How Sparta Avenged the 300 & Leonidas — And Defeated Persia (480–479 BC)

In 480 BC, King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans stood at Thermopylae against the massive Persian army of King Xerxes.

For two days, the Spartans and their Greek allies held the narrow pass, resisting an army many times their size. But betrayal opened a mountain path behind them, allowing the Persians to surround the defenders.

Leonidas and his remaining warriors stayed behind and fought to the death.

Thermopylae was lost.

But the war was far from over.

This historical documentary follows what happened after the death of Leonidas and the destruction of the 300 — from the Persian advance into Greece to the burning of Athens and the desperate Greek strategy that would turn the war against Xerxes.

As Persia's enormous army and navy pushed deeper into Greece, Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into the narrow waters of Salamis, where the numerical advantage of Xerxes' forces became a weakness.

Then came the final reckoning.

At Plataea in 479 BC, the largest Greek army assembled during the Persian invasion confronted the remaining Persian forces. Sparta played a decisive role in the battle, helping deliver a devastating defeat to the Persian army and changing the course of the war.

The story also follows Aristodemus, the Spartan warrior who survived Thermopylae, returned to fight at Plataea, and ultimately faced the brutal expectations of Spartan honor.

The 300 did not defeat Persia at Thermopylae.

They bought time.

And that time allowed Sparta and the other Greek forces to regroup, fight back, and ultimately break Xerxes' invasion.

This is the story of Leonidas, the 300 Spartans, Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea, Xerxes, and the extraordinary war that followed one of the most famous last stands in history.

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