"Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World"

[hoplite14gr]

Retreating from the narrow pass to thew wide plain of Fthiotis and then Beotia with Persian cavalry and light troops hot on you heels was a recipe for disaster. The fact that the Peloponesians retreated first to Platea and then to Athens and Finlay Isthmus says that the Persians had difficulty to aggressively pursue. There was no evidence of battles and fighting until the defense of Acropolis and Salamis. Leonidas be lived that the position was still tenable if Hydarnes was repulsed. Seems that only the Thespians tried to aid him. Their steadfast contact, if nothing else allowed the others to retreat.
The Greeks had reasons to stand. Heretria first surrendered and then sacked.
Same at ENNEA ODOI and the rumors that the Persians were offring human sacrifices. Clearly they believed that they would receive NO Mercy.
If that is not a reason to stand then what else does anybody nead?
The is also another think that was contested in Thermopylae and the Persian Wars: A a national culture resisting a multi-ethnic globalistic empire.
And we live in times that thougts like that make people uncomfortable.
Kind regards