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Leonidas’s older brother also died, leaving him to rule Sparta as well as command an army. A war with the Persian empire led by King Xerxes I raged in Sparta for ten years as Leonidas co-led it with another king. The king had to protect his land and people when he discovered Xerxes was planning an invasion.
- Leonidas I. Leonidas was a Spartan king who ruled during a critical period in Greek history. He is perhaps best known for his leadership during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.
- Gorgo. Gorgo was the daughter of King Cleomenes I and the wife of King Leonidas I. She is famous for her intelligence, wit, and political acumen. Gorgo was known to have provided her husband Leonidas with valuable advice and guidance.
- Brasidas. Brasidas was a distinguished Spartan general who played a significant role during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). He is particularly famous for his military campaigns in northern Greece, where he demonstrated exceptional strategic and leadership skills.
- Lysander. Lysander was a prominent Spartan admiral and strategist during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). He is best known for his role in the final stages of the war, where he played a crucial role in securing a Spartan victory over Athens.
- Training as A Hoplite
- Xerxes and The Persian Invasion
- Battle of Thermopylae
- After The Battle
Leonidas was the son of the Spartan king Anaxandrides (died c. 520 B.C.). He became king when his older half-brother Cleomenes I (also a son of Anaxandrides) died under violent, and slightly mysterious, circumstances in 490 B.C. without having produced a male heir. As king, Leonidas was a military leader as well as a political one. Like all male Sp...
Ancient Greece was made up of several hundred city-states, of which Athens and Leonidas’ Sparta were the largest and most powerful. Although these many city-states vied with one another for control of land and resources, they also banded together to defend themselves from foreign invasion. Twice at the beginning of the fifth century B.C., Persia at...
Under Xerxes I, the Persian army moved south through Greece on the eastern coast, accompanied by the Persian navy moving parallel to the shore. To reach its destination at Attica, the region controlled by the city-state of Athens, the Persians needed to go through the coastal pass of Thermopylae (or the “Hot Gates,” so known because of nearby sulfu...
Leonidas’ sacrifice, along with that of his Spartan hoplites, did not prevent the Persians from moving down the Greek coast into Boeotia. In September 480 B.C., however, the Athenian navy defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, after which the Persians returned home. Nonetheless, Leonidas’ action demonstrated Sparta’s willingness to sacrifi...
Jan 20, 2016 · Leonidas became one of Sparta’s two kings in 490 BC, following the alleged insanity and suicide in prison of his half-brother Cleomenes. There is some doubt over what really happened to Cleomenes. His death came amid political disputes, and Leonidas was one of those responsible for having him imprisoned.
A King Amongst Kings. The better remembered of the two warrior-kings of the ancient Greek city-state Sparta, King Leonidas I lived and ruled between the 6 th and 5 th centuries BC. His time on the throne was short-lived, but his legacy has lasted lifetimes. Leonidas is the king who many other kings aspire to emulate; King Leonidas gave ...
Mar 3, 2024 · Leonidas, the legendary king of Sparta, is likely the most popular king from Ancient Sparta. Lived from 540 to 480 BC, he became a legendary figure through his heroic stand at the Battle of Thermopylae. Born into the royal lineage as the son of King Anaxandrides II, Leonidas’ name is thought to mean either “son of a lion” or “like a ...
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Greek polytheism. Leonidas I ( / liˈənaɪdəs, - dæs /; Greek: Λεωνίδας) (born c. 540 BC; died 11 August 480 BC) was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was a son of the king Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half ...
