Leonidas - A Study of Budo Spirit

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Page</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Leonidas - A Study of Budo Spirit</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Leonidas and the 300</div> <bR> <div> A Study of Budo spirit</div> <bR> <bR> <div> In 480 BC the Persian war was fought, when Xerxes 1 invaded Greece from Persia.  At the pass at Thermopylae, the Spartan King Leonidas 1 attempted to stop the invasion with a hastily assembled force of Spartans and warriors from the city-states of Thessaly and Thebes.  As the approaching horde of Persians got closer, the fear of the Greek forces mounted.  Soon the Greek soldiers decided it would be better to raise a larger army, and try to stop the invasion at another location.  When this strategic retreat was announced, Leonidas refused to leave, stating it would be violating his honor to abandon the wall across the pass of Thermopylae.  He felt the 1 mile long, 50 foot wide pass with the wall at the head of it would be the best place to stop the Persians from over running Greece.  When the bulk of the army left, Leonidas stayed, along with 700 Thespian warriors, and his 300 hand-picked bodyguards.  They stayed to face a barbarian army of over 200,000 men.  Leonidas said that he would obey the mandate of the Spartan people, and hold the pass, or delay the horde as long as possible to allow the Greek city-states time to prepare for war.  </div> <bR> <div> After the Greek army left, Xerxes 1, and the Persian army arrived.  Scouts reported back to Xerxes that there was only 1,000 men at the pass, and they were involved in a curious practice.  They reported that the Spartans were doing gymnastics, and were washing and combing their long hair.  Xerxes felt that it was an insult, to only face this small force of not very manly soldiers.  One of his advisors tried to tell him that the Spartans trained for war from the age of 7, and had to serve in their military from the age of 20 to 60.  The advisor said that their training was different, but deadly, and that the styling of the hair was done before battle, so that their bodies would be presentable after their death.  Xerxes, unsure of what to believe, and fearing a trap, delayed for 4 days, before sending in his first troops to take the pass.  </div> <bR> <div> Although the cost was high to the defenders, the attack was turned away.  The next day, Xerxes sent in his elite front line soldiers to massacre the Spartans.  Once again, the horde was turned away after a day of bloody battle.  It was said that three times during the day, Xerxes leapt from his throne on a nearby hillside, fearing that his own troops were about to be routed.  On the third day, Xerxes threw everything he had at the wall, only to be turned away again.  The historian Herodotus quoted Xerxes as saying..."I have plenty of combatants, but very few warriors."  </div> <bR> <div> At this time, the Spartans had achieved a morale boosting victory.  Even though they were down to nearly the 300, they consistently turned away a force of 200,000.  Leonidas, the descendent of Hercules, and the 300 became a rallying cry for the Greek warriors throughout the rest of the war.  No one knows how long they may have held, if it were not for treachery.  A Thebian traitor, went to Xerxes and told him of another pass around the mountain.  In this manner, Xerxes was able to send a part of his army around to the rear of Leonidas, surrounding him and attacking him from all sides.  When Leonidas learned of the approaching Persians, he sent the remainder of his army home, to help prepare for the soon to come invasion.  Leonidas, the 300, and the remaining Thespians remained to buy the rest of Greece time, and to hold the line against the Persians.  </div> <bR> <div> As the remnants of the army retreated, they came across one of the 300, who was in a nearby town.  This warrior was blinded by a disease, and was left behind to recover.  When he learned of the impending fate of the 300, he made his servant lead him to the pass.  When he arrived, the battle had already started, and in his armor, with his sword, he had his servant steer him into the battle.  The servant sent the blind warrior of the 300 into the battle, and then fled.  The warrior it was said, fought nobly and died bravely with his comrades in arms.  </div> <bR> <div> As the surrounding Persians approached, Dieneces the Spartan was told by scouts of the size of the horde about to attack.  Herodotus said that Dieneces was told, "Such was the number of the barbarians, that when they shot forth their arrows the sun itself would be darkened by their multitude."  Dieneces answered, "...This is excellent tidings.  If the barbarians darken the sun, we shall have our fight in the shade."</div> <bR> <div> Herodotus tells that Leonidas held the Persians for a total of 9 days.  The Spartans were annihilated to a man, and the last of the 300 fell while protecting Leonidas' body from the Persians.  The Persians normally honored bravery in the warriors facing them, but Xerxes was enraged by the loss of time and his loss of soldiers.  He ordered Leonidas' body decapitated, and had his body hung on a cross and had his head impaled upon a spike.</div> <bR> <div> There was a monument erected at Thermopylae, where there is still a monument to this day.  It was engraved, "Tell them in Sparta passerby, that here, obedient to their orders, we lie."</div> <bR> <div> Due largely to the bravery of the 300, both in buying Greece time to prepare, and in providing the example of real warriors, the Persians were later defeated.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>