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Leonidas I of Sparta

Leonidas I of Sparta

?480 BCE · Sparta

Leonidas I was a king of Sparta of the Agiad line in the early fifth century BCE. In 480 BCE, during the Persian invasion of Greece under Xerxes, he led a small Greek force, including his royal guard of 300 Spartans, to hold the narrow pass of Thermopylae. After several days of blocking the vast Persian army, his position was outflanked, and he and his men fought to the death while covering the Greek retreat. His stand became one of history's most celebrated examples of courageous resistance.

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Sparta

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