The Battle of Thermopylae

<p>The <strong>Battle of Thermopylae</strong> (<span class= "rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa" xml:lang="en-fonipa"><a title="Help:IPA/English" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English">/<span title= "/θ/: 'th' in 'thigh'">θ</span><span title= "/ər/: 'er' in 'letter'">ər</span><span title= "/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title= "'m' in 'my'">m</span><span title= "/ɒ/: 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span><span title= "'p' in 'pie'">p</span><span title= "/ɪ/: 'i' in 'kit'">ɪ</span><span title= "'l' in 'lie'">l</span><span title= "/iː/: 'ee' in 'fleece'">iː</span>/</a></span></span> <a title="Help:Pronunciation respelling key" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key"><em title="English pronunciation respelling">thər-MOP-i-lee</em></a>; <a title="Ancient Greek" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek">Greek</a>: <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν</span>, <span title= "Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language romanization"><em lang="grc-Latn" xml:lang="grc-Latn">Máchē tōn Thermopylōn</em></span>) was fought in 480 BC between the <a title="Achaemenid Empire" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire">Achaemenid Persian Empire</a> under <a title="Xerxes I" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerxes_I">Xerxes I</a> and an alliance of <a title="Polis" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polis">Greek city-states</a> led by <a title="Sparta" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta">Sparta</a> under <a title="Leonidas I" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_I">Leonidas I</a>. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the <a title= "Second Persian invasion of Greece" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Persian_invasion_of_Greece">second Persian invasion of Greece</a> and the wider <a title= "Greco-Persian Wars" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Persian_Wars">Greco-Persian Wars</a>.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Our th