‘THE BRAVEST MEN OF ALL HELLAS’
Through the Pass of Thermopylae lay the entrance from the north to the
south of Greece. It was this pass that the Greeks determined to hold
against the Persians when they withdrew from the Pass of Tempe.
The Pass of Thermopylae was about a mile long and the narrow road
ran between the mountains and the sea. At each end of the pass the
mountains were sheer cliffs, descending so close to the sea that the
only pathway was a mere strip of sand.
To enter the pass, at either end, it was necessary to go through a
narrow entrance called Pylae or the Gates. In the road between the
Pylae or Gates there were hot springs. The Greek word for hot is
thermos, and that is how the pass came to be named Thermopylae or
Hot-Gates.
At the narrowest part of the pass stood an old broken-down wall, and
this wall was repaired by the order of Leonidas, King of Sparta, that
it might form a defence against the enemy.
A short distance from the mainland lay the island of Euboea, the strait
between being at one place only two and a half miles in breadth. Here
the Greek fleet took up its position under the command of the Spartan
Eurybiades, Themistocles being second in command. Themistocles would
have held the chief command had not some of the States refused to serve
under an Athenian admiral.
The land army was led by Leonidas, one of the kings of Sparta. But
because this was now the month of June 480 B.C., the time when the
Olympic games were held, many of the Spartans did not march with
Leonidas to Thermopylae. For although the country was in danger, the
games, being also religious rites, must be held as usual, and numbers
of brave soldiers stayed at home to take part in the festival.
When Leonidas set out on his march to defend the entrance to the south
of Greece, he had with him only three hundred Spartans. On the way to
Thermopylae he was joined by troops from other States, so that when he
reached the pass he was at the head of seven thousand men.
Now there was only one narrow hill track by which the enemy could reach
the rear of the Spartans, and strangers to the country were little
likely to find it. Yet Leonidas bade the Phocians, who lived in the
district, guard well this narrow footpath. He would leave nothing to
chance.
When Xerxes with his great army reached Thermopylae, he was told that
it was in the hands of a small band of Spartans, under king Leonidas.
The tidings did not disturb the Persian monarch, he was sure that the
Spartans would soon leave their post, when they saw his great army.
But the Spartans did not retreat, although they could see plainly the
vast hordes that had come against them.
By and by Xerxes grew impatient and sent a horseman to reconnoitre.
The horseman could not see the Spartan camp, for it was hidden by the
old wall that had been repaired, but he could see the men themselves
without the wall. Their arms were piled up against it in stacks, as
though no enemy was near. Some of the soldiers were wrestling with each
other, others were combing their hair, as if they were getting ready
for a festival rather than for a battle.
The Persian was astonished at what he saw. As the Spartans took no
notice of him, he stayed to count their number, and then rode quietly
back to tell Xerxes all that he had seen.
Xerxes, too, was amazed. Why should soldiers trouble to comb their hair
before fighting? Why should they wrestle with one another as though no
danger lay before them? He thought that they were doing ‘childish and
silly things,’ for he did not understand that this was the Spartans’
way of getting ready either to die or to slay their enemies.
In the Persian camp was an exiled King of Sparta, named Demaratus.
Xerxes sent for him to ask why his countrymen wasted their time,
wrestling and combing their long curls.
‘These men,’ answered Demaratus, ‘are here to fight for the pass; and
when they have to face a mortal danger, their custom is to comb and
deck out their hair. Be sure then, that if thou canst conquer these
and all the rest who remain behind in Sparta, there is no other nation
which shall dare to raise a hand against thee, for now art thou face to
face with the bravest men of all Hellas.’
But Xerxes laughed at the thought of a small band of men like the
Spartans daring to fight against his great army. He dismissed Demaratus
and sent to demand that the Spartans should give up their arms. But the
only answer that Leonidas sent back was to bid the king ‘to come and
take them.’ It was plain that the Spartans did not fear the enemy. When
one of them was told that the Persian host was so numerous that ‘the
flight of their arrows would darken the light of the sun,’ he answered
carelessly, ‘So much the better, we shall fight in the shade.’
For four days Xerxes waited, expecting the Spartans to flee, but on the
fifth day they were still there, wrestling and combing their hair as
before.
Then the king sent a band of soldiers to the enemy’s camp, bidding it
take these bold Spartans alive and bring them bound into his presence.
But the Persians could not push their way through the narrow gates
which were guarded by the enemy. They were not only kept at bay, they
were thrust back again and again, and many of their number were slain
by the long spears of the Spartans.