300

THE STORY BEHIND THE MOVIE

STORY CHAPTER LINKS
1. STORY PREFACE
2. REVENGING MARATHON
3. SPARTA
4. LIFE IN SPARTA
5. LEONIDAS
6. GORGO
7. XERXES and the IMMORTALS
8. THERMOPYLAE
9. BATTLE at the HOT GATES
10. EPHIALTES - THE TRAITOR
11. VICTORY IN DEFEAT
12. USED AND RECOMMENDED SOURCES

PREFACE

[The Spartans]
are the equal of any men
when they fight as individuals;
fighting together
as a collective,
they surpass all other men.

Demaratus (former Spartan king) to Xerxes
Reported by Herodotus in Histories 7.104


Xerxes, also called the Great King, was on the move. The Persian leader - who considered himself a god - had amassed a huge army. Herodotus says it numbered 1,700,000 men from forty subject countries. Their destination? Greece.

Inheriting a substantial empire from his father - Darius I - Xerxes already had nearly everything a king could want. The ruins, for example, of his palace at Persepolis - in today’s Iran - are magnificent. But the battle, against Greece, would be personal.

This fight was about revenge.

GO TO CHAPTER 2

Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.


To cite this story, using MLA Guidelines:

Bos, Carole D. "300: The Story Behind the Movie." AwesomeStories.com. Date of access <http://www.awesomestories.com/movies/300_story/300_story_ch1.htm>.

IN OTHER WORDS: Author. Title of story. Name of web site. Date of access <URL>.