Cold Open

It’s August 20th, 480 BCE, on the coast of Greece.

In a military camp, middle-aged warrior Dienekes makes his final preparations for battle. He rubs sand on his spear handle so it’s easier to grasp. He checks if the leather strap on the back of his shield is properly attached. Everything seems to be ready. And although he’s trained for war his entire life, today Dienekes will be fighting in his first-ever battle - and he hopes not his last.

Dienekes is a unit commander in the Spartan army. The Spartans are leading the fight to protect their homeland of Greece from the invading Persians. They’re making their stand here at Thermopylae, a narrow strip of land between the mountains and sea. Because of the unique geography, the larger Persian force can’t surround the Greeks. And instead, it will be a head-on fight - and Dienekes and his warriors will be on the front line.

Dienekes takes up position beside his men. In the distance, he can see the vast Persian army flooding across the ground toward them, like some great unstoppable tide. And when they come within range, their archers open fire.

Deadly arrows rain down on the Greek lines. Dienekes raises his circular shield above his head… and shelters himself as wave after wave of archery fire hisses from the skies above. But he knows this is just the beginning. When the arrows stop, the Persians will attack on foot.

Whipping down his shield, Dienekes shouts a command, and he and his men assemble into their phalanx formation. Along the line, the rest of the Spartan army does the same.

Standing in three rows of four, Dienekes’ soldiers become one unit. Their shields cover each other, creating a wall of metal with just enough room between them for the Spartans to thrust their long spears at the charging enemy.

As the Persians come closer, Dienekes holds his men steady. They stay locked in position until he can see the sweat on his enemies’ faces, the glint of the short metal swords in their hands. Then with a roaring battle cry that echoes down the line, Dienekes gives the order to attack, and the fighting begins.

Over the next two days, the outnumbered Greeks will face down wave after wave of Persian attacks. They will hold the line against incredible odds until they are betrayed by one of their own. Their defeat will be a glorious one, though. The epic last stand of the Spartans will become one of the most famous fights in history and all of Greece will remember the Battle of Thermopylae, which began on August 20th, 480 BCE.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 20th, 480 BCE: The Battle of Thermopylae.

Act One

It’s 480 BCE, in the Greek city-state of Sparta, several months before the Battle of Thermopylae.

The Spartan King Leonidas sits with his war council, surrounded by his most trusted friends and allies.

At age sixty, Leonidas may be getting older, but he’s still in peak physical condition. Spartans are trained from a young age in the ways of war and are known for being the fiercest warriors in all of Greece. Leonidas is even believed to be a distant relative of the mythical hero Hercules. Today, however, Leonidas isn’t facing a feat of strength, but a test of wits.

A mysterious parcel has arrived for the king, sent from a far-off land, but neither he nor his men can decipher its meaning. It’s a piece of wood covered in wax. Usually, some text would be carved into the wax, but this one has no message.

Leonidas is joined by his wife, Gorgo. Women aren’t recognized as royalty in Sparta so she doesn’t have the title of Queen, but she is wise, well-educated, and strong-willed. She suggests scraping the blank wax off the wooden tablet and sure enough, there is writing hidden beneath, chiseled into the wood itself. It’s a secret message from a Spartan in exile in Persia. He has learned that the Persian emperor Xerxes is planning to invade Greece, so he has sent this secret warning, in hopes that his people won’t be caught by surprise.

With this revelation, what started as an amusing mystery has become an ominous call to arms. War is coming, and King Leonidas must prepare himself and his Spartan warriors for the biggest battle of their lives.

But this isn’t the first time the mighty Persian Empire has tried to invade Greece, though. Ten years ago, Sparta was visited by ambassadors from Persia who came with an ultimatum - surrender or face war. In response, the Spartans threw the ambassadors down a well, telling the Persians that Sparta chooses war. The conflict ended in a humiliating defeat for the Persians, and the death of their emperor. But he was succeeded by his son Xerxes, and now, a decade later, he wants to accomplish what his father could not and conquer Greece.

The Persian Empire spans thousands of miles across Central Asia, from today’s Turkey all the way to Pakistan. Xerxes has drawn on these vast territories to build an enormous invading force of up to 500,000 fighting men.

By contrast, Greece is divided between hundreds of often-bickering city-states. Sparta and Athens were among the most powerful, and they set aside their differences to lead the response to the Persian invasion. But Athens is a naval power. It has no army to speak of. So, it falls to Sparta to lead the Greek land forces. King Leonidas chooses 300 of his best fighters to form the vanguard of the Greek army. And though they may be few, they are elite - highly trained and ready to die to defend their homeland.

In Spartan culture, retreating even in the face of certain death is considered an act of cowardice. So, as Leonidas bids farewell to his wife Gorgo, and the other soldiers say goodbye to their families, the Spartan women shed no tears. They are just as tough as their husbands and sons, and they send a clear message to the fighting soldiers: come back with your shield, or upon it. Victory, or death. In Sparta, there is no other option.

The Greek army of around 7,000 men then travels to Thermopylae, 150 miles north of Athens. There, Leonidas gets his first look at the huge enemy army in the distance. The number of Persians is staggering, but Leonidas is undaunted. He orders his men to make camp. And this is where they will mount their defense, on a narrow pass between a steep mountain and a swampy coastline.

For a few days, nothing happens. Both armies just wait to see what the other will do. Eventually, though, Persian emissaries arrive at the Spartan camp with a message from Xerxes "lay down your weapons." King Leonidas responds by saying Xerxes can “come and take them.” It’s a defiant phrase that will be remembered for thousands of years.

With no chance of peace, the two armies will begin their final preparations for battle. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Leonidas and his elite Spartan warriors will cling to the belief that they can win, until their hopes of an unlikely-seeming victory are undercut by the treachery of one of their own.

Act Two

It’s August 20th, 480 BCE, the afternoon of the first day of the Battle of Thermopylae.

38-year-old Persian emperor Xerxes clasps a goblet of wine, as he leans forward on his throne pursed on a scrubby hill in Greece. Xerxes has come here to watch his army fight. And as thousands of men march toward battle for him, Xerxes’ servants have laid out a banquet of fine food and drink for him to enjoy.

A few hours ago, the first wave of Persians charged the Greek defenses but failed to break through. Xerxes was disappointed. He knows now that he won’t be able to win easy victory over the fierce Spartan warriors, but Xerxes has elite fighters of his own. They’re called “The Immortals” because every time one of them falls in battle, he is immediately replaced by another, so that the number of the men in the army is never less, and never more, than exactly 10,000.

The Immortals helped Xerxes’ father conquer parts of India and Pakistan. Now, Xerxes believes they will help him make Greece another territory in the mighty Persian Empire.

But as Xerxes watches the battle unfold from afar, his confidence falters. The Spartans aren’t just holding their own against the Immortals - they’re slaughtering them. And suddenly, Xerxes is no longer in the mood for a celebratory feast.

Again and again, he leaps up from his throne in disbelief, ranting to advisors about the incompetence of what he believed were his finest fighters. Hours pass and as the sun dips toward the horizon, the battlefield is littered with Persian dead. By comparison, the defending Greeks seem to have suffered few casualties. The first day of the Battle of Thermopylae has ended in humiliation for the Persians.

But despite the setback, by next morning, Xerxes is feeling confident again. Overnight, his war council has convinced him that yesterday’s failure was just a fluke - the Greeks may have triumphed during the first skirmishes, but they’ll be exhausted and carrying wounds, while the Persians still have plenty of fresh troops to throw into the fight.

So once again, Xerxes takes his throne up to the hilltop to watch the battle unfold. But for the second day, Xerxes spends hours watching his men die. He doesn’t seem to understand that compared to the Spartans, his army is not as well-trained, well-armored, or as well-fed. Many of Xerxes’ men have little motivation to fight either - they’ve been conscripted from conquered territories and forced to obey Xerxes’ orders. The Greeks though, are fighting for the freedom of their homeland.

So the second day of the Battle of Thermopylae passes much like the first, and by sundown, Xerxes is left embarrassed and angry.

But the tide quickly changes, because that evening, a Greek man approaches the Persian camp. His name is Ephialtes and he’s not from Sparta - but part of a local Greek tribe and knows the local area well. Ephialtes tells Xerxes about a secret mountain path used by goat herders that the Persians could use to outflank and surround the Greek army.

Ephialtes is betraying his countrymen for a simple reason. He wants gold in return for showing the Persians the secret path. And Xerxes quickly agrees, promising the traitor a fortune.

Then that night, under cover of darkness, Ephialtes leads a battalion of Persians along the secret path through the mountains. And just as Ephialtes had promised, the Persians are able to emerge close to the rear of the Greek army. This is where the most inexperienced soldiers are positioned, and they are helpless to defend themselves against this sudden attack.

Word of the surprise Persian offensive reaches the Spartan King Leonidas quickly. The betrayal means that the Greeks are now surrounded and Leonidas quickly convenes a war council to assess their options. After a hurried debate, Leonidas orders anyone who doesn’t wish to stay and fight to flee now over the mountains while there is still a chance of escape.

But Leonidas and his men will not allow Sparta to be dishonored with a retreat. They will fight to the bitter end. And as the Persians approach from both sides, the Spartans will prepare for their last stand, and King Leonidas himself will be alongside his men when they meet their bloody end.

Act Three

It’s August 23rd, 480 BCE - the third and final day of the Battle of Thermopylae.

King Leonidas of Sparta and his men are surrounded. Leonidas’ spear is soaked in blood and his shield is studded with arrows as he fights for his life. But the Persian army is just too large. The Spartans know they are doomed.

With knowledge of a secret mountain path, the Persian army has successfully surrounded the smaller Greek force. Phalanxes can’t fight on two sides at once, and so the final clash is short and bloody.

Leonidas tries to rally his dwindling men. But as he does, he’s hit by an arrow to the chest. Somehow he fights on, taking blow after blow until finally he succumbs, and his body falls among the other Spartans who fought so bravely beside him.

Victory at Thermopylae belongs to Xerxes and the Persian Empire. But it comes at a cost of 20,000 casualties. The Greeks on the other hand have lost around 2,000 men, including all the Spartan warriors who chose to remain behind and make their desperate last stand.

With the pass at Thermopylae now clear, the Persians will continue deeper into Greece and sack the great city of Athens. But the Persian invasion will go a little further than that. Around a month after the Battle of Thermopylae, the Greek Navy led by the Athenians will win a famous victory over the Persians at Salamis. This will end Xerxes’ hopes of conquering more of Greece, and, just a year after their victory at Thermopylae, Xerxes and his army will retreat to Central Asia - never to return again.

This final victory in the wars with Persia will shape Greek identity for centuries, and the story of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans of Thermopylae will become almost mythic. The battlefield itself will be marked by a monument to the dead, with these words chiseled in stone: Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by / That here, obedient to their laws, we lie. This is a final message from the fallen, a wish for their people to know of their sacrifice and remember them. The Spartans may have lost their lives, but they became legends the day when the few faced the many at the Battle of Thermopylae, on August 20th, 480 BCE.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 21st, 1831. Enslaved preacher Nat Turner leads the deadliest slave revolt in U.S. history.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Jack O’Brien.

Edited by William Simpson.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.