Leonidas at Thermopylae

The Persian army had reached the Pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes, seeing that it was guarded by only a few men, sent them a haughty message, ordering them to surrender their weapons. Instead of meekly obeying as expected, the Persian heralds were amazed to hear Leonidas reply with true Spartan brevity: "Come and take them!"

The Spartan king quickly realized that he could do little more than delay the advance of the mighty host. Since a Spartan never retreats, he made up his mind to die on the battlefield. He commanded his warriors to comb their hair, don their finest armor, and dress in their richest attire, as was the custom when facing great danger and expecting death.

The Persians, seeing this, were greatly surprised and advanced confidently, thinking that men who took such trouble to curl and perfume their hair would not be hard to conquer. They soon discovered their mistake.

As they advanced, the archers shot a volley of arrows so numerous that they darkened the sun. One of the allies ran to warn Leonidas, but he received the startling news with great calm, merely saying, "Very well; then we can fight in the shade."

When Xerxes saw that the Greeks would not yield without a fight, he ordered the battle to begin. The Persians pressed forward under the king's watchful eye, as he sat high on the rocks to witness their victory. But to his surprise, they were driven back by that mere handful of men.

Again and again they tried to force the pass, but all attempts proved futile. The Persian soldiers, amazed at the courage of the Greeks, were filled with superstitious fears and began to refuse to advance unless driven forward by the sting of the lash.

The king was furious to see their close ranks give way time after time. Finally, he ordered his own Immortals to advance and scatter the army that, though so small, was holding millions of men at bay. He expected that everything would yield at their first charge.

Imagine his wrath, then, when he saw the Immortals also retreat after many useless efforts to drive away the enemy. The Persians did not know what to do. They could not advance, and they were ashamed to retreat.