Thermopylae Pass



Thermopylae Pass is the location where Leonidas rapped during Master Chief vs Leonidas.

Information
Thermopylae is primarily known for the battle that took place there in 480 BC, in which an outnumbered Greek force probably of seven thousand (including the famous 300 Spartans, 500 warriors from Tegea, 500 from Mantenia, 120 from Arcadian Orchomenos, 1000 from the rest of Arcadia, 200 from Philus, 80 from Mycenea, 700 Corinthians, 400 Thebans, 1000 Phocians and the Opuntian Locrians) held off a substantially larger force of Persians estimated in the range 70,000 - 300,000 under Xerxes. Probably three thousand Greeks remained in the pass when most of the army retreated.

For three days they held out between two narrow cliff faces to prevent the use of Xerxes' vast cavalry and infantry force, before being outflanked on the third day via a hidden goat path named the Anopaea Pass. According to the Greek legend, a traitor named Ephialtes of Trachis showed the path to the invaders. The following epigram by Simonides was written on the monument: "Oh stranger, tell to the Lacedaemonians (Spartans), that we lie here, obedient to their words." This has been known as one of the greatest last stands in human history.