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Leonidas I (/ l i ə ˈ n aɪ d ə s,-d æ s /; Greek: Λεωνίδας, Leōnídas; born c. 540 BC; died 11 August 480 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta.He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles.
Additionally, there is a modern monument at the site, called the "Leonidas Monument" by Vassos Falireas, in honour of the Spartan king. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: "Μολὼν λαβέ" ("Come and take them!"—as in answer to Xerxes' demand that the Greeks give up their weapons).
Sparta was unusual among the Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age. It was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, who were called the archagetai, [1][n 1] coming from two separate lines. According to tradition, the two lines, the Agiads (Ἀγιάδαι, Agiadai) and Eurypontids ...
Thermopylae means "hot gates", referring to the area’s hot sulfur springs. [1] The location was also associated with the cavernous entrance to Hades, the underworld in Greek mythology, which was said to be at Thermopylae. [4] According to one version of the Labours of Heracles, it was said that the waters at Thermopylae became hot because the ...
Ephialtes of Trachis. Ephialtes (/ ˌɛfiˈæltiːz /; Greek: Ἐφιάλτης Ephialtēs) [a] was a Greek renegade during the Greco-Persian Wars. Born to Eurydemus (Εὐρύδημος) of Malis, [1] he betrayed his homeland and people to the Achaemenid Empire by revealing the existence of a path around the Greek coalition's position at ...
Leonidas at Thermopylae, 1814 painting by Jacques-Louis David. The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE was a last stand by a Greek army led by King Leonidas I of Sparta against an Achaemenid Persian army led by Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. There is a long tradition of upholding the story of the battle as an example of ...
Agis IV was the first Spartan king to attempt reform. His program combined debt cancellation and land reform. Opposition from King Leonidas was removed when he was deposed on somewhat dubious grounds. However, his opponents exploited a period when Agis IV was absent from Sparta and, on his return he was subjected to a travesty of a trial. [118]
Sparta[1] was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaímōn), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in the Eurotas valley of Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. [2] Around 650 BC, it rose to become ...