On Memorial Day we remember those who “gave their last full measure of devotion” (as Lincoln so beautifully put it) — who gave their lives for their comrades in arms, their kin back home, and what their country stood for: namely, the ideals of Democracy and the Rule of Law (as opposed to the whims of tyrants and mobs).
Soldiers have been dying for the ideal of Democracy for a long time — some of them millennia ago. I thought we might consider an especially extraordinary battle in which fledgling Democracy hung in the balance. It took place in Greece in 480 BCE at Thermopylae (“thur-MAH-poh-lee”).
At the time there was no ‘country’ Greece — it was a hodge-podge of independent city states with no over-arching government, bound by a common language and ancestry, and little else. Indeed, they attacked and sacked each other on a regular basis. One of the most powerful was Athens — the birthplace of Democracy. The other city-states were monarchies (ruled by one) or oligarchies (ruled by a few).
Meanwhile, Xerxes, King of the Persian Empire, decided to annex Greece. Xerxes father Darius had tried to conquer Greece and failed. So Xerxes went all in with a full-scale invasion supported by long-term planning, stockpiling, and conscription. Xerxes directed that the Hellespont — a narrow waterway separating Turkey and Greece (3/4 of a mile wide at its narrowest) — be bridged to allow his army to cross into Europe . He also ordered a canal be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos — cutting short the route where a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BCE. These were both feats of exceptional ambition beyond any other contemporary state. By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and Xerxes’ army marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges. Scholars estimate the size of his army at around 300,000. That’s a lot of logistics and supplies for the technology of the day!
Of course spies alerted the Greeks that Xerxes was on his way, but that still didn’t leave much time to prepare.
One of the most powerful Greek city-states was Sparta — more like a military base than a city. All boys at age seven were put into the “Agoge” — a military academy on steroids. Boys weren’t punished for stealing — they were punished for getting caught. When boys turned 20 they entered the Spartan army and lived in barracks until 60. You could marry, but you had to sneak out to spend time with your wife (again, just don’t get caught!) Girls were also placed in school that heavily emphasized athletics — preparation for bearing lots of soldier children. And yet, women had almost the same rights as the men — far more than any other Greek city-state. They could own property, engage in business transactions, and were better educated than women in ancient Greece in general (including Athens). But a Democracy it was not! (Actually, Sparta had TWO kings, and a kind of parliament that could override the kings, and the first written constitution.)
As it so happened, there was a narrow strip of land with ocean on one side and cliffs on the other through which the Persian army would have to pass, called Thermopylae. And so Sparta volunteered to lead a coalition army of about 7000 Greeks to hold the pass and halt Xerxes’ army. Leonidas, King of Sparta and commander of the coalition army, soon realized they wouldn’t be able to halt Xerxes for long. So he ordered a strategic retreat of most of his forces so they could regroup with other armies being amassed throughout Greece. And Leonidas and 300 Spartans would cover their retreat and hold the Persian army as long as they could.
That turned out to be three days. Imagine — a company of 300 soldiers held hundreds of thousands of Xerxes’ troops at bay for three days! And they would have held out longer, except that a local named Ephialtes showed the Persians a secret path around the Spartan position (for 30 pieces of silver?), and the Spartans were finally overwhelmed from all sides.
Historians disagree on how big a difference three extra days for the Greeks actually made. Hard to say — three days notice that the Japanese were coming to Pearl Harbor would have made a big difference! (Probably not a fair comparison.) But at the very least, surely the psychological impact on both armies had to be huge: for the Persians: “What sort of super-soldiers are we up against?!?” And for the Greeks, their rallying cry: “Remember Thermopylae!!”
The Greeks set aside their differences, joined together, and ultimately prevailed, of course. Including Athens and her fledgling “Democracy” — instituted only three decades before Thermopylae.
And so, on this Memorial Day, let’s remember those who have fallen for the ideals this country stands for, at Normandy, and Gettysburg, and Bunker Hill, and so many other examples of profound heroism. And let’s also pause for just a moment to remember the 300 at Thermopylae, without whom the new-born ideal of Democracy would surely have perished.