Battle of Thermopylae

The 300 Spartans 480 B.C.E

Essential Standards

• 6.H.2- Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.

• 6.G.1- Understand geographic factors that influenced the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas) over time.

• 6.C&G.1- Understand the development of government in various civilizations, societies and regions.

Clarifying Objective• 6.H.2.1- Explain how invasions, conquests and migrations

affected various civilizations, societies and regions

• 6.H.2.3- Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time (Battle Tactics)

• 6.H.2.4- Explain the role that key historical figures and cultural groups had in transforming society

• 6.G.1.1- Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of civilizations, societies and regions (natural barriers).

Clarifying Objective

• 6.C&G.1.1- Explain the origins and structures of various governmental systems (e.g., democracy, absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy).

Essential Question??

• Why did civilizations choose to live near natural barriers?

Emperor Xerxes

• Xerxes was the son of Darius & the grandson of Cyrus the Great and the last great ancient ruler of Persia

• Although he was schooled in mathematics, literature, & philosophy his father Darius was grooming him to by a military leader

Emperor Xerxes

• As a young boy he learned military tactics as well as how to fight hand to hand

• His father once put him in a courtyard with only a spear and a lion. He would either kill or be killed

King Leonidas

• Leonidas was King of the city state of Sparta

• He heroically led the 300 Spartans against the Persians

• He became a unifying figure in Greece by uniting the city states and creating nationalism in Ancient Greece

Story of the Battle of Thermopylae

• The Battle of Thermopylae starts with a man named Xerxes

• Xerxes is the King of Persia

• He is trying to conquer the world and expand the empire that Cyrus the Great & Darius had created

Persian Revenge

• For Xerxes this is also payback/revenge for the Ionian Revolt

• Xerxes is trying to do what his father Darius could not do at Marathon

• He plans the battle of Thermopylae for over 10 years

Persian Military

• The Persian Military was the largest fighting force assembled at that time in history

• They had already conquered the Egyptians and wanted the lands of Ancient Greece

• Xerxes himself was leading the Conquering of Greece

Persian Military Forces @ Thermopylae

• Historians believe that Xerxes brought about 300,000 men plus 1000 ships to conquer Greece

• The army was led by the Immortals which was the personal guard of Xerxes

• When his army went into battle formations there were so many men and animals that the ground shook

The Persian Army Assembles

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-WXgcX0eLc&feature=youtu.be

Assembling an Army• Xerxes assembles his giant

army & navy in modern day Turkey and marches and sails 800 miles to Greece

• In August of 480 B.C.E. he reaches a narrow pass called Thermopylae

• This is where King Leonidas have set up fortifications to stop the Persian Military

Thermopylae Pass• Thermopylae Pass is a natural

place to defend Greece for Leonidas and his small force of men

• The pass at its widest point is about 200 yards wide

• On Southside of the pass is Mount Kallidromo which stood about 5,000 ft tall

• The base of the mountain is about 400 ft of shear vertical rock

Thermopylae Pass• On the North side is a 300

foot cliff that sits hanging over the Aegean Sea

• This was a natural bottleneck between the Northern part of Greece and the mainland of Greece

• There was no other way to get to Greece than to go through Thermopylae Pass

Why Thermopylae Pass

• King Leonidas chooses Thermopylae pass because he can stack his men at the entrance of the pass and use the Spartan Phalanx battle Tactic

• He does not have to worry about the Persians coming to either side of them because the Sea is on one side and the Mountain on the other

Why Thermopylae Pass

• The Spartans simply jam up the front of the pass

• The strength of the Persian Army becomes a weakness because the Persians can only fit so many warriors in the pass

Why Thermopylae Pass

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK6QLligHrc&feature=youtu.be

The Phalanx Battle Strategy

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3QOgvam0N4&list=UUPsn1kPoAqrVYAkBtUvtq3w

Democracy is Young • At this point in Ancient Greece

Democracy is very young

• Democracy is a government where every citizen gets to vote for representatives and every citizen has a voice in decision making

• It is a basic idea that America shapes it’s government with today

Turning Point for Ancient Greece• The Battle of Thermopylae

marks the beginning of something never seen before in Greece

• The people of Greece have been fighting each other in a civil war for so long (Greeks vs. Spartans)

• This marks the 1st time in Ancient Greece’s history that all of Greece will team up & unite to fight the Persian Empire

Turning Point for Ancient Greece

• By joining together Greece was turning away from the thought that they were all separate city states

• They instead were beginning to become nationalistic

• They were devolving one Greece instead of individual city states

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• The Battle starts with with Xerxes sending one of his generals to demand the surrender of the Spartans

• The general tells the Spartans that they are heavily outnumbered and if they don’t surrender they will all be killed

Negotiating a Surrender

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ponIqkWmKCo&feature=youtu.be

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae• Xerxes has so many archers that if

they don’t surrender now the archers will blot out the sun with arrows

• To which one of Leonidas captains replies “Than we shall fight in the shade”

• Xerxes general returns to his side and orders the archers to fire

• Millions of arrows rain through the air but they do almost no damage because of the armor that the Spartans wear

We Shall Fight in the Shade

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6sR_mGm7W4

Spartan Armor

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxkmLk4YfkQ&list=UUPsn1kPoAqrVYAkBtUvtq3w

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae• Xerxes then sends his infantry

at the Spartans

• Thousands of Persian warriors charge over & over but because of the Phalanx they cannot break through the Spartans lines

• The Spartans are slaughtering the Persians who are not prepared for this kind of battle

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• The Persians are built for speed

• They don’t wear any armor because they are used to fighting in an open battlefield where they use their speed to get to the sides of their enemy

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• Because of the Thermopylae pass they cannot do that and Leonidas is just slaughtering them

• At the end of the 1st day Leonidas and the Spartans have killed thousands (10,000) of Persians with just 300 men

Day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• The night ends with hurricane like winds & rains pounding down on Aegean Sea destroy hundreds more of Xerxes ships

• The Spartans cheer as they have totally throttled the Persians on day 1 of the Battle of Thermopylae

End of Day 1

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swTHQRwrlcA&feature=youtu.be

Day 2 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• Xerxes has had enough of the light infantry get kicked around by the Spartans

• He starts day 2 by sending in his heavy infantry and personal guard unit called the Immortals

The Immortals

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzoAp9jX_as&feature=youtu.be

Day 2 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• All 10,000 of the Immortals silently slam into the Spartan Phalanx

• The Immortals are held up by the Spartan Phalanx as they are built for speed and stealth

Day 2 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• Xerxes also uses animals from his Kingdom that are unknown to the Spartans to try to attack

• They too are slaughtered by the Spartans

• Day 2 goes to the Spartans

Xerxes Turns to Animals

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCc_krpnjHs&feature=youtu.be

Day 3 of the Battle of Thermopylae

• Day 3 starts with a Greek scout going to Xerxes and informing him that there is a pass high in the mountains that will allow the Persians to sneak to the back of the Spartan force

• Xerxes seeing how he has been crushed for the last two days decides to use the pass

The Secret Pass

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij31N-qzVs4&feature=youtu.be

Day 3 of the Battle of Thermopylae• One of King Leonidas lookout

informs him that the Persians have found a secret through the mountains and are coming with 10,000 men

• Leonidas knowing that the Persians will rain arrows from the top of the mountain knows that his time as come

• He sends Herodotus to tell about the last stand of the 300 Spartans

Herodotus Leaves to Tell the Story of the 300 Spartans

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b8T4s6ZD5w&list=UUPsn1kPoAqrVYAkBtUvtq3w

Day 3 of the Battle of Thermopylae• Xerxes 10,000 archers get to the

top of the mountain and begin to rain arrows at the Spartans

• Xerxes ground soldiers attack from the front

• Early in the battle King Leonidas is struck by an arrow and lies dying as he watches his Spartans die one by one

• Within 2 hours every Spartan is dead

Xerxes Burns Athens to the Ground• After Xerxes kills all Greek

soldiers holding the pass he marches through to Athens

• Herodotus has convinced the Athenians to abandon Athens because he knows Xerxes is coming

• Xerxes reaches Athens and fulfills his promise to his father Darius and burns it to the ground in revenge

Cultural Perspective of Thermopylae

• The Greek city states of Athens & Sparta put aside their differences and battled Persia as a unified country

• King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans become a legend in Greek society and Leonidas becomes a unifying historical figure for all of Greece

Cultural Perspective of Thermopylae

• Thermopylae was the beginning of Greece moving away from being individual city states into a nation that had a sense of being one country

• Now everybody in every city state is proud to call themselves a GREEK!

Democracy• If the Persians would have won

that battle that would have been the end of Democracy

• Democracy is one of the basic ideas that the United States bases their government on today

• If democracy would have been crushed that day the world would be a far different place today

Important Points• 6.H.2.1- The Persian invasion of

Greece influenced the different Greek city states to band together to fight a common enemy (Persia)

• 6.H.2.3- Sparta became a dominating war culture because of the battle tactics they employed. They used the Phalanx so that few soldiers could defeat large armies

• 6.H.2.4- King Leonidas became an immediate legend that everyone looked up to. He became the key figure that unified city states into one united country of Greece

• 6.G.1.1- The Thermopylae Pass could not have been a better place for a few men to take on a huge army. Because of the sea on one side and the mountains on the other Thermopylae was a huge protection path for Ancient Greece

• 6.C&G.1.1- All of Greece’s newly founded Democracy was in trouble if Xerxes was not stopped. Democracy is what the United States Government is today

• The 300 Spartans have become legend that everyone basis heroism and bravery upon