Battle of Thermopylae - Results

Ephialtes, having betrayed his own side, told the Persians how to outflank Leonides. Under cover of darkness, Xerxes' men circled behind the Spartans for the final part of the battle of Thermopylae. When Leonides fell, his men rushed to protect his body from desecration by the Persians. The protection was only temporary.

The Persian ruler was astonished that 300 Spartans had fought so hard for an ideal - for freedom. But their courage inspired the rest of Greece to resist Xerxes. When the battle of Salamis was over, Xerxes' plan to defeat Greece was no longer possible.

The results of all the fighting had been predicted by the Oracle of Delphi: A Spartan king had died and a Persian king had been defeated.