Leonidas was a 5th century B.C. The numbers involved in his army have been greatly exaggerated by different historians.

Leonidas I (c. 530–480 B.C.) Leonidas I (Oudgrieks: Λεωνίδας) uit het huis der Agiaden was van 490 of 489 tot 480 v.Chr. The Spartans and associates defended the pass at Thermopylae against the Persian army Although Leonidas lost the battle, his death at Thermopylae was seen as a heroic sacrifice.

He is most well known for bravely leading a small force of Greeks, including the famous 300 Spartans, along with a few hundred Thespians and Thebans against the much larger Persian army of Xerxes, at the pass of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Leonidas I of Sparta. Xerxes tried his best to humiliate and disrespect Leonidas’s remains, but he couldn’t stop the Spartan king’s legend from growing.

It is estimated that Leonidas was about 60 at the time the Persian King Xerxes I invaded what is now known as Greece. When it was all over, Xerxes had Leonidas body decapitated and crucified, for the king had in his bold defiance aroused such a petulant anger in the emperor. When Leonidas fell, the Persians tried to take his body; four times the Greeks recovered him. Leonidas sent most of his army away when he realized that the Persians had outmaneuvered him. Leonidas became one of Sparta’s two kings in 490 BC, following the alleged insanity and suicide in prison of his half-brother Cleomenes.

koning van Sparta.Hij volgde zijn halfbroer Cleomenes I op nadat deze ongeschikt tot regeren verklaard werd. Almost as soon as Leonidas was dead, Sparta began worshipping him as a hero.

during the Persian Wars. Xerxes sent other men to die, often under the lashing of whips, rather than leading from the front. Persian messenger: Listen carefully, Leonidas. Sparta's military reputation had never stood in higher regard, nor was Sparta less powerful in 478 BC than it had been in 481 BC.

This selection of Leonidas to lead the defense of Greece against Xerxes' invasion led to Leonidas' death in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. by Mark Cartwright published on 12 May 2013 Send to Google Classroom: Translated text available in: Spanish. Xerxes conquers and controls everything he rests his eyes upon.

Tellingly, Xerxes had thrones set up in safe places from which to watch his battles -- whether Thermopylae or Salamis. Sparta And King Leonidas Go To War. Leonidas I of Sparta. There is some doubt over what really happened to Cleomenes. was a king of the city-state of Sparta from about 490 BC until his death in 480.

By Praxinoa CC BY-SA 3.0 A Bloody Inheritance. military king of the Greek city-state of Sparta. Definition.