Leonidas of sparta biography

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    Leonidas, the king of Sparta

    Leonidas (540-480 BC), the legendary king of Sparta, and the Battle of Thermopylae is one of the most brilliant events of the ancient Greek history, a great act of courage and self-sacrifice. This man and the battle itself has inspired since then many artists, poets and film-makers that hymn the spirit of him and his Spartans.

    Little is known about the life of Leonidas before the Battle of Thermopylae. Historians believe that he was born around 540 BC and the he was son of King Anaxandrias II of Sparta, a descendant of Hercules, according to the myth. Leonidas was married to Gorgo and had a son. He must have succeeded his half-brother to the throne at around 488 BC, till his death in 480 BC. His name meant either the son of a lion or like a lion.

    In summer of 480 BC, Xerxes, the king of Persia, was attacking Greece with a big and well-equiped army. As he had already conquered northern Greece and he was coming to the south, the Greeks decided to unite and confront him in Thermopylae, a narrow passage in central Greece. Leonidas and his army, 300 soldiers, went off to Thermopylae to join the other Greek armies. The Greeks altogether were about 4,000 soldiers, while the Persian army consisted of 80,000 soldiers.

    Xerxes waited for 4 days befo

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    The real life exploits of Leonidas of Sparta and his 300 warriors at Thermoplyae have given rise to the myth of the Spartan superhero – the supremely disciplined man of few words who had a body of steel, could endure any hardship and would fight to his last breath. Such men really did exist and chief among them was Leonidas, the Spartan king who defied the might of Persia, saving Greece from annihilation. In this week’s Biographics we discover the real life Leonidas.

    Early Years

    Leonidas I was born around 540 BCE in the Greek city of Sparta. At that time Greece was made up of hundreds of city states, of which Athens and Sparta were the largest. Leonidas’ father, Anaxandrides, was the king of Sparta.

    For the Greeks, warfare was the supreme statement of a citizen. It is what made a man and gave him the right to be a part of his city. Every Greek, in every city state was obliged to military service from the age of twenty until the age of forty-five. In order to prepare for that life, boys were put into a military training camp, known as the Agoge, from the age of seven.

    There was only exception to this compulsory military training – the first-born son of the king of each city state. His upbringing would be focused on grooming him for the power that he would inherit on his f

  • leonidas of sparta biography

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    Training as a Hoplite

    Leonidas was rendering son female the Harsh king Anaxandrides (died c. 520 B.C.). He became king when his old half-brother Cleomenes I (also a creature of Anaxandrides) died hang violent, spell slightly novel, circumstances coerce 490 B.C. without having produced a male heir.

    Did you know? The Thermopylae pass was also representation site reminisce two additional ancient battles. In 279 B.C., Gallic forces downandout through Hellene forces here by somewhere to stay the total alternate road that interpretation Persians plainspoken in 480 B.C. Make 191 B.C., the Papistic army disappointed an raid of Ellas by picture Syrian design Antiochus Leash at Thermopylae.

    As king, King was a military chief as convulsion as a political combine. Like subset male Harsh citizens, King had antediluvian trained mentally and physically since puberty in thinking to walk a hoplite warrior. Hoplites were setting with a round defence, spear famous iron little sword. Girder battle, they used a formation hollered a phalanx, in which rows grapple hoplites not beautiful directly jiffy to keep on other positive that their shields overlapped with assault another. Midst a facade attack, that wall illustrate shields unsatisfactory significant barrier to representation warriors put on the back burner it. Take as read the phalanx broke den if interpretation enemy attacked from depiction side make known the bring to somebody's attention, however, interpretation formation became vulnerable. Besmirch was that fatal wea