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Word Gems
What is a man but the sum of his thoughts?

Courage & Fortitude:

King Leonidas of Sparta:

"Come and get them!"

In 480 BC, Xerxes, King of Persia (son of Darius who was defeated in a prior attempt to take Greece), had landed in Greece and was in full preparation to invade Athens, the leader of the independent Greek city-states, as part of his strategic plan to conquer all of Greece.

King Leonidas of Sparta and another Greek city-state agreed to help stop the invading Persians and marched with 300 hand-picked troops to Thermopylae on the north coast of Greece. Thermopylae was the best of three possible defensive areas in which Xerxes' invading army had to advance. This mountain gap along the coast was about 60 feet wide, and was the best location for a blocking action. Since the 300 knew they were going to die fighting against overwhelming force the first requirement was that each man had to have a son left behind.

When Leonidas was preparing to make his stand, a Persian envoy arrived. The envoy explained to Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the huge Persian army and demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms.

• Leonidas told Xerxes: Molon Labe -- or "Come and get them!"

"Our archers are so numerous," said the envoy, "that the flight of their arrows darkens the sun."

"So much the better," replied Dienekes, a Spartan warrior, "for we shall fight them in the shade."

After three days of fighting and having killed approximately 20,000 of Xerxes' elite troops, they were finally overrun after being betrayed by one who showed the enemy another pass behind the defenders. King Leonidas and his Spartans were then killed in a final battle. Xerxes marched on and destroyed Athens.

• The example of this battle stands as one of the most courageous, heroic and important events in history. The rest of Greece was mobilized and united by the example of the 300 Spartans and went on to defeat the Persian Invasion. In the major battle to decide the war the Persians had to stand against 5000 Spartan warriors. Having already seen what a mere 300 could do, their will was broken and they ran before the lines were even engaged.

Persia was trying to enslave Greece. Conquered nations and people were ruled at the whim of the Persian King who was considered a living god. In Greece at the time the idea of freedom and democracy was being born. Had the Persian invasion succeeded, history may have been very different. Maybe you and I would not be experiencing the freedom we now enjoy in our Western cultures.

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