LEONIDAS
(Leonidas I)
Xerxes whose troops outnumbered the Spartans many to one send a message demanding that the Spartans under Leonidas lay down their arms. With the refusal the Persians attacked and eventually killed all the 300 Spartans who had fought so brilliantly that they had killed 20,000 Persians. The battle allowed the Greeks to mobilize other troops and totally demoralized the Persians.
Leonidas I was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles and Cadmus. Leonidas I was son of King Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half-brother King Cleomenes I to the throne in c. 489 BC. His co-ruler was King Leotychidas. He was succeeded by his son, King Pleistarchus.
