Battle of Thermopylae 480 B. C.

Thermopylae = “Gates of Fire” In 480 B.C., a contingent of 300 Spartan soldiers under the leadership of their king, Leonidas, held off a huge army of invading Persians in the narrow pass of Thermopylae. Thermopylae = “Gates of Fire”

The courage of these Spartans - every one of whom ultimately fell in battle, but not before slaying thousands of Persian troops - helped save Greece from being overwhelmed by allowing time for other Greek forces to prepare for their eventual victory at the Battle of Salamis later in the year.

Simonides composed an epigram, which was engraved as an epitaph on a commemorative stone placed on top of the burial mound of the Spartans at Thermopylae: Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie. Steven Pressfield, in Gates of Fire

Vocābula exercitus: army Persicus, -ī, m., a Persian inquit, says sagitta, -ae, f., arrow Lacedaemonius, -ī, m., a Spartan respondēre: = Eng. umbra, -ae, f., shade, shadow

Vocābula pugnāre, to fight rēx, king exclāmāre, to shout cum + abl., with apud + acc., among īnferī, -ōrum, m. pl., those below, the dead fortasse, adv., perhaps

exercitus Persicus, -ī inquit sagitta, -ae Lacedaemonius, -ī respondēre umbra, -ae pugnāre rēx exclāmāre cum apud īnferī, -ōrum fortasse

“Exercitus noster es magnus,” Persicus inquit,

“et propter numerum sagittārum nostrārum caelum nōn vidēbitis!”

Tum Lacedaemonius respondet:

“In umbrā, igitur, pugnābimus!”

Et Leōnidās, rēx Lacedaemoniōrum, exclāmat:

“Pugnāte cum animīs, Lacedaemoniī;

hodiē apud īnferōs fortasse cēnābimus!”

Thermoplylae: A Soldier’s Humor “Exercitus noster es magnus,” Persicus inquit, “et propter numerum sagittārum nostrārum caelum nōn vidēbitis!” Tum Lacedaemonius respondet: “In umbrā, igitur, pugnābimus!” Et Leōnidās, rēx Lacedaemoniōrium, exclāmat: “Pugnāte cum animīs, Lacedaemoniī; hodiē apud īnferōs fortasse cēnābimus!”

What is the humor in their remarks, as Cicero reports them here? Both king Leonidas and his soldiers – the famed “300,” who fought to the death to resist the Persian invasion of Greece – were apparently not only courageous but quick-witted as well. What is the humor in their remarks, as Cicero reports them here? “Exercitus noster es magnus,” Persicus inquit, “et propter numerum sagittārum nostrārum caelum nōn vidēbitis!” Tum Lacedaemonius respondet: “In umbrā, igitur, pugnābimus!” Et Leōnidās, rēx Lacedaemoniōrium, exclāmat: “Pugnāte cum animīs, Lacedaemoniī; hodiē apud īnferōs fortasse cēnābimus!”