300 Spartans

For the city of Sparta to survive, one king of Sparta must die. — The oracle at Delphi

The classic struggle of free men fighting against tyranny is not always as clears cut as we are led to believe. The clash of the ancient Greeks and the Persian Empire, as portrayed in the new movie "300," is a good example. While the legend of 300 brave Spartans standing up against overwhelming odds to protect Greek freedom seems admirable on the surface, the lifestyle of the Spartans, who depended on slave labor, presents a different story.

Prelude to war

Persian expansion and the desire to punish the Athenians for their role in an uprising in Asia Minor brought about the wrath of the Persian King Xerxes I and the battle of Thermopylae.

Social Classes

The Spartan existence as free men required the subjugation of their neighbors, the Messienians or helots. The conquered helots provided the manpower that supplied the labor force, enabling the Spartans to dedicate their lives to fitness and the art of war.

The Spartan middle class, or the perioikos, were tradesmen that dealt with commerce. They were allowed to own property but were not allowed citizenship and had no political rights.

Spartan vs. Messienian (helots) population: 25,000 to 500,000*

*at the height of Sparta's power

Each year Sparta would declare war on the helots to ensure an agricultural work force and to extract potential troublemakers.

Under Spartan rule, women had unprecedented freedom in Greek culture and were allowed to own property and engage in commerce.

The Spartans were ruled by two kings and a council of 28 elders. Ultimate power was ceded in the ephorate. This group of five elders had broad powers that included everything from infant selection to deposing a king. All member were over 60 years old.

The battle Thermopylae 480 B.C.

A small force of Greeks (7,000), under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas, determined that the best place to attempt to stall the Persian advance was on the thin strip of land along the coastline at Thermopylae. At this point the passage between steep cliffs and the shoreline narrows to about 50 feet, making it a defensible position for a small force holding off a far superior number.

Xerxes soon arrived with his force of 250,000 men. His scouts reported scenes of Spartans grooming their hair (a beautifying ritual practiced during wartime) and doing calisthenics. Not at all the state of chaos Xerxes expected from a severely outnumbered force.