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I as much as most of you guys prefer a historically accurate movie, but this is a movie. If you pay attention to the movie, not the history, but the movie, you see that it is a STORY told by a Spartan who is trying to make everyone who hears the story understand how hard they fought, against what they fought, and most importantly, how gloriously they died. Not history, but a damned good story.
As for the history...
300 Spartans and 700 Thespians vs 100,000 men of the Persian army. It happened, it is not legend, but history. It is a simple matter of surface area. You can't flank 7000 soldiers if their flanks are held by the Sea and the Mountain. It must also be noted that the Spartans themselves were a martial society who lived, slept, and dreamed combat. They fought in an almost inpenitrable phalanx, they wore bronze armor that covered the head, chest, and shins, they carried a strong spear and a large, heavy bronze shield. They also rebuilt a wall that was there. So far as I know, the Persians didn't bring seige equipment with them. That being said a knee high stone wall would have been at least a painful thorn, at worst it would have broken the Persian line enough for the Greeks to poke spear points in the holes. The Spartans were better trained, better physical condition, better armor, and probably had a better leader. They held the Persians there, they inficted disproportionate casulties against the Persians, they died buying Greece time to organize its armies and navy.
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Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often...
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