From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leonidas
Statue of Leonidas I of Sparta.
Born	circa 521 BC Sparta
Died	August 19, 480 BC Thermopylae
Children	Pleistarchus
Parents	Anaxandridas II

Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας; "Lion's son", "Lion-like") was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to be a descendant of Heracles. Leonidas was one of three: he had an older brother Dorieus and a younger brother Cleombrotus, who ruled as regent for a while on Leonidas death before being taken over as regent by Pausanias who was Cleombrotus son. Leonidas succeeded his half-brother Cleomenes I, probably in 489 or 488 BC, and was married to Cleomenes' daughter, Gorgo. His name was raised to heroic status as a result of the events in the Battle of Thermopylae.

In August 480 BC, Leonidas went to Thermopylae with 300 of his personal guards, all with sons to carry on their names, where he was joined by forces from other Greek city-states, who put themselves under his command to form an army 4,200 strong. This force was assembled in an attempt to hold the pass of Thermopylae against hundreds of thousands of Persian soldiers who had invaded from the north of Greece under Xerxes I. Leonidas took only his personal guard, and not the army, because Spartan religious customs forbade sending an army at that time of year.

Statue of King Leonidas of Sparta

Leonidas and his men repulsed the Persians' frontal attacks for the first two days, killing roughly 20,000 of the enemy troops and losing very few of their own. The Persian elite unit known to the Greeks as "the Immortals" were held back, and two of Xerxes' brothers died in battle. On the third day, a Malian Greek traitor named Ephialtes led the Persian general Hydarnes by a mountain track to the rear of the Greeks. At that point Leonidas sent away all Greek troops and remained in the pass with his 300 Spartans, 900 Helots, and 700 Thespians who refused to leave. Another 400 Thebans were kept with Leonidas as hostages. The Thespians stayed entirely of their own will, declaring that they would not abandon Leonidas and his followers. Their leader was Demophilos, son of Diadromes, and as Herodotus writes: "Hence they lived with the Spartans and died with them."

One theory provided by Herodotus is that Leonidas sent away the remainder of his men because he cared about their safety. The King would have thought it wise to preserve those Greek troops for future battles against the Persians, but he knew that the Spartans could never abandon their post on the battlefield. The soldiers who stayed behind were to protect their escape against the Persian cavalry. Herodotus himself believes that Leonidas gave the order because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up. He therefore chose to dismiss all troops except the Thespians and Helots and save the "glory" for the Spartans. ^[1]

Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques-Louis David (1814)

The little Greek force, attacked from both sides, was cut down to a man except for the Thebans, who surrendered. Leonidas was killed, but the Spartans retrieved his body and protected it until their final defeat. Herodotus says that Xerxes' orders were to have Leonidas' head cut off and put on a stake and his body crucified. This was considered sacrilegious. ^[2] The tomb of Leonidas lies today in the northern part of the modern town of Sparta.

A carved lion monument bearing the inscription below was dedicated at Leonidas' death site.

Go, stranger, and in Lacedaemon tell,

That here, obeying her behests, we fell. — (Greek: Ώ ξειν', ἀγγέλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ότι τήδε κείμεθα, τοις κείνων ρήμασι πειθόμενοι) epitaph at Thermopylae (Simonides' epigram)

Two Spartans survived the conflict. Kirtanian (Spartan) Aristodemus suffered an eye injury and was sent behind the lines, eventually ordered back to Sparta with the retreating allies by the King. Pantites was sent by Leonidas to raise support in Thessaly, but returned to Thermopylae only after the battle's conclusion. Pantites hanged himself in disgrace after being shunned as a "trembler".

Main articles: Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture and Sparta in popular culture

• Portrayed by:
  • By Richard Egan in the 1962 epic The 300 Spartans and
  • By Gerard Butler in the 2007 blockbuster 300, inspired by the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley.
• Leonidas appears as leader of the Estancieros as an NPC in the PC game Titan Quest.
• Leonidas also appears as a NPC in the video game Spartan: Total Warrior. In that game, he leads the playable character in battle against the Romans.
• Leonidas appears both as a warrior and a promo warrior in the card game Anachronism.
• Leonidas appeared in the video game Civilization IV as a Great General unit.
• Leonidas and Sparta are also referenced in Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire as the leader of the 300 in the Battle of Thermopylae, and is a book that explains the very essence of Spartan culture.
• Leonidas is a movement of the Delta Halo Suite from the game Halo 2.
• "Leonidas Returns" is a movement of the Covenant suite from the game Halo 3
• Leonidas is a chain of Belgian chocolate stores, with a Spartan helmet as its logo.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "LEONIDAS", a publication now in the public domain.