Wikipedia has an article on the 1941 Battle of Thermopylae which apparently saw Australians fight the Nazis at the same pass King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans defended over 2000 years prior. The article in question cites a single source which has since 404ed; every other source I've found appears to have copied the Wikipedia article.
My question: is the 1941 Battle of Thermopylae a real (but very obscure) battle or just a hoax someone posted on Wikipedia?
HUGE SPOILERS FOR ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSSEY ESPECIALLY LEGACY OF THE FIRST BLADEI decided to do a fact-checking of Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Only the parts related to the history of Achaemenid Empire) So this article includes Prince of Persia Quest/Battle of Thermopylae/Legacy of the first blade. I have put a tldr at the end. I hope this article is worth your time. Letβs start :
Battle of ThermopylaeLike I said above, I am going to mention everything related to Achaemenid Empire in this post but I donβt really think I need to talk about the βBattle of Thermopylaeβ since it has been discussed numerous times here on Reddit and media in general thanks to 300. There is a very good podcast by Dr. RoelΒ Konijnendijk. Make sure to check it out.
1- The game makes you think that the Greek army was already there before the Persians arrived (Leonidas watching the ships from above). That is not true at all. Xerxes and his army were already there four days before the Greeks.
2- Persian soldierβs costumes do not look accurate. Ubisoft lazily combined Assassinβs Creed Revelations Janissaryβs mask (Which was itself inspired by Zack Snyderβs The Immortals in 300) with Bayekβs Persian outfits from Assassinβs Creed Origins and it resulted in this atrocity. I mean what the heck is this? What is that weird looking hat? What is that picture of a monster/ghoul representing on his shield? What kind of weapon is that?
3- Ubisoft mostly used Herodutos description for how the battle was fought :
>Xerxes let four days go by assuming that the men (i.e. the Greek army) would run away. But on the fifth day, when they had not gone, but seemed to be staying on out of sheer impudence and suicidal folly, he sent the Medes and Cissians against them. He was furious and charged them to take the Greeks alive and bring them into his presence. The Medes rushed against them at full charge, with many falling, but others replaced them, and they did not stop although faring disastrously. This showed everyone, in particular the king, that while he might have many men, he had but few warriors. The engagement lasted all day.
... keep reading on reddit β‘
The games work the same as his Infinity War shields, as well as Saint who is not allowed to kill their opponent wins. And no Final Fantasy Protagonists are included in the opt-out or not. β. Round 1: A casual fight, they are going up against an average soldier from Ancient Sparta.
The AskHistorians Podcast is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forums on the internet. You can subscribe to us via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS, and now on YouTube and Google Play. You can also catch the latest episodes on SoundCloud. If there is another index you'd like the cast listed on, let me know!
This Episode:
Today we talk with Dr. Roel Konijnendijk (@Roelkonijn on Twitter and u/iphikrates on the sub) about the myths surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture. In particular, we compare scholarship on the battle with the mid-aughts film 300, Directed by Zack Snyder.
Questions? Comments?
If you want more specific recommendations for sources or have any follow-up questions, feel free to ask them here! Also feel free to leave any feedback on the format and so on.
If you like the podcast, please rate and review us on iTunes.
Thanks all!
Previous episode and discussion.
Next Episode: u/AnnalsPornographie is back!
Want to support the Podcast? Help keep history interesting through the AskHistorians Patreon.
R1 300 version x1 Kaioken
R2 300 version x 3 Kaioken
R3 300 version x 3 Kaioken Leonidas has x 9
R4 historical Version x 1 Kaioken
R5 Historical Version x 3 Kaioken
Bonus two rounds Each version x 5 Kaioken but the winged hussars(siege of Vienna) arrive to aid the Persians Greeks have no knowledge of them
I figured there'd be an expert somewhere on here who could help answer my question. Thanks in advance.
I've been doing some research into the battle of Thermopylae and the present-day location. I've been searching Google Earth. I've been unable to find any present-day pictures of the famous double mountain pillars known as the "hot gates". From what I understand, the shoreline they fought on has been filled in flush with the cliff that the battle took place on. But that still doesn't explain why the mountains are no longer visible today. Did they even exist in the first place? Did they collapse? Was it filled in? Or is it just not visible?
Hong Kong's battle against the tyranny of the CCP and China is completely asymmetric in terms of both power and resources. China has huge amounts of money to spend on propaganda, physical force and economic warfare against all opponents. However, history gives us empowering events, when the most powerful opponent was defeated under the worst kind of odds.
The best example of all is the Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans^(1) defended their city-state by fighting hundreds of thousands^(2) of Persian invaders. They strategically fought the battle in a tiny strip of land, where they caused massive losses to the opponent. They only lost the battle after they were betrayed by one of their own people, who lead the Persians behind the battle lines. However, they managed to delay the advancement of the Persians for enough time for re-enforcements to arrive (still heavily outnumbered) and they ultimately won the war after a few years and other battles.
I can see great parallels between Hong Kong and Sparta during that time and I think that if HKers find a strategic advantage to exploit and play their cards right (like the tiny strip of land of the Spartans), as well as stay unified (well done so far, unlike the 2014 umbrella movement and don't get betrayed by their own), and ultimately delay the takeover of the Chinese colonisers, ultimately I am optimistic that there is a good chance to win this 'war'.
There is a very empowering video that you can watch from the movie 300 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkWS9PiXekE just replace Xerxes with China and Sparta with HK.
Notes:
^(1)In reality they had some help of another 7000 people from other city states in Greece.
^(2)Historic sources mention millions but this is probably an exaggeration.
Master Chief and Blue Team lose their MJOLNIR and weapons, but gain Titanium-A light plate armor.
Linda gets the Predator Bow and unlimited Titanium-A tipped arrows, with a gladius.
Kelly gets two short swords and unlimited throwing knives.
Fred gets a poleaxe and 3 throwing spears.
John gets a kopis and the (level 6) Broken Spear of Leonidas.
All gear is sized to fit their users. Since Fred could probably dual-wield normal sized poleaxes he gets a bigger one, etc. All gear is made out of Titanium-A.
They have 1 month to get used to and train with their new weapons.
Win conditions:
- Blue TeamβForce a rout or retreat
- PersiansβKill the Spartans or push through to Greece
Round 1βthe Spartan reinforce the spartans
Round 2βthe Spartans are on their own
300 Spartan hoplites fight 300 present day US Marines with identical hoplite armor and weapons (armor fits the Marines as well as the Spartans' armor fits them, even if average height is different).
Historically accurate hoplites.
Marines have had 24 hours to get used to their equipment.
Victory condition is rout or capture/kill all of the other side.
Everyone is bloodlusted.
R1: fight takes place on a flat plain
R2: takes place on Spartan home turf
R3: takes place in an evacuated downtown New York City
8000 rangers vs billions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAZfh5emQXE
30 thanatos vs billions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnPrX04Anss
Just mucking around :)
Here's the map since some people wanted it via private messages.
http://www.filedropper.com/theyarebillionsthermopylae
I don't care if it's ASB I still wanna know what would happen
Each Spartan has a Xiphos and a spear.They have Mjolnir armor, but no shields. If this makes it too easy for them, take off the armor. The Roman army is at it's peak and has Julius Caesar in command. They get full artillery and equipment.
The mountain pass that led to the Greek Spartan's demise is no longer there. The only way through is by pushing through the Spartan-IIs.
If they can't, how long do they last? If it's a stomp on the Spartan's side, reduce their numbers to 100. How well do they do now?
From the research that I have done, the strategies used in Thermopylae (nullifying the Persians larger numbers by forcing them in a frontal assault in tight conditions) were similar to that of Salamis at least (Feigning a retreat, and keeping the Persians in tighter conditions in a frontal assault)
I am aware that the Battle of Salamis had ships on the Persians flank, but wouldn't that still fall into the same strategy used in Thermopylae?
We have all heard of the story of how 300 spartans fought off the persian army for three days. What about your own battles where the outnumbered side won against all odds.
Round 1: The English take the place of the Greeks at Thermopylae. They know about the alternate path. Can they hold off the Persians?
Round 2: The English take the place of the Persians. Can they defeat the Greeks?
Round 3: The English are once again holding the Thermopylae pass. Except Alexander the Great and 30,000 Macedonians replace the Persian army.
)
