Leonidas, leader of the 300 Hoplites at Thermopylae, half statue 23 cm, 1 kg, black artificial marble base
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Original in the Archaeological Museum Sparta, inventory no. 3613
Leonidas, one of the double kings of the ancient Greek military state Sparta
According to the Greek chronicler Herodotus, the Persian king Xerxes advanced with 2,641,000 men (chroniclers at that time sometimes tended to exaggerate) of fighting troops by sea and coming from Macedonia to southern Greece.
At Thermopylae, an isthmus between the mountains and the cliffs, troops from Thebes and Thespis as well as Leonidas and 300 of his strongest Hoplites - foot soldiers equipped with sword, lance, helmet, shield, breastplate and greaves - lined up for battle.
For a whole day, he and his Spartans fighting in the front line withstood the attack of this powerful army. The treachery of the Greek Ephialtes, who at night led an elite Persian unit over a goat path into the back of the defenders, made their position untenable. Leonidas decided to continue the battle with a small contingent of volunteers from Thespis and his men, so that the allies could retreat and regroup.
Because the Persians could now attack from two sides, they disbanded their phalanx and formed a circular hedgehog position against which Xerxes had his equestrian elite of the legendary "Immortals" run. But even this did not succeed in bringing down the defenders. When the Great King had to watch bitterly as thousands upon thousands of the bloom of the Persian army lost their lives in battle against a few hundred Greeks - Greek historians report of 20,000 fallen Persians - he ordered his archers and slingers to advance.
Towards the end of the second day, under an endless hail of arrows and bullets, the last act of this incredible tragedy, which will go down in history, was completed.
Even today, a stone tablet set into the rock at the battlefield bears witness to the heroic event:
"Wanderer, do you come to Sparta, tell them that you saw us lying here, as the law commanded.
But this hecatombe should not be in vain. It gave the Greek fleet the time it needed to launch a decisive relief attack against the Persian Armada at Cape Artemision.
Exhibit of the Archaeological Museum in Sparta under the inventory no. 3613, dated 480- 470 B.C., Replica reduction, material Keramin (special plaster).
Of particular interest in this representation of Leonidas is the luxuriant Lophos (helmet bush made of horse hair) and the two cheek-rails decorating the ram heads on the combat helmet.
This product was added to our catalog on Thursday, November 19, 2020.