✎ About Leonidas I

Leonidas I was born in Sparta, Greece, Greek, is King of Ancient Sparta. Leonidas I of the Agiad dynasty was one of the two kings of the ancient Sparta during the years immediately leading up to the ‘Second Persian War’. The 17th ruler of his line, he was the commander of the 7000 allied Greek forces (modern estimates) against the invading Persian army of 300,000 (modern estimates) at the ‘Battle of Thermopylae’. While the future kings of Sparta were generally exempt from the agoge, the rigorous education and martial training program that all male citizens of the city were subjected to, Leonidas underwent it just the same, not being the initial successor to his father’s throne. He became the co-king of Sparta at around the age of fifty. Nine years into his reign, Greece was attacked by the Persian emperor Xerxes I as a delayed response to the defeat in the ‘First Persian War’ in 490 BC. A military alliance known as the ‘Corinthian League’ was forged under the Spartan leadership among the warring city-states and it was decided that Sparta would lead the defence of the narrow pass of Thermopylae that linked Persia-controlled Thessaly to the central Greece. In the ensuing three-day battle, every soldier of the Greek army except for the 400 Thebans who surrendered to King Xerxes was killed. Leonidas and his martyred warriors have become the symbol of patriotism and sacrifice since then and their battle tactics the matters of discourse in military schools.
Leonidas I is a member of Historical Personalities

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Some Leonidas I images

Famous Quotes:

For you, inhabitants of wide-wayed Sparta,
Either your great and glorious city must be wasted by Persian men,
Or if not that, then the bound of Lacedaemon must mourn a dead king, from Heracles' line.
The might of bulls or lions will not restrain him with opposing strength; for he has the might of Zeus.
I declare that he will not be restrained until he utterly tears apart one of these.

Biography/Timeline

1737

Leonidas was the name of an Epic poem written by Richard Glover, which originally appeared in 1737. It went on to appear in four other editions, being expanded from 9 books to 12.

1955

A monument to Leonidas was erected at Thermopylae in 1955. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" ("Come and take them"), which was Leonidas' reply when Xerxes offered to spare the lives of the Spartans if they gave up their arms.

1968

Another statue, also with the inscription ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ, was erected at Sparta in 1968.

1998

He appears as the protagonist of Frank Miller's 1998 comic book series 300. It presents a fictionalized version of Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae, as does the 2006 feature film adapted from it.

Tags:

6th-century BC births 480 BC deaths 6th-century BC Greek people 5th-century BC Greek people 5th-century BC rulers Battle of Thermopylae Greek historical hero cult People of the Greco-Persian Wars Rulers of Sparta Ancient Greeks killed in battle Greek culture Monarchs killed in action