Battle of Thermopylae

[hoplite14gr]

It was a habit untill mid 17h century for the army to yield when the leader was dead. One propability is that they abandoned the effort after Leonidas went down. The Spartan simply carried on the fight.

Probably these 400 hoplites were the missing votes in the decision to join with the Persians or not when the issue was discussed in Thebes.

The "Spartoi" Beotian families had a yet un-researched role to play in these events. Tribal issued stop matter after middle of the Peloponesian war though.

The problem with the much later Pelopidas and Epameinondas was that they were respectable gentlemen beliving in the Archaic ideal of the autonomus city in an era that this ideal was dead.

Kind regards