The Battle of Thermopylae is probably one of the most famous battles during the Greco-Persian Wars.
Although the Greeks lost, they had guarded the Thermopylae Gorge for three days, albeit numerically overpowered.
Explanation:
The battle took place on August 10, 480 BC, and it was a clash between the Persian army under the command of Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek policies led by the Spartan king Leonidas.
About seven thousand Greeks under Leonidas command blocked the narrow Thermopylae gorge in central Greece, which was the only route the Persian army could make.
According to ancient sources, the Xerxes army numbered several million soldiers, but according to modern calculations, there were between one hundred and three hundred thousand.
The battle itself lasted three days, and a full two, much smaller Greek troops repelled the Persian attacks.
On the third day, a Greek betrayed his compatriots and gave the Persians the location of a mountain road, and surrounded a part of the Persian army with the Greeks.
Aware of the ambush, Leonidas disbanded most of the army and with 300 Spartans, 400 Tebans and 700 Thespians left to fight until the end. No one survived.
