History Channel Presents Last Stand Of The 300
Last Stand of the 300 is an interesting 90-minute documentary from the History Channel explaining the details of the ancient Spartans' showdown with the Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae. It's long been a fascinating subject, but it hit popular culture in a big way with the 2007 feature film 300, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. Last Stand of the 300 helps explain the background behind the battle as well as many of the details not covered in the movie, including how the Ionian Revolt and the famed battle of Marathon led to Themopylae, the naval front led by Thermistocles, and what happened afterward. Numerous scholars and authors (including the writers of Gates of Fire and Empires at War) explain the rigorous Spartan training, military strategy, the Oracle at Delphi, the Persian technological advantage, different kinds of weaponry and vessels (the Spartan hoplon, dory, and xiphos, and the trireme), and how one of Miller's famous lines came from Herodotus ("Then we shall have our battle in the shade"). The maps are extremely helpful for showing how the geography affected the battle (one detour would have cost the Persians an extra two years of travel time), but the reenactments look kind of simple compared to the extremely stylized feature film....
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