Battle of Thermopylae

A 480 BCE battle in which a Greek force led by Sparta’s King Leonidas delayed the Persian advance through the narrow pass of Thermopylae before being defeated.

Thermopylae: A narrow coastal pass in central Greece that was the site of the 480 BCE battle. Its constricted terrain limited how many Persian troops could attack at once.
Greco-Persian Wars: A series of conflicts between the Persian Empire and Greek city-states in the fifth century BCE. Thermopylae was one episode in the invasion of Greece in 480 BCE.
Leonidas I: A Spartan king who commanded the Greek land force at Thermopylae in 480 BCE. He led the defense and remained with the rearguard during the final fighting.
Battle of Salamis: A 480 BCE naval battle in which Greek forces defeated the Persian fleet near Athens. The victory followed Thermopylae and disrupted Xerxes’s invasion by sea.
Phalanx: An infantry formation in which soldiers use overlapping shields and closely ranked spears. Greek hoplites used close formation to defend the narrow approach.
Second Persian invasion of Greece: The 480–479 BCE campaign in which Xerxes I led Persian forces into Greece. The battle was fought to delay this campaign’s advance southward.
Ephialtes of Trachis: A Greek man whom Herodotus names as the guide who revealed the mountain path to the Persians. His disclosure of the route enabled the Persian encirclement.
Battle of Plataea: A 479 BCE land battle in which a Greek alliance defeated Persian forces in Boeotia. It helped end the Persian invasion that continued after Thermopylae.
Hoplite: An ancient Greek infantry soldier equipped with a shield, spear, and protective armor. Hoplites formed the Greek infantry core at Thermopylae.
Ionian Revolt: A rebellion by Greek cities in Persian-controlled Ionia against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BCE. Its support from Athens and Eretria helped prompt Darius I’s campaigns against Greece.

Linked from 10 pages