Thermopylae: the battle that changed the world

Setting the awful scene

The ancient world in 500 BCE: from India to the Aegean

The dynamics of empire: Persia of the Achaemenids, 485

Hellas: the Hellenic world in 485

Sparta 485: a unique culture and society

Thermopylae I: mobilization

Thermopylae II: preparations for battle

Thermopylae III: the battle

The Thermopylae legend I: antiquity

The Thermopylae legend II: from antiquity to modernity

Thermopylae: turning-point in world history

Appendix 1: the invention of history: Herodotus and other ancient sources

Appendix 2: Herodotus's Persian Muster-lists: a translation

Appendix 3: Herodotus: antidote to fundamentalism.