Thermopylae

Listen for a moment. Under the traffic noise of the highway there is the sound of running water, and with it comes a faint smell of sulphur. Somewhere close by, warm mineral springs are still rising out of the ground. That smell gives this place its name. Thermopylae means the hot gates. For most of its history it was not a peaceful roadside. It was a narrow pass that armies had to squeeze through.

Take a look around you. To one side, the slopes of Mount Kallidromo rise steeply. To the other side, flat farmland stretches toward the water in the distance. Here is the first surprise. In ancient times that farmland did not exist. The sea came almost to the foot of the mountain. The road between rock and water was so narrow that, by some ancient accounts, only a cart or two could pass at once.

What happened to the sea? Over many centuries, the Spercheios River carried silt down from the hills. It slowly filled the shallow Malian Gulf. The coastline moved outward, kilometre by kilometre. Today the old pass is several kilometres wide. So if you try to picture the battle, you need to erase the fields in your mind. Put the waves back almost where you stand.

That battle came in 480 BCE. Xerxes, the king of Persia, ruled the largest empire the world had yet seen. He was marching into Greece with an enormous army and fleet. The Greek city-states were often at war with each other. Now some of them agreed to stand together. They chose this pass to hold the Persians back, while the Greek fleet fought offshore at Artemisium.

The Greek force was led by Leonidas, one of the two kings of Sparta. He brought three hundred Spartan citizens. That number is the one everyone remembers. But it is only part of the story. Several thousand other Greeks came with him, from Arcadia, Corinth, Phocis, Thespiae, Thebes and other places. For two days, this mixed army held the narrow ground. They fought in close ranks, and the Persians could not use their numbers.

Most of what we know comes from Herodotus, the Greek historian who wrote about the wars a generation later. He tells some very human details. A Persian scout rode up to watch the Greek camp. He was puzzled to see Spartans exercising and combing their long hair. The Spartans later explained that they cared for their hair before they risked their lives. It was preparation, not vanity.

Herodotus tells another story. Someone warned that the Persian archers were so many that their arrows would hide the sun. A Spartan named Dieneces answered calmly. Good, he said — then we will fight in the shade. A later and famous reply is also linked with this place. Xerxes demanded that the Greeks hand over their weapons. Leonidas answered, come and take them. That line comes from much later writers, so treat it as tradition rather than a certain record.

Then came the betrayal. A local man named Ephialtes showed the Persians a mountain path over the ridge behind you. Persian troops climbed it at night and came out behind the Greek line. Leonidas sent most of the allies away. He stayed with his Spartans. The Thespians chose to stay as well, and so did a group of Thebans. On the third day, the Persians surrounded them.

The last stand happened on a small hill across the road from the statue. It is called Kolonos. The surviving Greeks pulled back onto it and fought until the end. In the twentieth century, archaeologists dug on this low mound. They found many bronze and iron arrowheads, some of them Persian types. It is a quiet hill now, with olive trees and a stone plaque. Many visitors never cross the road to climb it.

On that plaque you will find an old epigram. Ancient writers credited it to the poet Simonides. In English it is often given like this: Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their laws. It is only two lines, and it boasts of nothing. It does not claim victory. It simply says these men did what they had promised to do.

Now turn back to the large monument. A bronze Leonidas stands with his shield and spear raised. It was set up in the 1950s. The marble wall behind him shows scenes from the battle. Nearby is a smaller and more modern monument to the seven hundred men of Thespiae. Their city sent nearly all its fighting men, and they died here beside the Spartans. They are often forgotten, and that newer monument tries to correct this.

The pass did not stay quiet after 480 BCE. Its narrow shape kept drawing armies to it. Gallic invaders came this way in the third century before Christ. A Roman army fought a Seleucid king here — the Seleucids were Greek rulers of an empire in the east — in the second century before Christ. In 1941, British, Australian and New Zealand troops fought a rearguard action nearby against the German advance. The geography brought the same problem to soldiers again and again.

Before you leave, walk toward the sound of the water. Look at the pale, mineral-stained channels where the hot spring runs. Look up at the ridge, where that hidden path once led to the Greek rear. Then look out over the fields, and remember that they were once sea. The hot gates are still warm. The ground has changed... but the story of the people who stood here has lasted for almost 2,500 years.