol defense will go down in history as the Thermopylae of the XXI century."[173]

• List of last stands
• Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture

Informational notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Bradford, Ernle (2004). Thermopylae: The Battle for the West. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81360-2.
• Bradford, Ernle (1980). The Battle for the West: Thermopylae. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-007062-8.
• Bury, J. B.; Russell Meiggs (2000). A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great (4th Revised ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Cawkwell, George (2006). The Greco-Persian Wars. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-929983-8.
• Crawford, Osbert Guy Stanhope (1955). Said and Done: The Autobiography of an Archaeologist. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
• Dore, Lyn (2001). "Once the War Is Over". In Freeman, P.W.M.; Pollard, A. (eds.). Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology. David Brown Book Co. pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-1-84171-249-9. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
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• Golding, William (2002). "The Hot Gates". The Sparta pages. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
• Green, Peter (1996). The Greco-Persian Wars. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20313-5.
• Green, Peter; Greek History 480–431 B.C., the Alternative Version, University of Texas Press, (2006). p. 59 ISBN 0-292-71277-4
• Greswell, Edward (1827). Origines kalendariæ Hellenicæ. E. Duychinck, Collin & co.
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• Herodotus (2003). The Histories. Aubrey de Sélincourt (trans.). Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044908-2.
• Holland, Tom (2006). Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-51311-9.
• Lazenby, JF. The Defence of Greece 490–479 BC. Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1993 (ISBN 0-85668-591-7)
• Lemprière, John (1862). A classical dictionary.
• Macan, Reginald Walter. "Herodotus: The Seventh, Eighth & Ninth Books with Introduction and Commentary: Commentary on Herodotus, Histories, book 7, chapter 228". The Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University). pp. section 8. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
• Marozzi, Justin (2008). The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81621-5.
• Merivale, J.K. (1833). From the Greek Anthology by the Late Rev. Robert Bland, and Others: A New Edition: Comprising the Fragments of Early Lyric Poetry, With Specimens of All the Poets Included in Meleager's Garland. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman; and John Murray.
• Miller, Frank (w, a). 300 (1999), Dark Horse Comics, ISBN 1569714029
• Paton, W.R. (Editor and Translator) (1918). The Greek Anthology. W. Heineman. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
• Plutarch. "Leonidas, Son of Anaxandridas". Moralia: Apophthegmata Laconica: as published in Vol. III of the Loeb Classical Library Edition, 1931. Bill Thayer. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
• Plutarch. "Gorgo". Moralia: Apophthegmata Lacaenarum: as published in Vol. III of the Loeb Classical Library Edition, 1931. Bill Thayer. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
• Pressfield, Steven (1998). Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae. Doubleday. ISBN 1407066595.
• Robinson, C.E. (2007). Hellas – A Short History of Ancient Greece. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-1-4067-6699-8.
• Ruskin, John (1894). "Part VIII: Of Ideas of Relation – I. of Invention Formal: Chapter I: The Law of Help". The Complete Works: Modern Painters: Volume the Fifth. New York: Bryan, Taylor and Company. OCLC 4631131.
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• Tegopoulos, G.; A. Phytrakis (1988). Elliniko Lexico (Greek Dictionary). Athens: Armonia.
• Tung, Douglas S.; Tung, Teresa K. (2010). 36 Stratagems Plus: Illustrated by International Cases. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4269-2806-2.

Further reading

• Campbell, George (1889). The History of Herodotus: Translated into English: Vol. II. London: MacMillan and Co., Limited.
• Grundy, George (1901). The Great Persian War and its preliminaries; A Study of the Evidence, Literary and Topographical. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street.
• Cartledge, Paul (2006). Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 1-58567-566-0.
• Matthews, Rupert (2006). The Battle of Thermopylae: A Campaign in Context. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 1-86227-325-1.
• Fehling, D. Herodotus and His "Sources": Citation, Invention, and Narrative Art. Translated by J.G. Howie. Arca Classical and Medieval Texts, Papers, and Monographs, 21. Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1989
• Kraft, John C.; Rapp, George; Szemler, George J.; Tziavos, Christos; Kase, Edward W. (July 1987). "The pass at Thermopylae, Greece" (PDF). Journal of Field Archaeology. 14 (2): 181–98. doi:10.2307/530139. ISSN 0093-4690. JSTOR 530139. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
• Finley, Moses (1972). "Introduction". Thucydides – History of the Peloponnesian War (translated by Rex Warner). Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044039-9.
• Barkworth, Peter R. (1993). "The Organization of Xerxes' Army" (PDF). Iranica Antiqua. XXVII: 149–167. doi:10.2143/ia.27.0.2002126. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
• Morris, Ian Macgregor (2000). "To Make a New Thermopylae: Hellenism, Greek Liberation, and the Battle of Thermopylae". Greece & Rome. 47 (2): 211–230. doi:10.1093/gr/47.2.211.
• Sacks, Kenneth S. (1976). "Herodotus and the Dating of the Battle of Thermopylae". The Classical Quarterly. 26 (2): 232–248. doi:10.1017/S0009838800033127. JSTOR 638269. S2CID 170336169.
• Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους = History of the Greek nation volume Β', Athens 1971

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Thermopylae.

• EDSITEment Lesson Plan: 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae: Herodotus' Real History (from the National Endowment for the Humanities)
• Lendering, Jona (1996–2007). "Herodotus' twenty-second logos: Thermopylae". Livius articles on ancient history. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
• The Five Great Battles of Antiquity by David L. Smith, Symposion Lectures, 30 June 2006.
• Modern monument at siu.edu
• Spartan burial mound at coloradocollege.edu
• Thermopylae, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Tom Holland, Simon Goldhill & Edith Hall (In Our Time, 5 Feb. 2004)