Spartan, Amazon, Warriors

"Famous Names Of The Time"
Brief Bio's Of: Herodotus;Thucydides;Leonidas;
Xerxes;Dienekes;Aristodemus

"Leonidas (Greek: Λεωνίδας; "Lion's
son", "Lion-like") was a king of Sparta, the
17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King
Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to
be a descendant of Heracles, possessing
much of the strength and bravery that made
his ancestor famous.
Delphic oracle is the main reason why
Leonidas fought to the last man at
Thermopylae.
Hear your fate, O dwellers in Sparta of the wide
spaces;
Either your famed, great town must be sacked
by Perseus' sons,
Or, if that be not, the whole land of Lacedaemon
Shall mourn the death of a king of the house of
Heracles,
For not the strength of lions or of bulls shall
hold him,
Strength against strength; for he has the power
of Zeus,
And will not be checked till one of these two he
has consumed
Leonidas and his men repulsed the Persians'
frontal attacks for two days, killing roughly
20,000 of the enemy troops and losing about
2,500 of their own.
The 300 Spartans, 900 Helots, and 700
Thespians refused to leave. Another 400
Thebans were kept with Leonidas as
hostages. The Thespians stayed entirely of
their own will, declaring that they would not
abandon Leonidas and his followers. Their
leader was Demophilus, son of Diadromes,
and as Herodotus writes: "Hence they lived
with the Spartans and died with them."
Herodotus says that Xerxes' orders were to
have Leonidas' head cut off and put on a stake
and his body crucified. This was considered
sacrilegious.
The tomb of Leonidas lies today in the
northern part of the modern town of Sparta.
Additionally, there is a modern monument at
the site of the Battle of Thermopylae, called the
"Leonidas Monument" in his honor. It features
a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the
statue, reads simply: "Μολών λαβέ" ("Come
and get them!")

King of Persia:Ruled from 485-465, became
king of Persia at the death of his father Darius the
Great in 485, at a time when his father was
preparing a new expedition against Greece and
had to face an uprising in Egypt .
After quelling the revolt of Egypt, Xerxes finally
decided to pursue the project of his father to
subdue Greece, but made lengthy preparations
for that. The expedition was ready to move in the
spring of 480 and Xerxes himself took the lead.
Xerxes' expedition moved by land and sea
through Thracia, the fleet following the army along
the coast. It didn't meet resistance until it reached
Thessalia, where the Persian army defeated the
Spartans and their allies at the pass of
Thermopylæ while, on sea, neither the Persian nor
the Athenian fleet could win the decision in the
battle that took place near Cape Artemisium,
Because of Themistocles' decision to evacuate
Athens, Xerxes managed to take the city and set
fire to the temples of the Acropolis, but his fleet
was soon after destroyed by the Athenian fleet of
Themistocles at the battle of Salamis After this
defeat, Xerxes returned to Asia via the Hellespont,
leaving part of his army in Greece under the
command of Mardonius. But the following year,
after having taken Athens a second time, the
Persian army was defeated, in September of 479,
at Platæa, near Thebes in Boeotia, in a battle that
lasted 13 days, in which Mardonius was killed
while, at about the same time, what remained of
the Persian fleet was destroyed by a Greek fleet
under the command of the Spartan general
Leutychides off Cape Mycale, This was not the
end of the war between Persia and Greece, but it
was the end of the incursions of the Persian army
on mainland Greece. And without a fleet, Persia
had to abandon control of the sea to Athens.
Xerxes died in 465, assassinated probably upon
order by one of his sons, Artaxerxes, who
succeeded him

Dienekes (Διηνέκης) was a Spartan officer
present at the Battle of Thermopylae. He was
acclaimed the bravest of all the three hundred
Spartiates selected to fight in that battle.
Herodotus related the following anecdote
about Dienekes:

"Thus nobly did the whole body of
Lacedaemonians and Thespians behave; but
nevertheless one man is said to have
distinguished himself above all the rest, to wit,
Dieneces the Spartan. A speech which he
made before the Greeks engaged the Medes,
remains on record. One of the Trachinians told
him, “Such was the number of the barbarians,
that when they shot forth their arrows the sun
would be darkened by their multitude.”
Dieneces, not at all frightened at these words,
but making light of the Median numbers,
answered “Our Trachinian friend brings us
excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun,
we shall have our fight in the shade.” Other
sayings too of a like nature are reported to
have been left on record by this same person.
Histories, 7.226"

Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek:
Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) Greek historian
who lived in the 5th century BC (c. 484 BC–c.
425 BC) and is regarded as the "Father of
History" in Western culture. He was the first
historian to collect his materials systematically,
test their accuracy to a certain extent and
arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid
narrative.   He is almost exclusively known for
writing "The Histories", The Histories is divided
into nine books, each named after one of the
Muses. (I didn't know that)   The rise of the
Persian Empire is chronicled, and the causes
for the conflict with Greece. Herodotus treats
the conflict as an ideological one, frequently
contrasting the absolute power of the Persian
king with the democratic government of the
Greeks.
Although some of his stories are not completely
accurate, he states that he is only reporting
what has been told to him.
(This boys and girls is called "Save your Butt!)

Thucydides (c. 460 B.C. – c. 395 B.C.)
(Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukydídēs) was a
Greek historian and author of the History of the
Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th
century B.C. War between Sparta and Athens to
the year 411 B.C. Thucydides has been dubbed
the father of "scientific history" due to his strict
standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in
terms of cause and effect without reference to
intervention by the gods.
Thucydides is generally regarded as one of the
first true historians. Unlike his predecessor
Herodotus (often called "the father of history")
who included rumors and references to myths
and the gods in his writing, Thucydides
assiduously consulted written documents and
interviewed participants in the events that he
records. Thucydides was the first historian who
seems to be attempting to be completely
objective.   By his discovery of historic
causation he created the first scientific
approach to history.
He has also been called the father of the
"school of political realism", which views the
relations between nations as based on might
rather than right.   His classical text is still
studied at advanced military colleges
worldwide, and the Melian dialogue remains a
seminal work of international relations theory.

"Aristodemus"
My Name Sake!

Aristodemus was a Spartan warrior, one of the famous Three Hundred sent to the
Battle of Thermopylae. He was one of only two survivors of the Three Hundred, as he
was not present at the last stand. Along with a comrade, Eurytus, Aristodemus was
stricken with an eye infection, causing King Leonidas to order the two to return home
before the battle, but Eurytus turned back, though blind, and met his end charging into
the fighting.

The Greek historian Herodotus believed that had both Aristodemus and Eurytus
returned alive, or had Aristodemus alone been ill and excused from combat, the
Spartans would have ascribed no blame to Aristodemus.   However, because Eurytus
did turn back and die in combat, Aristodemus was regarded as a coward and
subjected to humiliation and disgrace at the hands of his compatriots; in the words of
Herodotus, "no man would give him a light for his fire or speak to him; he was called
Aristodemus the Coward".

The other survivor of the Three Hundred was a man named Pantites, who had been
sent by Leonidas on an embassy to Thessaly.   He failed to return to Thermopylae in
time for the battle, and on finding himself in disgrace in Sparta, hanged himself.[4]

"Plataea"
At the Battle of Plataea, Aristodemus fought with such fury that the Spartans regarded
him as having redeemed himself. Although they removed the black mark against his
name, they would not award him any special honors for his valour because he had
fought with suicidal recklessness; the Spartans having regarded as more valorous
those who fought while still wishing to live.   Aristodemus charged, berserker-like, out
of the phalanx and was gravely injured, but survived until the last of the Persian wars
had ended at Salamis.

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