The Battle of Thermopylae

-based on the factual account written by Herodotus in his book of Histories 7.138-239

I, Sperthias Leoprepes, a faithful and true servant to my dear Sparta, do hereby recount an accurate portion of the war between ourselves and fellow-countrymen against the Persians.

At the first signs of trouble, my greek commander sent me and my friend to the Persian king, Xerxes. We were told to give up our lives as an offering to the foreign king. There were a group of Persians that had come through Hellas and were murdered--our lives were to be forfeit as restitution. We arrived at the palace and were presented to King Xerxes. We were not killed. Instead we were told of the Persian’s plans to invade our home town and were sent back to tell our people that the Persians were coming to attack. Needless so say, people back at home did not like this news. They wanted to kill me, but I escaped by offering suggestions about war preparations. It is really bizarre that a messenger, sent as an sacrificial gift, cannot come home and be welcome. He comes home and everyone there desires to take his life. What a world I live in!

After a notable period of negotiations and endless arbitration, fighting and full-flown battle, we now come to the suma of my historic tale. I was sent again, this time as a spy into the heart of the enemy territory- Sardis. I was caught and, once again, my life flashed before my eyes: I was captured and headed for the palace--that can mean only one thing. When I met with King Xerxes, my fate was turned around yet again. He showed me all his forces, provisions, and quantities of resources, then sent me back home. He ordered me to tell my people of the superiority of the Persians and our need to submit and give up our precious land. I obeyed the first half of the command, but as to our ability to conquer our opponent, I admit, I was not going to parrot the discouraging words of the king. Adding to our meager forces, the Phoenicians, the Athenians, the Peloponnesians, and the Sicilians had all joined with us to defend our country from the over-baring Medes and Persians.

The last major battle Many days of combat had passed and neither party had made major advances. Surprisingly, our lack in numbers was sufficiently compensated by our expertise in the art of warfare. We were stationed at Mt. Anopaia, just off the coast of the Malian Gulf. Other companies of our army were staged at other positions along the pass and on the other side of the mountain and our first-line defense. With these forces in place, we were ready for any advance the Persians might make. This was the turning point; either the Persians won and we lost our homeland forever, or the Greeks won and we could have a strong foothold to fight back our ferocious adversary.

Dawn was just breaking as the first wave of soldiers started climbing the base of the mountain. At first we did not see them--the whole land was covered dense with oak trees. Subtly the sound of a rushing wind approached. We armed for battle and found that our foes were upon us. The “wind” had been numerous bands of Persians trampling the leaves and breaking the low-lying branches. The soldiers did not expect to see us, and upon first sighting men in armor, they fled back to their camp. News spread fast and the whole Achaean host was soon brandishing swords, ready for the battle. The first onslaught hit, but by this time we were prepared. We fought nobly and ended up routing the Persians four different times that day--each subsequent time more and more fully, until the last time they were utterly destroyed.