HomeboyMediaNews

300 > “Molon lave!” April 12, 2007

“Molon lave!” Come and get them!

Thump, thump, thump, the heavy thudding shook the Greek soil. The date is set to 480 B.C. and the Persian King Xerxes heads one of the mightiest armies the world has ever seen. His eyes are transfixed on the task ahead. Just ten years back the mortifying defeat at Marathon still stings his heart. Stubborn and pitiless are words that embody this Persian king who expanded the kingdom to it’s present might. He smells the Greek aura and that itself is enough to choke his lungs for the rage that drives this monster has no bounds. He successfully crossed the Hellespont in a way Homer would love to exaggerate, yet it was not fiction. Due to the large number of the army they bridged the strait with boats so they could march through to Greece.

Thump.. Thump.. the footsteps of 500,000 men resound the Greek peninsula as it faces utter annihilation from the face of the earth. Northern Greece submits to the Persian invaders without resistance for the sight of an enormous Persian army demands fear. One shepherd reported, “I watched them march for a dozen day and more and still the men kept coming and coming.”

  At another side of Greece a solitary state, self-sufficient and fertile basks in the scorching sun. Military traditions engulf this state which can be summed by just one word, Sparta. Here it is believed that one should ask what he could do for the state and not what the state can do for him. Sparta was, above all, a militarist state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. Shortly after birth, the mother of the child bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived, it was brought before the elders of the tribe by the child’s father. The elders then decided whether it was to be reared or not. If found defective or weak, the baby was left to die on the wild slopes of Mount Taygetos. In this way the Spartans attempted the maintenance of high physical standards in their population. From the earliest days of the Spartan citizen, the claim on his life by the state was absolute and strictly enforced. Children as young as 7 years old are subjected to military training until he finally earns the right to battle under the Spartan flag. And on that day he is given his shield and armour.

It was customary in Sparta that before the males would go off to war, their wives or another female of some significance would present them with their shield and say: “I tan, i epi tas”, which translates to “Return back with this, or upon this.” The idea was that a Spartan could only return to Sparta in one of two ways: Victorious or dead. If a Spartan hoplite were to return to Sparta alive and without his shield, it was assumed that he threw his shield at the enemy in an effort to flee; an act punishable by death or banishment. It is interesting to note the story about the Spartan who fled in defeat and came back home with an arrow in his back, upon receiving the son home the mother stabs the son in shame and commited suicide herself for raising a coward. However a soldier losing his helm, breastplate or greaves, leg armor, was not similarly punished, as these items were personal pieces of armour designed to protect one soldier. However the shield not only protected the individual soldier but in the tightly packed Spartan Phalanx, a military formation, was also instrumental in protecting the soldier to his left from harm. Thus the shield was symbolic of the individual soldier’s subordination to his unit, his integral part in its success, and his solemn responsibility to his comrades in arms, messmates and friends, often close blood relations. It could not be lost.

  Thus was the breed of the Spartan race that controlled the area known as Laconia. But now not only was their existence threatened but also that of the whole of Hellas. The Spartan King Leonidas takes the charge to defend the whole of Greece having absolute faith in the Spartan army. Religious scruples prevented him from deploying the whole army yet not wanting to give up on his word he takes his personal bodyguard of 300 men to the narrow strech of Thermopylae. Earlier it was decided that this narrow stretch would be the best point of defence as the large Persian army had no advantage.

Spartans were by tradition known to have sharp tongues with concise yet cutting comments. When the Persians sent envoys to the Spartans demanding the traditional symbol of surrender, an offering of soil and water, the Spartans threw them into a deep well, suggesting that upon their arrival at the bottom, they could “Dig it out for yourselves.” Surprised comments on this act raised the question, “This is madness” for which Leonidas swiftly answered, “Madness? This is Sparta”. On another occasion the Persians threatened a Spartan named Dienekes saying, “today our arrows will blot out the sun” to which he replied, “then we will battle in the shade”.

The 300 men finally reached their ground high spirited, blood hungry and honoured to battle under the Spartan flag and red armour. The whole of Greece had new born hope as they saw the Spartans march with fervour and valour. By tradition the Spartans wore red armour so that no enemy will ever see Spartan blood.

The next day dawns and the die is cast, for an army of 500,000 were about to be defended by 300 men. Battle begins and history records one of the most grueling yet tactical warfare that still amazes the world. King Leonidas uses techniques never seen before, the Persians draw back but Leonidas is not merciful enough to let them go alive. Thousands are pushed to the river and drowned and more slaughtered. There is turmoil in the Persian camp for a mere 300 men had humiliated them, Xerxes sits on his high throne and stares at an unforgiving scene, half of his mercenaries lie lifeless on Greek soil. Xerxes is given a Hobson’s choice, to use his immortals. The immortals were the personal bodyguard of the Persian emperor, and known for their “immortal” quality on the battle field.

Thump… thump…. Yet again the sound reverberates the air. The immortals are on the march towards the Spartans. Leonidas forms his army into a diagonal formation with himself at the front and cuts deep into the immortals, and yet again another tactic raises a wall of fire behind the immortals preventing them from retreating and the whole garrison is burnt and slain. The Spartan King has achieved something no one ever before him did, he had defended Greece with just 300 men and also defeated the unconquerable immortals. The Persian moral is down and Xerxes desperate for hope.

As is in every war treachery shows the way when everything else fails. For a handful of gold coins a Greek mountaineer named Ephialtes shows Xerxes a secret goat path that falls right at the rear of the Spartans. Finally a dual attack from the Persians break the bold defence of King Leonidas. At dawn knowing of the inevitable end Leonidas exhorted his men, “Eat well, for tonight we dine in Hades(hell).” Xerxes seeing the Spartans surrounded acclaimed “Spartans lay down your arms” to which Leonidas replied “Molon lave!” Come and get them!

And finally one by one the Spartans were killed and they boldly fought to the last man and there they lay 300 plus one man who lead them, dead. A stone momento was laid in honour of these few men who helped change the course of history for the delay that was caused by them helped the rest of Greece evacuate and re-group. Later on at the battles of Platea and Salamis the Persians suffer total defeat and the invasion is successfully defended by the Greeks. Hence it is accurate to say that the Spartans lost the battle but won the war.

“Sir, I saw them camp, thousands of them… and at night their campfires made it seem as if the stars had fallen from the sky and strewn across the plain”. Leonidas replied, “Good, for when I was a child I always fancied one day to throw my spear to the stars.”

Source > With a little bit of help from Herodotus’ Histories