Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World

by Paul Cartledge

"Go tell the Spartans, Passerby,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie"

Thus did the poet Simonides remember the three hundred elite Spartan warriors who, led by their king, Leonidas, faced the vast, inrushing Persian army at the 'hot gates' of Thermopylae and fought to the death for an ideal dearer to them than life itself - the ideal of freedom.

Paul Cartledge's offers a compelling re-examination of this crucial moment in history, a epic clash of civilizations that helped shape the identity of Classical Greece and our own cultural heritage.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Greece, Military History, War, Ancient

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Paul Anthony Cartledge is the 1st A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, having previously held a personal chair in Greek History at Cambridge. He was educated at St Paul's School & New College, Oxford where he took his 1st degree & completed his doctoral thesis in Spartan archaeology in 1975 under Prof. Sir John Boardman. After a period at the University of Warwick he moved in 10/79 to Cambridge University where he's a fellow of Clare College.
He's a world expert on Athens & Sparta in the Classical Age & has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks & the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes. He's also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour & an Honorary Citizen of modern Sparta. Besides the Leventis Professorship, he holds a visiting Global Distinguished Professorship at New York University, funded by the Greek Parliament.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for fans of 300 or just a history buff.

I liked it so much I felt compelled to order a Greek salad for lunch.

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into the battle of 480BC where the losers won and the winners really lost. I wonder whether anyone has ever worked out what would have happened without the intervention of the traitor Ephialtes or if some Spartan hoplites had been guarding the Path of Anopaea? How many Persians would the Spartans have killed? As it was, they polished off 20,000 (with the help of their Theban and Phocian allies).

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Sobre las culturas y políticas implicadas, aunque también sobre la batalla.-

Género. Ensayo.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Termópilas (publicación original: Thermopylae. The Battle That Changed the World, 2006), con el subtítulo La batalla que cambió el mundo, es una aproximación a Lacedemonia (Esparta, para que nos entendamos mejor, seguro…) y al Imperio aqueménida, a las Guerras Médicas que enfrentaron a los persas con las ciudades-estado de la Antigua Grecia y a la batalla de las Termópilas en concreto.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cartledge, professor of Greek history at the University of Cambridge, examines the famous battle of 480 B.C. Most of us know about the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small Greek army held off a much larger Persian army at a pass in the mountains. The result was defeat for the Greeks with 300 Spartans, led by their king, fighting to the death.
Cartledge points out that the brave stand inspired the Greek city-states to keep fighting the Persians and win the final battle. It has been forgotten that there were more Greeks on the Persian side than in the "Greek army." Many Greeks would have been willing to make a deal with the Persians. As Cartledge relates, the Persians forced the people under them to pay tribute, but their governing was not very oppressive. They were actually very tolerant of all the different religions in their empire. So it was incomprehensible to the Persian King Xerxes that the Greeks would stand up to the awesome multinational might of the Persian Empire. But many of the Greeks, such as the Spartans and the Athenians, had an idea of "freedom" ( despite the Greek city-states being slaveholding societies ).
The victory of the Greeks in their war against the Persians led to the flowering of "Classical Greece" with the development of art, philosophy, and democratic self-government in Athens, critically important in developing our present Western civilization

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book to read--and a pretty quick read, too. It is the story of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and the Spartan 300 stood against Xerxes' mighty host at a narrow pass. Ultimately, they were betrayed by another Greek, and Xerxes sent troops by a narrow pathway to outflank the Spartan position. In the end, the Spartans died and the massive army--and accompanying naval force--moved toward Athens and defeat at Salamis to the naval forces of the allied Greek city-states. Cartlede identifies the Persian-Greek War as critical in the development of western civilization. He notes that this was (page xii): ". . .a clash between Freedom and Slavery. . . . In fact, the conflict has been plausibly described as the very axis of world history." I am not sure how convincingly that the case is actually made, but it indicates the importance of the batle in Cartledge's mind.

First, there are some very useful maps that help one understand the gegoraphy of the battle, as well as the pathway taken by Xerxes in his invasion of Greece.

Second,the book begins by looking at the world scene before the battle even began. He outlines the ancient world at about 500 BC, including the development of the Persian Empire (and the Achaemenidean dynasty, featuring kings such as Cyrus the Great, the unfortunate Cambyses, Darius, and Xerxes). He also describes the dynamic and unsettled nature of the Greek city-states and the colonies that they planted throughout the Meditteranean. A considerable emphasis, of course, is placed on the culture and polity of Sparta, explaining, in part, why the 300 were ready to die. The book argues that Leonidas and the soldiers under him knew that they were to die. He likens them to others who fought, knowing that death was inevitable (e.g., kamikaze pilots).

Third, the battle itself. It is somewhat disconcerting to have him depend so much on Herodotus' rendering of the story. However, he weaves in much detail on the actual geography of the battle site, the cultural background, and so on.

Fourth, and an interesting effort in itself, he discusses the impact of the battle on history and culture, including a listing of movies related to the battle and the political side of some of these movies. The final chapter returns to his theme that the battle--and the entire Persian-Greek War--represents a "turning-point in world history" (the subtitle of the chapter). He concludes with a quotation from William Golding, Nobel laureate, who, after having visited the battleground, said (page 211): "A little of Leonidas lies in the fact that I can go where I like and write what I like. He contributed to set us free."

Again, I am not sure how strong that case is, since Thermopylae was a defeat; it would appear that subsequent naval combat at Salamis and a disastrous defeat of the Persians by the Greeks at Platea were more important events (and one wishes that the author had discussed even briefly that battle as well as Salamis, to understand better the totality of the war). All in all, though, a nice volume on the Greek world of its time.

[Faye]

I'm so disappointed that I have to DNF this book. I have had this sitting on my bookshelf since 2007; I bought it immediately after watching the brilliant 300 at the cinema when I decided I wanted to learn more about the Spartans and that period of history. I was finally going to tick this one off the list in 2018 but actually, I'm just not interested in reading it at all any more. It's been gathering dust on my shelves for eleven years and I found myself bored after one chapter so I'm afraid it's time to let it go and donate it to a charity shop.

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

El ensayo ideal para profundizar en la época de la batalla de las Termópilas y en sus protagonistas y el complemento perfecto a El espartano de Javier Negrete o a la peli/cómic 300

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strength in effort if not in numbers. A coalition based not on politics or political co-operation but of an alliance for mutual defense – sworn in by oaths in the name of witnessing gods. The importance here being that this pact is religious and a breach would be sacrilegious to include a sectarian transgression. More than 31 Greek cities formed this alliance – the leaders of this forthcoming battle of the time would be the Lacedaemonians or better known collectively as the Spartans. Leonidas and Xerxes; both leaders being respected by their lands and abilities. Leonidas is the one however that gets recalled to history more (seemingly) than Xerxes. Leonidas is not remembered for the “win” of the battle; but, for the “loss” of the same and the bravery to which he and the "300" fought to the death. The famous “300” (though the correct number is 298) as two survived; one commits suicide (Pantites) and the other (Aristodamus) is shamed for a year that leads up to the Battle of Plataea. As Aristodamus ends up fighting with a suicidal fury (his black mark had been removed before this battle began) he was looking to avenge his Spartan failure in Thermopylae and ends up being cut down in Plataea. He is awarded no special honors for this effort as he fought beyond the constraints of the disciplined manner that Spartans were known for at the time.

This book is highly academic in my opinion. It was a pleasure to read as it makes other books of other wars and battles by other authors that much easier to get through. My favorite phrase in this book is attributed to Socrates “the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being”. Professor Cartledge certainly has a passion for this topic within these pages, the review of current day photos of various artifacts now in several museums around the globe was nothing less than outstanding – this photos in my opinion brought the story to life for a very real time frame to History and Military History specifically. Where would we be today without the recorded history of Herodotus? His accounts were instrumental in this book and for the history of the Spartan “300”. We learn of many cultural norms of the BCE era to which this book covers; however, we also see a link to us here now through the ages. This is the first account and record of an Alliance ever established and something the Romans and all nations going forward would employ.

Simply a terrific wonderful book that every person who is interested History and Battles and Wars should pick up and read.

[Michael K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome book on one of those historic battles between so few and a multitude. A regular story of David & Goliath over the freedom of an entire people. While this was a great and inspiring battle, it did not turn out the way the Spartans desired. But it did buy them some time to grow their ability to fight against the Persians. Only history can give us such battles against the tyrants of the world. Just when all hope seems to be lost, there comes to bear the greatest battles of resistance a leader to stand against tyranny.​

[Jose Marquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente documentación de las Termopilas. Ya había leído varías novelas que mencionan esta batalla y la verdad quería algo leer algo acerca de la historia.

[Martin Hernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Si me animé a comprar este libro fue porque quería saber más sobre los hechos históricos comprobados, más allá de la dramática versión de los cómics de Frank MILLER, y en la contratapa de esta versión dice:

"La descripción que hace CARTLEDGE de la batalla tiene una especial intensidad y fuerza. Una excepcional recreación de uno de los acontecimientos seminales de la historia del mundo"

...bueno, ya terminé de leerlo, ¡y sigo sin encontrar dicha descripción!, lo que me enseña una vez más que no debería creer todo lo que dicen las contratapas de los libros :(

En realidad, Paul CARTLEDGE , un historiador profesional que se ha especializado en la cultura helénica, se concentra en analizar el contexto de la batalla, desde los antecedentes culturales 100 años antes de la misma, la situación política entre el Imperio Persa y la liga de naciones que conformaba lo que ahora conocemos como Grecia, hasta el impacto que ha tenido en el mundo moderno. A la batalla en sí se le dedica un capítulo (el 7) que abarca escasas 16 páginas de las 345 del libro.

El texto, escrito en el estilo académico, riguroso y saturado de referencias a otras fuentes bibliográficas, propio de los investigadores universitarios, resulta tedioso, y hace difícil la lectura. Yo me aburrí enormemente y sin pena confieso que me saltaba párrafos y párrafos de reflexiones sobre las sutilezas políticas que hacían que cierta ciudad griega apoyara o no a los persas, o a sus compatriotas...

En resumen, si lo que quieres es un relato emocionante, pero apegado a los hechos comprobados, de la mítica Batalla de las Termópilas, éste no es el libro. Para entender el vasto contexto cultural y tener una opinión educada de la política greco-persa, el contexto y las consecuencias de la batalla, ¡éste es tu libro!.

[Myke Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carltledge’s reputation as the world’s leading Laconologist is richly deserved, and this short work continues to display his rock-solid scholarship, excellent prose-styling, and clear passion for the subject. It is, however, a bit more hagiographic and laconophilic than his longer work The Spartans, which gives a more balanced view of Lakedaimonian contributions not only at Thermopylae, but throughout the polis’ history. It’s to be expected, I guess. Thermopylae is a dramatic moment in world history, and certainly a signal one in the history of Sparta. But a more frank and skeptical rendering is called for, and I hope we might get one from Cartledge in a revised edition some day.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cartledge spends most of his time locating Thermopylae in Greek culture and, by implication, Western culture rather than discussing the battle itself. That's all well and good, since it's not a particularly new or controversial premise. Thermopylae is often presented as some high water mark of the Persian invasion of "the West" with the Spartans, therefore, as the "saviors" of civilization. There's an awful lot of speculation, supposition, and outright guesswork on that narrative, but if you're looking for a general presentation of that historical standard in approachable, even personal (the author dips into the first person from time to time, and outright expresses his own musings in conversational language) then this will work quite well. There are more fulsome and lavish examples of that premise, of course, but this is a good representation of it. I find that narrative more than a little dubious, both from a theoretical and historiographical point of view, but more on that in a bit....

This could also work well as a general introduction to Ancient Greek culture as the majority of it is locating the battle in time and place. The major figures are given a decent amount of attention, and a few ancillary names will get tossed into the mix to flesh out the period and players. So, we get a look at Athens and its leadership, a little bit about other Greek city/states, and more than a few Persian leaders. Again, there are any number of more complete works, but this is a good intro/summary for that.

Where this particular text falls sharply short is in the description of the actual battle of Thermopylae. The text handles the broad strokes, giving at this point a surprisingly small amount of attention to the Hot Gates, the three hundred Spartans, the several thousands of other Greeks who also held that line for three days, and the nominal hordes of multi-cultural Persian invaders, but one could be forgiven for thinking a book that has the name of the battle as its title would be more about that actual battle, the archeology, and historical facts as known. Rather, Cartledge's interest is in the aforementioned cultural and historical impact of the battle rather than the battle itself. In fact, the book might be better served by having it's title and subtitle reversed to The Battle That Changed the World: Thermopylae since that is really Cartledge's interest.

But that emphasis is, as mentioned, a speculation and as such a-historical. Was Western civilization preserved by the Greeks who stopped the Persians at Thermopylae, and Plataea, and Mycale, and Salamis (because any one of those battles could be put forth as the "high water mark" of the Persian invasion) or would the world have continued on pretty much as it did with Persia's eventual collapse and dissolution representing just one hiccup in the millennium old historical record? The "What if..." take on history is certainly interesting, amusing, and has a certain socio-political role, but it is a fiction. These things didn't happen, and for all the rhetoric employed, there's not a lot of concrete basis to assume that things could only have played out the way they did. Persia may have oppressed Western development, but it may have flourished under it, and the Hellenism that was enforced by later generations (Alexander et al) may have occurred just as thoroughly and lastingly as a form of cultural imperialism as a military imperialism. The argument that Greek (and, therefore, Western) culture would have been stymied by a Persian invasion ignores an awful lot of Western self-oppression and depravity. It's not like the Roman Empire was a benevolent master that fostered and supported individual freedom and the concepts of philosophy in a way that we can say can be definitively differentiated from Persia. In fact, Rome's totalitarianism, slave society and oppression may have been a more obvious problem. If only the Greeks could have saved us from the emperors too....

In reality the East vs. West conflict as as much affectation as history. Cherry-picking an historical conflict to comment on a contemporary one is as old as history itself, of course, so it's not particularly unusual to read it in this form, especially when Cartledge makes the point outright when describing such things as the 9/11 attacks and the batch of conflicts in Chechnya at the time of his writing. Those things are Arabic and Ciscaucasian, respectively, rather than Persian, and far pre-date anything like the religious, geopolitical or socio-economics of the modern day issues, but when painting historical strokes as broadly as it takes to reach back to Sparta, the imagined analogy needn't be any more exact than that. It's also where the analogy breaks down under anything more than slight investigation. Cartledge and the historians who make that case still point to the vagaries of vocabulary and the most general layout of a map as support, but Vladimir Putin, George Bush (either), Bill Clinton, Obama and bin Laden are as apt comparisons to Leonidas or Xerxes as their respective East v. West conflicts are to three days spent fighting hand-to-hand on the Greek shore. That is to say, not much. But if you take a step back or ten, squint your eyes a bit and don't focus on the vast intervening timeline then, sure, you can see an outline that might fit sideways or backwards somehow.

In truth, much of that East v. West content amounts to little more than an historical trope. One could look at the map differently and draw just as legitimate recasting of characters and events. Instead of the Spartans and the Persians in the Greco-Persian Wars we could look at the 100 Years War and claim one side or the other the defender of some aspect of Western culture that needed preserving lest modern life be very different. Were we to examine Caesar in Gaul we could suggest that the world would be much better off were we all now speaking Celtic. Consider the role of either the great conflicts of the 20th century, the actually global conflict of the American Revolution, the United States invading Mexico in the 19th century. Etc., etc., etc. If Santa Anna had rolled right through the Alamo in 1836 maybe I'd be writing this in Spanish right now in a region still considered Mexico. Further, maybe I'd have state sponsored health care and a government composed of rising mestizo politicians in the Collected Provinces of Columbia combating the Old World familial aristocrats from Spain rather than British and Northern European descended families in a polity named after Amerigo Vespucci.

These speculations are really no more fanciful than the supposition that Leonidas wittingly or unwittingly fought to preserve a proto-Western democratic ideal in a predominantly Western European society two dozen centuries later. But that speculation is presented here and in any number of other histories as the sequence of events that not only were direct but ultimately benevolent. There's a whole lot of fanciful reading of the past to weave that narrative, and readers should be mindful that one of the functions of history as it has been presented since Herodotus is the illusion of fate and destiny where there is really only supposition and an elaborate game of connect the dots. The world as it is need not have had a Leonidas or Sparta in it. Some other historical people would have taken up that spot or it might have never occurred at all, and maybe the world would be worse for it. Or better. Or changed hardly at all.

[Todd Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thermopylae is one of the most iconic battles in the history of the world. In 480 BC, a small number of Greeks stood against a massive army of the greatest empire seen in the world to that point, Persia. Over the course of 3 days, 300 Spartans(supported by over 6,000 other allied Greeks, which is often overlooked) held off the might of the Persians, estimated to be between 100,000-200,000 strong. The courageous “stand of the 300” bought time for their allied Greek forces to face the Persians in naval engagements that ultimately halted the seemingly unstoppable Persian assault offensive to add the Greek city-states to their vast empire.

Cartledge is an eminently able historian. He can be forgiven for indulging in some “academia” in his writing style. While it can be a bit technical, it isn’t overly difficult, and he writes an insightful account of the battle. His overarching theme seems to be a defense of using the account of the Greek Herodotus, which has been discounted by many historians over the years. Cartledge offers a highly reasonable defense for the reliability of Herodotus, at least on the essential facts.

For anyone with an interest in military or ancient history, this is an excellent, short recounting of the Battle of Thermopylae and the history of the Greco-Persian Wars.

[Christina Baehr]

Not rating this because I didn't read it properly, just mined it for information. I wanted to understand the cultural importance of Thermopylae, as I'm teaching my daughters ancient history this year, going into classical history next year, and this was an IMPORTANT BATTLE.

To be honest with you, I'm not sure I totally understand the significance that is placed on it. I get the appeal of a tragic, courageous stand of a small city-state against a massive empire, really I do. But given the choice, and going on the information I have thus far, I would really rather live in the Persian Empire than in Sparta.

This was quite surprising to me, as I had assumed more of a good guy/bad guy set-up from the big crush that the British had on the Spartans.

However, the Spartans really were the pits, in my opinion. Yes, a lot of ancient civilisations practiced infant exposure, but not to the bureaucratic-statist-eugenicist extreme to which the Spartans carried it. Also, freedom was really not an ideal in their civilisation - perhaps freedom from foreign (Persian) control, but the concept of Freedom as a person living today (in a world shaped by Christianity) would understand it would have been loathsome to them.

Also, as a woman, give me the Persians any day of the week. For instance, Persian men dined with Persian women, the king took his close female relations on campaign with him. They valued women's work and influence. The Spartans despised craftsmanship/domesticity/nurturing of any kind and forbade their women to participate in it -- one reason that they had to enslave an entire under-class to do all that stuff for them. Well, I guess if the women weren't allowed to get to know their kids then they wouldn't care so much when the head bureaucrat threw some of them into the handy nearby ravine. Probably made the whole warrior-schoolboy pederasty thing a lot easier, too.

The whole Hitler-Sparta connection is starting to make more sense.
...Am I being too harsh?

[Kate Irwin-smiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing 300 last spring I read Stephen Pressfield's Gates of Fire, and now I'm on the non-fiction version. This is a professional historian's view of not just the Battle of Thermopylae itself, but the context of the Greek and Persian worlds it fit into. The text is slow-going and tedius in moments, and very little of the book is devoted to the battle (one 10 page chapter, among 200+ pages). That said, it's great background on the political maneuverings between the Greek city states and Graeco-Persian relations as a whole. If you want the real story, this is not a bad place to go. Just don't expect a gripping read.

[Andrés Conca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(english below)
Un libro corto e interesante para quien quiera ampliar conocimientos sobre una de las batallas más cruciales de la historia. Aunque obviamente centrado en ese hecho histórico concreto, Cartledge no se limita a describir el enfrentamiento en sí sino que explica cómo era Esparta y lo que significaba ser un ciudadano de esa polis. Lo mejor del libro es precisamente eso, como intenta hacernos entender cómo pensaban y sentían los espartanos, aunque en mi opinión lo consigue a medias. En otras obras (Los griegos de Montanelli Historia de los griegos o La aventura de los griegos de Javier Negrete La gran aventura de los griegos) se logra mejor, aunque claro, no con la brevedad de este libro. Esa brevedad precisamente es una de las bazas de este libro, en pocas páginas entendemos a los espartanos y nos hacemos una idea del contexto histórico, también del lado persa. Si no se tiene mucho tiempo, es una buena alternativa.
Hay sin embargo una cosa del libro que me ha molestado mucho. Ciertos argumentos e incluso anécdotas se repiten en los diferentes capítulos. Mientras lo leía me sentía atacado por sensaciones déjà vu continuas. También encuentro que abstenerse de comentar las horribles prácticas de los espartanos con los ilotas dulcifica la realidad del lado oscuro espartano.
ENGLISH
A short and interesting book for those who want to learn more about one of the most crucial battles in history. Although obviously focused on that specific historical event, Cartledge does not limit himself to describing the confrontation itself but explains what Sparta was like and what it meant to be a citizen of that polis. The best part of the book is precisely that, how it tries to make us understand how the Spartans thought and felt, although in my opinion it does so halfway. In other works (Montanelli's The Greeks or Javier Negrete's The Adventure of the Greeks) it is better achieved, although of course, not with the brevity of this book. This brevity is precisely one of the advantages of this book, in a few pages we understand the Spartans and we get an idea of the historical context, also on the Persian side. If you don't have much time, it's a good alternative.
However, there is one thing in the book that has bothered me a lot. Certain arguments and even anecdotes are repeated in the different chapters. While reading it, I felt attacked by continuous déjà vu sensations. I also find that refraining from commenting on the horrible practices of the Spartans with the helots sweetens the reality of the darkest side of Esparta.

[Daniel Greear · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent, thorough, and informative read. Thermopylae is still, some 2500 years later, a well-remembered, and defining moment in the history of western civilization. Paul Cartledge is an expert in Greek history and an excellent writer. In fact, I began reading this book and decided to read his overview of Ancient Greece first, just so I could have a better understanding of the Greek world as a whole.

This book is surprisingly short at just over two hundred pages. However, there is an excellent array of additional information which includes a timeline, maps, appendices, and a glossary. These additions add value to the book and remain a constant point of reference as people and places in the ancient world are mostly alien to the modern reader.

I think this book can be fairly divided into three sections. First, the author gives an overview of the Mediterranean world in the late 6th and early 5th centuries, BCE. The second part is the lead up to the battle, the battle itself, and the immediate aftermath. The final part is the legacy of Thermopylae and how it has been remembered throughout time. There is also an epilogue, where the author presents his thesis and argues it, in my opinion, successfully.

I could spend a lot of time going over each section, but that would be almost as long as the book. I will say that Thermopylae was a turning point in history, and though it was a defeat, the Spartans’ sacrifice inspired the Greek coalition to continue fighting and ultimately win the war. It saved western civilization as we know it, and allowed Hellenistic culture to soon flourish. The sacrifice lead to victories at Salamis, Mycale, and Plataea and the rise of the Athenian Naval Empire. Of course, a generation or two later, Sparta and Athens would enter into a long war that would disrupt everything they had worked together to achieve in the 480s and 470s BCE.

The Persians were not the despotic and oppressive force the Greeks would have us believe them to be. In fact, they were rather tolerant to other cultures and many Greeks who had already been conquered (or thought they soon would be) fought on their side. The coalition Greeks, however, stood for freedom (their version) and the preservation of their culture in its entirety. That has to be respected. Of course, what followed was the cultural tradition of the ancient Greeks, which carries on to this day. How different would Europe and the New World be without a Greek victory in the Greco-Persian War? There would have certainly not been the same ideas of democracy, morality, etc. that have spread throughout Western Civilization.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are probably many moments in history that could have dramatically changed the future. In Thermopylae, Prof Cartledge certainly believes that our western culture might not have existed in the way it does today if King Xerxes and the Persian army / navy had defeated the Greek city states in 480BC. If it hadn't been for King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans (plus thousands of rear guards) blocking, confusing and battling Xerxes for enough time to allow the Athenians to rally their navy to defeat the Persian navy, our world might be quite different today.

I originally picked up the book to understand the legendary 300 Spartan stand at Thermopylae, but discovered much more about the historic cultures of Persia, Sparta and a bit about Athens around 500BC. Clearly Spartan culture was so vastly different than most - men wore their hair long-women short, families were disgraced if their sons came home from war, little focus was made on buildings and structures, citizens were trained in athletics and battle training, etc. In one part, Cartledge mentioned that the Spartans sparred and prepared for battle while naked which had the Persian scouts thoroughly perplexed.

The battle itself is only a small part of the book where the last section really focused on the cultural impact to the world from Rome, Middle Ages, Renaissance, to modern times through stories, poems, etc. Democracy has a strong dependence on Greek culture - would it have not spread within the world if the Persians had succeeded?

There's much more to the book but I'll leave it there. If you like academic history you should enjoy this book.

PS - a couple of things I need to remember:
1. The Royal Road - amazing Persian thoroughfare from Babylon through Anatolia
2. Aristodamus - the sole survivor who had infected eyes and was disgraced by Sparta yet survived to fight in another famous battle of Plataea - jumping into the fray to commit battle suicide for honor.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out that Thermopylae is merely a small part of this work, covering the Greek diaspora, the background of the Spartans, the rise of Achaemenid Persia...all in a rather compact package. But it's one that's eventually followed by a number of appendixes, and the entire work feels like a research thought bomb, gathered together with two hands, yet managing hold its shape with the two hands that tie a string around the information. Enjoyable, but messy and both more and less than the sum of its parts.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘ .. was a turning point in the history of Classical Greece...’

This is less a book about the battle of Thermopylae itself than it is about the context for and consequences of the battle as assessed by Professor Cartledge. The battle between the might of the Persian empire and Leonidas and his 300 Spartans is both heroic and legendary. But is it a battle that changed the world?

Professor Cartledge makes a case that ‘The Battle of Thermopylae, in short, was a turning-point not only in the history of Classical Greece, but in all the world’s history, eastern as well as western.’ This can be quite a compelling argument, especially for those of us who see ancient Greece as the source of many of our current cultural and political values. But I think it misleading to see the battle itself as a simple battle between good (freedom) and evil (slavery). While such emotive comparisons are further enabled by making mention of the events of September 11 2001 and 7 July 2005, a more careful reading of Professor Cartledge’s writing is required to understand the context for his reasoning.

In the 5th century BC, the Persian empire was huge. It encompassed parts of India and what is now Pakistan in the east, included Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, the Levant and Egypt and parts of Macedonia. The Greeks, by interfering in Persian affairs, draw attention to themselves and thus begins a series of what Herodotus styled as the ‘beginnings of the misfortunes for both Greeks and Persians’.

The outline of the Battle of Thermopylae is relatively well known and can be simply summarised: for two days the 300 Spartans held off the might of Persia. On the third day, the Spartans were betrayed, outflanked and destroyed.

To understand this battle, it is important to understand the structure of Spartan society and its seemingly paradoxical cultural values. The real value of Professor Cartledge’s book, to me, was the history of events leading to Thermopylae and the discussion of Spartan society. I’ll leave it to the scholars to debate the extent to which this battle changed the world: I enjoyed the discussion but am not yet convinced by the conclusions.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a nut for ancient history, or if you were wondering about how close Frank Miller got with 300, this is the book for you. But it's not for the casual reader, so be warned. There's a lot of information that comes are you quickly, all leading you towards understanding more about the famous battle of Thermopylae and why it's still significant 2500 years later.

For those of you who don't know - Thermopylae is a narrow pass that runs north-south into Greece and any invader who feels like making headway pretty much has to pass through it. These days it's pretty broad, but in the time of the Spartans, it was only about 14 meters wide. And it was here that 300 Spartans and nearly 5,000 warriors from other Greek provinces held off the much larger forces of the invading King Xerxes. While the Greeks did eventually lose the battle, their bravery and self-sacrifice has resonated through history.

But how did this happen? Cartledge does a quick round-up of all the forces in play at the time, giving brief descriptions of Spartan society, the rise of the Persian Empire, and ever-fluctuating Greek politics. He paints a much more complex picture of the events than you get from films, mainly because Cartledge is an historian and Frank Miller is a storyteller. Two very different responsibilities. He then goes on to look at how the battle has been remembered, both in ancient and modern times.

It's a really neat book, and offers a lot more layers to a story that most people don't actually know much about. The Spartans were lovers of freedom, for example, but only their own. They weren't so concerned about the Helot slaves who made their warrior lifestyle possible. And Xerxes was not a totalitarian monster who held himself as a God among men. The Persian Empire was a heterogeneous one, and while not exactly the Land of the Free, it wasn't as horrible a place as it is presented to be.

History is a tricky beast, especially once Hollywood gets its hands on it. Enjoy.

[Henry Stolow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who enjoys reading and learning about Greek history and ancient but famous Greek heros, this book is one of my favorite selections from non-fiction. The battle at Thermopylae (Hot Gates) is the most famous military defense story in hitory, a 3 day defense set up by 7,000 Greeks face to face with 300, 000+ invading Persians, the Greeks commitment to freedom against the ancient Persian tyrant Xerxes is very notible in the books of history. The main reason I chose to read this book to not because of watching the movie '300', I enjoyed reading this book because it has real point of veiws from historians who witnessed this battle for freedom and democracy. The last reason I enjoyed this book is because if the opposing Greeks had not defended the mountain pass against the Persians, many greek cities and artifacts may have been lost to destruction. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how wars shape the firture of human history.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

cartledge does a fine job setting out the causes of the conflict, and the various parties involved in the fighting; more importantly, he puts the battle in its proper context, which is crucial. after all, the fighting itself scarcely rose above the level of a proper skirmish.

cartledge also addresses at length the role of history, myth, and literature in transforming the battle into a key and defining moment in the western cultural tradition (as well as setting out why it was a turning point in history that allowed that cultural tradition to be at all).

this book shines, though, in its treatment of source material. cartledge gets his hands dirty going through simonides, and lovingly deconstructs herodotus. if you have any interest in ancient historiography, this is the real strength of this book.

[Carol Vuillemenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a student of history, this one is five stars. I gave it three stars because the book was difficult to read because it is written by a British professor. I used the glossary often. Some of the terminology and the Latin or French quotes were beyond me and I couldn't always get the meanings from the context.

However, I recommend reading the book just to learn why the Battle of Thermopylae, though a defeat, quickly became a morale victory, and why the Spartans, though taking a suicidal stand, emphasized the Spartan values of devotion to competition and a devotion to the ideal of freedom.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Go Tell the Spartans passerby,
That here obedient to their laws, we lie”

This book is an analysis of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC and it’s wider significance to Western politics and culture.

Famously 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas were sent to the narrow mountain pass Thermopylae (The Hot Gates) to oppose the passage of Persian King Xerxes invasion force. They did this in the certain knowledge that their course of action would lead to their deaths but would allow valuable time for Greek city states resisting Persian invasion to prepare to defend themselves.

This book starts out really strongly, forcing the reader to visualise the dramatic geography of the battlefield, which intriguingly has changed over thousands of years due to the area’s active geology. The book then tries to engage some of the more Western existential questions about the battle head on. Would Western democratic civilisation have been offer if Thermopylae never happened and if ultimately the Greeks weren’t able to resist? In some ways the answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The Persian Empire was in many ways happy for it’s subjects to go about it’s own way. But it would only have allowed the free thinking ways of the Greeks to flower to a certain extent.

There is then a lengthy discussion about the Persian Empire and it’s history. I can see why the author did this but I thought it was laboured on just a bit too much and seemed to drown the author’s points in detail. It was around here that I felt the book began to loose focus. To be sure, the information in itself was interesting. But then I was conscious that I had chosen to read a book primarily about the battle and not about the Persian Empire.

We then rightfully a focus on the Spartans (or Laecadamons) and their society and history. In terms of the former there were some very interesting insights, such as the controversial male bonding between young Spartans and their male mentors and the practice of dispensing with “misshapen” infants. There are some truly interesting points made about Spartan women who in many ways are no more politically enfranchised than other Greek women but surprisingly can not only own property but also take multiple husbands. Spartan society also rests on the backs of a violently oppressed slave labour class of fellow Greeks, allowing full Spartan citizens to dedicate themselves fully to war.

This is followed up by a scene setting of the background leading up to the battle. A previously erratic Spartan king, who was deposed, leave some question marks to other Greek states about how reliable in terms of being allies the Spartans could be. Yet their status as the unquestionably most powerful land based power in Greece made them a power impossible to ignore. Their initial encounter with the Persian ambassadors did lead to their slaying by the Spartans (a bit like in the 300 movie). But the Spartans’ follow up response to it tellingly showed their religious side when they voted 2 Spartans to commit ritual suicide in the presence of King Xerxes to make up for this. Xerxes dismissed their offer, not appreciating the cultural significance of their offering.

There is one chapter about the actual battle and it is bafflingly brief. To be honest, I am not sure if it was worth the wait. I would have perhaps forgiven the author for this if the ending of the book was not so drawn out, inconsistent and often just plain uninteresting to me.

Overall, I have mixed feeling about this book. I get the feeling this author needed a brutal editor to limit his indulgence into diving too much into his intellectual cul de sacs. Perhaps some readers appreciated it more than I did, but I generally like a book to have more focus on it’s supposed subject matter. That said there is a worthwhile discussion about how the Spartan legacy has continuously been used for political purposes by both democracies and dictatorships. If I was going to offer any constructive feedback I would say this book could do with a new edition that would benefit from recent cultural and political news. This book was incredibly written before the 300 film (which the author alludes to the development of) and the deplorable self declared “Spartans” in British politics who pushed for Brexit. The former in particular is now a fair few years old but is still well known, but received a lot of justified criticism for it’s portrayal of the Persians.

I understand that history is multi layered and there needs to be discussion of sources. But what makes me engaged with history is it’s genuinely gripping stories. You don’t get much more gripping than Thermopylae. I will give due praise for the author’s detailed research. But his story telling needs a lot of improvement.

[Mark McTague · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is somewhat misleading (though that is surely down to the publisher and not the author, the British classicist). First, the battle itself is dealt with in about twenty pages or so, the rest of the book being given to a discussion of Greek politics (rivalry between Athens and Sparta, and coalitions to oppose the Persian empire's expanse westward to Attica), Spartan culture and customs, and Persian imperial expansion. Second, "changing the world" is too broad, too nebulous to be quite meaningful. The author does make clear that at stake in this conflict were two quite different polities - the autocratic despotism of the Achaemenid Empire (founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC) and the Greek idea (both in Sparta and Athens) that a community could come together and govern themselves, that idea that underpins all democracies today. However, what made the despotism of the Persians so repulsive was not made clear.

That Thermopylae was a pivotal military engagement is clear. Upwards of twenty thousand Persian troops were killed, which caused the Persian King Xerxes to withdraw, while the main Spartan army was not involved at all. Yet Thermopylae was only one part of the Greco-Persian wars. A decade before, a Greek army of little more than ten thousand Athenians and Plataeans (without aid from Sparta) defeated a Persian army over twice that size at the Battle of Marathon, inflicting casualties at a rate of 30:1. Ten years later came Thermopylae in the summer of 480, yet even that victory-in-defeat was no more decisive in ending the war as the Battle of Salamis several months later (a stunning Greek naval victory led by the Athenians that inflicted losses on the Persians at 6:1) or the Battle of Plataea the following year, when a combined Greek army (Sparta, Athens, Corinth, and Megara) again fought outnumbered yet thoroughly defeated the Persian army, effectively ending the Greco-Persian War. So while Thermopylae was greatly important (stopping the vast Persian army from invading central Greece and buying time for the Athenian navy and combined Greek forces to gather at Plataea), it was nevertheless not the only "world-changing event."

In addition, while popular culture (particularly film) focuses on King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, the Greek army at that battle was upwards of 7,000, including Phocians, Thespians, Thebans, and Helots (second-class "citizens" of Spartan who did all the work of their society). Furthermore, the politics in Greece were such that some Greeks fought with Xerxes army, other Greek city-states and islands sat out the war by acknowledging Persian supremacy, and even a former Spartan king, Demaratus, was a close advisor to Xerxes. Furthermore, the author also makes clear that Greek democratic ideals developed at a time when a number of Greek city-states were ruled by tyrants (local strongmen and their families), thus the picture that emerges is complex indeed. Also noteworthy was the multinational character of the Persian army, including troops from Scythia, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Lydia, Ionia, Thrace, Macedonia, Libya, and Ethiopia, while the Persian navy was supplied by Phoenecians.

For readers interested simply in the history of the Greco-Persian War and the battles involved, Wikipedia provides quite good explanations, which also have a fair wealth of detail. In fact, for anyone unfamiliar with this period of Greek history, reading those Wikipedia articles would be a rather useful preparation for Cartledge's book.

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desde la publicación de la novela gráfica 300, de Frank Miller y su posterior adaptación al cine, a pocos es ajeno el nombre de Leónidas y los 300 espartanos que defendieron el paso de las Termópilas en una misión suicida para detener el avance de las tropas persas de Jerjes. Sin embargo, pese a este conocimiento popular y a diversas obras sobre esta batalla, creo que la obra de Paul Cartledge nos ofrece algo más.

Lejos de centrarse en el hecho militar, este libro es un intento de contextualización de un choque entre culturas (Grecia-Persia, Oriente-Occidente) y cómo llegó a su clímax en la Batalla de las Termópilas. Remontándose algunos siglos atrás nos habla sobre los griegos, sobre qué los unía y qué los separaba dado que, lejos de ser un ente común, la cultura panhelénica era un nexo bastante débil ligado más a aspectos religioso/culturales que un concepto nacional como tenemos hoy. Este mismo ejercicio se realiza en el lado persa, analizando cómo en una rápida escalada llegó a ser el imperio más amplio y poderoso de la antigüedad.

Poco a poco vamos avanzando en la historia, desgranando detalles sobre la vida y culturas de ambos pueblos que nos van ofreciendo pistas sobre por qué las cosas llegaron a ser como fueron. Una vez alcanzado el punto de análisis del enfrentamiento, posteriormente pasamos a las consecuencias, no sólo geopolíticas del momento, sino también culturales. Cómo la actitud espartana se transmitió durante la antigüedad y se recogió en el Renacimiento para un resurgir durante el romántico siglo XIX, llegando hasta nuestros días.

No es tampoco despreciable el interesante análisis historiográfico que se hace de Heródoto, principal fuente histórica de los acontecimientos que se relatan, en una defensa de su visión como historiador y como escritor.

Una obra muy interesante para cualquier amante de la historia antigua.

[Benjamin Hare · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Thermopylae" (2006) by Paul Cartledge, 350 pages. History. This book provides critical context to Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" (1998). Cartledge's "Thermopylae" is a bucket of cold water to help sober us up after the thrilling action and reconstructivist bias of "Gates of Fire." Cartledge's book substantially changes the experience of Pressfield's work by dragging it back from the realm of fantasy to expose the scaffolding surrounding the inspiring, real life events. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the book is that of outlining Leonidas's lineage, particularly the political turmoil surrounding his father, Anaxandridas II, whose predecessor, King Cleomenes, had almost certainly been murdered while in prison. A particular triumph of the Cartledge text is his sober and respectful treatment of Spartan women; there's not a drop of the modern, simpering lament about the plight of the downtrodden Spartan women-folk. One can almost feel Cartledge grinding his teeth at such a suggestion. While Pressfield successfully conveyed the stone-age mysticism of the Spartans, it's clear he didn't go quite far enough, an omission that Cartledge remedies while at the same time exposing the corruption, betrayal, and collectivism at the core of the Spartan social structure. Cartledge is a wonderful writer so the narrative reads well. This is a book I'll read again next year. Revealingly, I won't be reading "Gates of Fire" again.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is telling that in a book on the battle of Thermopylae, there is just one chapter, 12 pages in length, devoted to the battle itself. Because a study of this one event, where 300 Spartans led by Leonidas killed ~20,000 Persians before being overwhelmed (in what can only be called a suicide mission), is worth much more than a single entry in the annals of military and ancient history.

The author sets the stage through an examination of Persian and Spartan societies. The former, according to Herodotus, focused their education on three virtues/skills: "riding a horse, shooting the bow, and telling the truth." The latter were a society forbidden by law to practice any other trade or craft than warfare, maintaining a standing army to both suppress the "enemy" within (the Helots, an underclass of native Greek populations) and without.

After going through the set-up to the battle and the conflict itself, the remainder of the book addresses the question of why it matters, both in the ancient world and the modern one, including the historiography (how the history of this event has been told and reinterpreted through the centuries). Why is it such a cultural touchstone even 2,500 years later? In sum, the concept that some ideals are worth dying for still resonates.

I found the author's writing style a bit awkward at times, but it was an interesting and enjoyable read.