1. Leonidas I 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.
16 Facts About Leonidas I
1. 2.
At the Second Greco-Persian War, Leonidas led the allied Greek forces in a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae, attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army, and was killed early during the third and last day of the battle.
3.
Leonidas I entered myth as a hero and the leader of the 300 Spartans who died in battle at Thermopylae.
4.
Leonidas I was the second son of Anaxandridas' first wife, and either the elder brother or twin of Cleombrotus.
5.
Leonidas I' name means "descendant of Leon", and he was named after his grandfather Leon of Sparta.
6.
Leonidas I made one unsuccessful attempt to set up a colony in Africa and, when this failed, sought his fortune in Sicily, where after initial successes he was killed.
7.
Leonidas I was chosen to lead the combined Greek forces determined to resist the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 481 BC.
8.
At that point Leonidas I sent away most of the Greek troops and remained in the pass with his 300 Spartans, 900 helots, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians.
9.
One theory provided by Herodotus is that Leonidas I sent away the remainder of his men because he cared about their safety.
10.
Herodotus believed that Leonidas I gave the order because he perceived the allies to be disheartened and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up.
11.
Leonidas I therefore chose to dismiss all the troops except the Thebans, Thespians and helots and save the glory for the Spartans.
12.
When Leonidas I was killed, the Spartans retrieved his body after driving back the Persians four times.
13.
Herodotus says that Xerxes' orders were to have Leonidas I' head cut off and put on a stake and his body crucified.
14.
Leonidas I was the name of an epic poem written by Richard Glover, which originally appeared in 1737.
15.
Leonidas I is a central figure in Steven Pressfield's novel Gates of Fire, and appears as the protagonist of Frank Miller's 1998 comic book series 300.
16.
In cinema, Leonidas I has been portrayed by: Richard Egan in the 1962 epic The 300 Spartans; Gerard Butler in the 2006 film 300, inspired by the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley ; Sean Maguire in the 2008 film Meet the Spartans, a parody of the 2006 film.