J.-L. David, Leonidas, koning van Sparta, bij Thermopylai, opperbevelhebber van Griekse troepen, die de Thermopylae-pas moesten verdedigen tegen het Perzische invasieleger onder leiding van koning Xerxes (480 v.C. Op aanwijzing van de verrader Ephialtes (en door onoplettendheid van het flankbewakingsdetachement lukte het de Perzen Leonidas’stelling te omtrekken. Onder de Grieken brak paniek uit en de meeste contingenten, behalve de Spartanen en een eenheid Boeotiërs, verlieten Thermopylai. : “Thus it was that the confederate troops, by Leonidas’ orders, abandoned their posts and left the pass, all except the Thespians and the Thebans who remained with the Spartans. … As the Persian army advanced to the assault, the Greeks under Leonidas, knowing that the fight would be their last, pressed forward into the wider part of the pass much further than they had done before … In the course of that fight Leonidas fell, having fought like a man indeed. Many distinguished Spartans were killed at his side – their names, like the names of all the three hundred, I have myself acuainted with, because they deserve to be remembered.” (Herodotus, The Histories, VII, 221 e.v. [Harmonsdworth 1971], p. 492-493)