1. When the boy was born...Copy !req
2. like all Spartans, he was inspected.Copy !req
3. If he'd been small or puny
or sickly or misshapen...Copy !req
4. he would have been discarded.Copy !req
5. From the time he could stand,
he was baptized in the fire of combat.Copy !req
6. Taught never to retreat,
never to surrender.Copy !req
7. Taught that death on the battlefield
in service to Sparta...Copy !req
8. was the greatest glory
he could achieve in his life.Copy !req
9. At age 7, as is customary in Sparta...Copy !req
10. the boy was taken from his mother
and plunged into a world of violence.Copy !req
11. Manufactured by 300 years
of Spartan warrior society...Copy !req
12. to create the finest soldiers
the world has ever known.Copy !req
13. The agoge, as it's called,
forces the boy to fight.Copy !req
14. Starves them, forces them to steal...Copy !req
15. and if necessary, to kill.Copy !req
16. By rod and lash the boy was punished...Copy !req
17. taught to show no pain, no mercy.Copy !req
18. Constantly tested, tossed into the wild.Copy !req
19. Left to pit his wits and will
against nature's fury.Copy !req
20. It was his initiation...Copy !req
21. his time in the wild...Copy !req
22. for he would return to his people
a Spartan...Copy !req
23. or not at all.Copy !req
24. The wolf begins to circle the boy.Copy !req
25. Claws of black steel...Copy !req
26. fur as dark night.Copy !req
27. Eyes glowing red...Copy !req
28. jewels from the pit of hell itself.Copy !req
29. The giant wolf sniffing...Copy !req
30. savoring the scent of the meal to come.Copy !req
31. It's not fear that grips him...Copy !req
32. only a heightened sense of things.Copy !req
33. The cold air in his lungs.Copy !req
34. Windswept pines
moving against the coming night.Copy !req
35. His hands are steady.Copy !req
36. His form...Copy !req
37. perfect.Copy !req
38. And so the boy, given up for dead...Copy !req
39. returns to his people,
to sacred Sparta, a king!Copy !req
40. Our king, Leonidas!Copy !req
41. It's been more than 30 years
since the wolf and the winter cold.Copy !req
42. And now, as then, a beast approaches.Copy !req
43. Patient and confident,
savoring the meal to come.Copy !req
44. But this beast
is made of men and horses...Copy !req
45. swords and spears.Copy !req
46. An army of slaves, vast beyond imagining,
ready to devour tiny Greece.Copy !req
47. Ready to snuff out the world's
one hope for reason and justice.Copy !req
48. A beast approaches...Copy !req
49. and it was King Leonidas himself
who provoked it.Copy !req
50. That's it.Copy !req
51. Now, the more you sweat here,
the less you'll bleed in battle.Copy !req
52. My father taught me...Copy !req
53. that fear is always a constant.Copy !req
54. But accepting it...Copy !req
55. makes you stronger.Copy !req
56. My queen.Copy !req
57. A Persian emissary awaits Leonidas.Copy !req
58. In the end...Copy !req
59. a Spartan's true strength
is the warrior next to him.Copy !req
60. So give respect and honor to him,
and it will be returned to you.Copy !req
61. First...Copy !req
62. you fight with your head.
- Then you fight with your heart.Copy !req
63. What is it?Copy !req
64. A Persian messenger awaits you.Copy !req
65. Do not forget today's lesson.Copy !req
66. - Respect and honor.
- Respect and honor.Copy !req
67. Councilman Theron.
You found yourself needed, for once.Copy !req
68. My king and queen,
I was just entertaining your guests.Copy !req
69. I'm sure.Copy !req
70. Before you speak, Persian...Copy !req
71. know that in Sparta everyone,
even a king's messenger...Copy !req
72. is held accountable
for the words of his voice.Copy !req
73. Now, what message do you bring?Copy !req
74. Earth and water.Copy !req
75. You rode all the way from Persia
for earth and water?Copy !req
76. Do not be coy or stupid, Persian.
You can afford neither in Sparta.Copy !req
77. What makes this woman
think she can speak among men?Copy !req
78. Because only Spartan women
give birth to real men.Copy !req
79. Let us walk to cool our tongues.Copy !req
80. If you value your lives
over your complete annihilation...Copy !req
81. listen carefully, Leonidas.Copy !req
82. Xerxes conquers and controls
everything he rests his eyes upon.Copy !req
83. He leads an army so massive,
it shakes the ground with its march.Copy !req
84. So vast, it drinks the rivers dry.Copy !req
85. All the God-King Xerxes requires is this:Copy !req
86. A simple offering of earth and water...Copy !req
87. a token of Sparta's submission
to the will of Xerxes.Copy !req
88. Submission.Copy !req
89. Now, that's a bit of a problem.Copy !req
90. See, rumor has it...Copy !req
91. the Athenians
have already turned you down.Copy !req
92. And if those philosophers and boy-lovers
have found that kind of nerve, then...Copy !req
93. - We must be diplomatic.
- And, of course, Spartans...Copy !req
94. have their reputation to consider.Copy !req
95. Choose your next words carefully,
Leonidas.Copy !req
96. They may be your last as king.Copy !req
97. "Earth and water."Copy !req
98. Madman. You're a madman.Copy !req
99. Earth and water.Copy !req
100. You'll find plenty of both down there.Copy !req
101. No man, Persian or Greek,
no man threatens a messenger.Copy !req
102. You bring the crowns and heads
of conquered kings to my city steps.Copy !req
103. You insult my queen.Copy !req
104. You threaten my people
with slavery and death.Copy !req
105. Oh, I've chosen my words carefully,
Persian.Copy !req
106. Perhaps you should have done the same.Copy !req
107. This is blasphemy. This is madness!Copy !req
108. Madness?Copy !req
109. This is Sparta!Copy !req
110. Welcome, Leonidas.Copy !req
111. We have been expecting you.Copy !req
112. The ephors, priests to the old gods.Copy !req
113. Inbred swine.Copy !req
114. More creature than man.Copy !req
115. Creatures whom even Leonidas
must bribe and beg.Copy !req
116. For no Spartan king has gone to war
without the ephors' blessing.Copy !req
117. The Persians claim their forces
number in the millions.Copy !req
118. I hope, for our sake, they exaggerate.Copy !req
119. But there's no question, we face
the most massive army ever assembled.Copy !req
120. Before your plan is heard...Copy !req
121. what do you offer?Copy !req
122. We will use our superior fighting skills...Copy !req
123. and the terrain of Greece herself
to destroy them.Copy !req
124. We will march north to the coast,
where I will make sure...Copy !req
125. It is August, Leonidas.
The full moon approaches.Copy !req
126. The sacred and ancient festival.Copy !req
127. Sparta wages no war
at the time of the Carneia.Copy !req
128. Sparta will burn!Copy !req
129. Her men will die at arms...Copy !req
130. and her women and children
will be slaves or worse.Copy !req
131. Now, we will block
the Persian coastal assault...Copy !req
132. by rebuilding the great Phocian Wall.Copy !req
133. And from there, we will funnel them into
the mountain pass we call the Hot Gates.Copy !req
134. Now, in that narrow corridor,
their numbers will count for nothing.Copy !req
135. And wave after wave of Persian attack...Copy !req
136. will smash against Spartan shields.Copy !req
137. Xerxes' losses will be so great,
his men so demoralized...Copy !req
138. he will have no choice
but to abandon his campaign.Copy !req
139. We must consult the oracle.Copy !req
140. Trust the gods, Leonidas.Copy !req
141. I'd prefer you trusted your reason.Copy !req
142. Your blasphemies...Copy !req
143. have cost us quite enough already.Copy !req
144. Don't compound them.Copy !req
145. We will consult the oracle.Copy !req
146. Diseased old mystics.Copy !req
147. Worthless remnants of a time
before Sparta's ascent from darkness.Copy !req
148. Remnants of a senseless tradition.Copy !req
149. Tradition even Leonidas cannot defy...Copy !req
150. for he must respect
the word of the ephors.Copy !req
151. That is the law.Copy !req
152. And no Spartan, subject or citizen,
man or woman...Copy !req
153. slave or king, is above the law.Copy !req
154. The ephors choose only
the most beautiful Spartan girls...Copy !req
155. to live among them as oracles.Copy !req
156. Their beauty is their curse...Copy !req
157. for the old wretches
have the needs of men...Copy !req
158. and souls as black as hell.Copy !req
159. "Pray to the winds...Copy !req
160. Sparta will fall.Copy !req
161. All Greece will fall.Copy !req
162. Trust not in men...Copy !req
163. honor the gods.Copy !req
164. Honor the Carneia."Copy !req
165. The king's climb down is harder.Copy !req
166. Pompous, inbred swine.Copy !req
167. Worthless, diseased, rotten...Copy !req
168. corrupt.Copy !req
169. Truly, you're in the god-king's
favor now...Copy !req
170. O wise and holy men.Copy !req
171. Yes.Copy !req
172. And when Sparta burns,
you shall bathe in gold.Copy !req
173. Fresh oracles shall be delivered to you...Copy !req
174. daily...Copy !req
175. from every corner of the empire.Copy !req
176. Your lips can finish
what your fingers have started.Copy !req
177. Or has the oracle robbed you
of your desire as well?Copy !req
178. It would take more than the words
of a drunken adolescent girl...Copy !req
179. to rob me of my desire for you.Copy !req
180. Then why so distant?Copy !req
181. Because it seems...Copy !req
182. though a slave and captive
of lecherous old men...Copy !req
183. the oracle's words
could set fire to all that I love.Copy !req
184. So that is why my king loses sleep
and is forced from the warmth of his bed?Copy !req
185. There's only one woman's words that
should affect the mood of my husband.Copy !req
186. Those are mine.Copy !req
187. Then what must a king do
to save his world...Copy !req
188. when the very laws he is sworn
to protect force him to do nothing?Copy !req
189. It is not a question
of what a Spartan citizen should do...Copy !req
190. nor a husband, nor a king.Copy !req
191. Instead ask yourself, my dearest love...Copy !req
192. what should a free man do?Copy !req
193. - Is this all of them?
- As you ordered. Three hundred.Copy !req
194. All with born sons to carry on their name.Copy !req
195. We are with you, sire.Copy !req
196. For Sparta. For freedom.Copy !req
197. To the death.Copy !req
198. He is your son.Copy !req
199. He is too young
to have felt a woman's warmth.Copy !req
200. I have others to replace him.
Astinos is as brave and ready as any.Copy !req
201. No younger than we were the first time
you stood next to me in battle.Copy !req
202. You are a good friend...Copy !req
203. but a better captain, there is none.Copy !req
204. My good king.Copy !req
205. My good king, the oracle has spoken.Copy !req
206. The ephors have spoken.
There must be no march.Copy !req
207. It is the law, my lord.Copy !req
208. - The Spartan army must not go to war.
- Nor shall it.Copy !req
209. I've issued no such orders.Copy !req
210. I'm here just taking a stroll,
stretching my legs.Copy !req
211. These 300 men
are my personal bodyguard.Copy !req
212. Our army will stay in Sparta.Copy !req
213. Where will you go?Copy !req
214. I hadn't really thought about it...Copy !req
215. but now that you ask...Copy !req
216. I suppose I'll head north.Copy !req
217. The Hot Gates?Copy !req
218. Move out!Copy !req
219. Move out!Copy !req
220. What shall we do?Copy !req
221. What can we do?Copy !req
222. What can you do?Copy !req
223. Sparta will need sons.Copy !req
224. Spartan!Copy !req
225. Yes, milady?Copy !req
226. Come back with your shield...Copy !req
227. or on it.Copy !req
228. Yes, milady.Copy !req
229. "Goodbye, my love."Copy !req
230. He doesn't say it.Copy !req
231. There's no room for softness...Copy !req
232. not in Sparta.Copy !req
233. No place for weakness.Copy !req
234. Only the hard and strong
may call themselves Spartans.Copy !req
235. Only the hard. Only the strong.Copy !req
236. We march...Copy !req
237. for our lands, for our families,
for our freedoms.Copy !req
238. We march.Copy !req
239. Daxos.Copy !req
240. - What a pleasant surprise.
- This morning's full of surprises, Leonidas.Copy !req
241. - We've been tricked.
- Can't be more than a hundred.Copy !req
242. - This is a surprise.
- Silence.Copy !req
243. This isn't their army.Copy !req
244. We heard Sparta was on the warpath
and we were eager to join forces.Copy !req
245. If it is blood you seek,
you are welcome to join us.Copy !req
246. But you bring only this handful
of soldiers against Xerxes?Copy !req
247. I see I was wrong to expect Sparta's
commitment to at least match our own.Copy !req
248. Doesn't it?Copy !req
249. You, there.Copy !req
250. What is your profession?Copy !req
251. I'm a potter, sir.Copy !req
252. And you, Arcadian.
What is your profession?Copy !req
253. - Sculptor, sir.
- Sculptor.Copy !req
254. - And you?
- Blacksmith.Copy !req
255. Spartans! What is your profession?Copy !req
256. You see, old friend?Copy !req
257. I brought more soldiers than you did.Copy !req
258. No sleep tonight...Copy !req
259. not for the king.Copy !req
260. All his 40 years
have been a straight road...Copy !req
261. to this one gleaming moment
in destiny...Copy !req
262. this one radiant clash
of shield and spear...Copy !req
263. sword and bone, and flesh and blood.Copy !req
264. His only regret...Copy !req
265. is that he has so few to sacrifice.Copy !req
266. We're being followed.Copy !req
267. It has followed us since Sparta.Copy !req
268. My king! Look!Copy !req
269. What happened here?Copy !req
270. Where are all the people?Copy !req
271. Persians.Copy !req
272. I put their number at around 20.Copy !req
273. A scouting party.Copy !req
274. But these footprints...Copy !req
275. Behind us!Copy !req
276. Child!Copy !req
277. It's quiet now.Copy !req
278. They...Copy !req
279. They came with beasts
from the blackness.Copy !req
280. With their claws and fangs...Copy !req
281. they grabbed them.Copy !req
282. Everyone...Copy !req
283. but me.Copy !req
284. The villagers.Copy !req
285. I found them.Copy !req
286. Have the gods no mercy?Copy !req
287. We are doomed.Copy !req
288. Quiet yourself.Copy !req
289. The child speaks of the Persian ghosts,
known from the ancient times.Copy !req
290. They are the hunters of men's souls.Copy !req
291. They cannot be killed or defeated.Copy !req
292. Not this darkness. Not these lmmortals.Copy !req
293. Immortals?Copy !req
294. We'll put their name to the test.Copy !req
295. Into the Hot Gates we march.Copy !req
296. Into that narrow corridor we march...Copy !req
297. where Xerxes' numbers
count for nothing.Copy !req
298. Spartans, citizen-soldiers, freed slaves.Copy !req
299. Brave Greeks, all.Copy !req
300. Brothers, fathers, sons...Copy !req
301. we march.Copy !req
302. For honor's sake, for duty's sake,
for glory's sake, we march.Copy !req
303. Look! Persians.Copy !req
304. Into hell's mouth we march.Copy !req
305. Let's watch these motherless dogs...Copy !req
306. as they're embraced by the loving arms
of Greece herself. Come.Copy !req
307. True.Copy !req
308. It does look like rain.Copy !req
309. Zeus stabs the sky with thunderbolts...Copy !req
310. and batters the Persian ships
with hurricane wind.Copy !req
311. Glorious.Copy !req
312. Only one among us
keeps his Spartan reserve.Copy !req
313. Only he.Copy !req
314. Only our king.Copy !req
315. My queen?Copy !req
316. My queen...Copy !req
317. the courtyard is a more fitting place
for a married woman.Copy !req
318. I'm afraid gossip and protocol...Copy !req
319. are the least of my worries now,
councilman.Copy !req
320. Is such secrecy needed?Copy !req
321. How am I to trust beyond the walls
of my own home?Copy !req
322. Even here, Theron has eyes and ears
which fuel Sparta with doubt and fear.Copy !req
323. You speak as if all Sparta
conspires against you.Copy !req
324. I wish it were only against me.Copy !req
325. Many on our council
would vote to give all we have...Copy !req
326. and follow Leonidas...Copy !req
327. but you must show them favor.Copy !req
328. And you can arrange for me
to speak to the council?Copy !req
329. If it is reason they want,
I will let them know.Copy !req
330. Know what, my queen?Copy !req
331. Freedom isn't free at all.Copy !req
332. That it comes with the highest of costs,
the cost of blood.Copy !req
333. I will do my best to gather our council.Copy !req
334. And its chamber
shall be filled with your voice.Copy !req
335. - I'm in your debt.
- No.Copy !req
336. Leonidas is my king as well as yours.Copy !req
337. I saw those ships smash on the rocks.Copy !req
338. How can this be?Copy !req
339. We saw but a fraction of the monster
that is Xerxes' army.Copy !req
340. There can be no victory here.Copy !req
341. Why do you smile?Copy !req
342. Arcadian...Copy !req
343. I have fought countless times...Copy !req
344. yet I've never met an adversary
who could offer me...Copy !req
345. what we Spartans
call "a beautiful death."Copy !req
346. I can only hope...Copy !req
347. with all the world's warriors
gathered against us...Copy !req
348. there might be one down there
who's up to the task.Copy !req
349. Move!Copy !req
350. Keep going, you dogs!Copy !req
351. Move!Copy !req
352. Forward, I say!Copy !req
353. Stop here!Copy !req
354. Who commands here?Copy !req
355. I am the emissary...Copy !req
356. to the ruler of all the world...Copy !req
357. the god of gods, king of kings...Copy !req
358. and by that authority...Copy !req
359. I demand that someone
show me your commander.Copy !req
360. Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen
you slew scares us?Copy !req
361. These hills swarm with our scouts.Copy !req
362. And do you think your pathetic wall
will do anything...Copy !req
363. except fall like a heap of dry leaves
in the face of...?Copy !req
364. Our ancestors built this wall...Copy !req
365. using ancient stones
from the bosom of Greece herself.Copy !req
366. And with a little Spartan help...Copy !req
367. your Persian scouts supplied the mortar.Copy !req
368. You will pay for your barbarism!Copy !req
369. My arm!Copy !req
370. It's not yours anymore.Copy !req
371. Go now. Run along and tell your Xerxes
he faces free men here...Copy !req
372. not slaves.Copy !req
373. Do it quickly...Copy !req
374. before we decide to make our wall
just a little bit bigger.Copy !req
375. No.Copy !req
376. Not slaves.Copy !req
377. Your women will be slaves.Copy !req
378. Your sons, your daughters...Copy !req
379. your elders will be slaves!Copy !req
380. But not you, no.Copy !req
381. By noon this day you will be dead men.Copy !req
382. A thousand nations of the Persian Empire
descend upon you.Copy !req
383. Our arrows will blot out the sun.Copy !req
384. Then we will fight in the shade.Copy !req
385. The wall is solid.Copy !req
386. It'll do the job of funneling the Persians
into the Hot Gates.Copy !req
387. Have the men found any route
through the hills to our back?Copy !req
388. None, sire.Copy !req
389. There is such a route, good king.Copy !req
390. Just pass that western ridge.Copy !req
391. It's an old goat path.Copy !req
392. The Persians could use it to outflank us.Copy !req
393. Not one step closer, monster!Copy !req
394. Wise king, I humbly request an audience.Copy !req
395. - I'll skewer you where you stand.
- I gave no such order.Copy !req
396. Forgive the captain.Copy !req
397. He is a good soldier...Copy !req
398. but a bit short on manners.Copy !req
399. There is nothing to forgive, brave king.
I know what I look like.Copy !req
400. You wear the crimson of a Spartan.Copy !req
401. I am Ephialtes, born of Sparta.Copy !req
402. My mother's love
led my parents to flee Sparta...Copy !req
403. lest I be discarded.Copy !req
404. Your shield and armor?Copy !req
405. My father's, sir.Copy !req
406. I beg you, bold king,
to permit me...Copy !req
407. to redeem my father's name
by serving you in combat.Copy !req
408. My father trained me to feel no fear,
to make spear and shield and sword...Copy !req
409. as much a part of me
as my own beating heart.Copy !req
410. I will earn my father's armor, noble king...Copy !req
411. by serving you in the battle.Copy !req
412. A fine thrust.Copy !req
413. I will kill many Persians.Copy !req
414. Raise your shield.Copy !req
415. - Sire?
- Raise your shield as high as you can.Copy !req
416. Your father should have taught you
how our phalanx works.Copy !req
417. We fight...Copy !req
418. as a single, impenetrable unit.Copy !req
419. That is the source of our strength.Copy !req
420. Each Spartan protects the man
to his left...Copy !req
421. from thigh to neck with his shield.Copy !req
422. A single weak spot
and the phalanx shatters.Copy !req
423. From thigh to neck, Ephialtes.Copy !req
424. I am sorry, my friend.Copy !req
425. - But not all of us were made to be soldiers.
- But I...Copy !req
426. - if you want to help in a Spartan victory...
- Yes.Copy !req
427. clear the battlefield of the dead,
tend the wounded, bring them water...Copy !req
428. but as for the fight itself...Copy !req
429. I cannot use you.Copy !req
430. You...Copy !req
431. Mother! Father! You were wrong!Copy !req
432. You are wrong!Copy !req
433. Leonidas! You are wrong!Copy !req
434. Dispatch the Phocians to the goat path...Copy !req
435. and pray to the gods
nobody tells the Persians about it.Copy !req
436. Earthquake.Copy !req
437. No, captain.Copy !req
438. Battle formations.Copy !req
439. This is where we hold them.Copy !req
440. This is where we fight!Copy !req
441. This is where they die!Copy !req
442. Earn these shields, boys!Copy !req
443. Remember this day, men...Copy !req
444. for it will be yours for all time.Copy !req
445. Spartans!Copy !req
446. Lay down your weapons!Copy !req
447. Persians!Copy !req
448. Come and get them!Copy !req
449. Hold!Copy !req
450. Give them nothing...Copy !req
451. but take from them everything!Copy !req
452. Steady!Copy !req
453. Push!Copy !req
454. Is that the best you can do?Copy !req
455. Push! Push!Copy !req
456. Now!Copy !req
457. Push!Copy !req
458. No prisoners!Copy !req
459. No mercy!Copy !req
460. They look thirsty.Copy !req
461. Well, let's give them something to drink.Copy !req
462. To the cliffs.Copy !req
463. Halt.Copy !req
464. Hell of a good start.Copy !req
465. Tuck tail!Copy !req
466. Persian cowards.Copy !req
467. - What the hell are you laughing at?
- Well, you had to say it.Copy !req
468. - What?
- "Fight in the shade."Copy !req
469. Recover.Copy !req
470. Today no Spartan dies.Copy !req
471. Easy, son.Copy !req
472. We do what we were trained to do...Copy !req
473. what we were bred to do...Copy !req
474. what we were born to do.Copy !req
475. No prisoners. No mercy.Copy !req
476. A good start.Copy !req
477. - I was afraid you might not come.
- I'm sorry, my son is...Copy !req
478. Is doing what children do best.
Please, don't apologize.Copy !req
479. Your son starts the agoge next year.Copy !req
480. That is always a difficult time
for a Spartan mother.Copy !req
481. Yes, it will be hard. But also necessary.Copy !req
482. You will speak before the council
in two days' time.Copy !req
483. My husband does not have two days.Copy !req
484. Think of the two days as a gift.Copy !req
485. It's no secret...Copy !req
486. Theron wants what you control.Copy !req
487. It's his voice you must silence.Copy !req
488. Make him your ally...Copy !req
489. and you will have your victory.Copy !req
490. Thank you.Copy !req
491. You are wise as you are kind.Copy !req
492. There's your mother.Copy !req
493. You should keep a better eye on him
if he's to be king one day.Copy !req
494. Be unfortunate if anything
were to happen to him.Copy !req
495. Or to his beautiful mother.Copy !req
496. No!Copy !req
497. Our Greek comrades are begging
for a crack at the Persians, sire.Copy !req
498. Good.Copy !req
499. I've got something
I think they can handle.Copy !req
500. Tell Daxos that I want him...Copy !req
501. and 20 of his best eager, sober
and ready for the next charge.Copy !req
502. King Leonidas.Copy !req
503. - Stelios, catch your breath, boy.
- Yes, milord.Copy !req
504. The Persians are approaching.Copy !req
505. A small contingent.
Too small for an attack.Copy !req
506. - Captain, I leave you in charge.
- But sire...Copy !req
507. Relax, old friend.Copy !req
508. If they assassinate me,
all of Sparta goes to war.Copy !req
509. Pray they're that stupid.Copy !req
510. Pray...Copy !req
511. we're that lucky.Copy !req
512. Besides...Copy !req
513. there's no reason we can't be civil...Copy !req
514. is there?Copy !req
515. None, sire.Copy !req
516. Let me guess.Copy !req
517. You must be Xerxes.Copy !req
518. Come, Leonidas.Copy !req
519. Let us reason together.Copy !req
520. It would be a regrettable waste...Copy !req
521. it would be nothing short of madness
were you, brave king...Copy !req
522. and your valiant troops to perish...Copy !req
523. all because of a simple
misunderstanding.Copy !req
524. - There's much our cultures could share.
- Haven't you noticed?Copy !req
525. We've been sharing our culture
with you all morning.Copy !req
526. Yours is a fascinating tribe.Copy !req
527. Even now you are defiant...Copy !req
528. in the face of annihilation
and the presence of a god.Copy !req
529. It isn't wise to stand against me,
Leonidas.Copy !req
530. Imagine what a horrible fate
awaits my enemies...Copy !req
531. when I would gladly kill
any of my own men for victory.Copy !req
532. And I would die for any one of mine.Copy !req
533. You Greeks take pride in your logic.
I suggest you employ it.Copy !req
534. Consider the beautiful land
you so vigorously defend.Copy !req
535. Picture it reduced to ash at my whim.Copy !req
536. Consider the fate of your women.Copy !req
537. Clearly you don't know our women.Copy !req
538. I might as well have marched them up here,
judging by what I've seen.Copy !req
539. You have many slaves, Xerxes...Copy !req
540. but few warriors.Copy !req
541. It won't be long
before they fear my spears...Copy !req
542. more than your whips.Copy !req
543. It's not the lash they fear...Copy !req
544. it is my divine power.Copy !req
545. But I am a generous god.
I can make you rich beyond all measure.Copy !req
546. I will make you warlord of all Greece.Copy !req
547. You will carry my battle standard
to the heart of Europa.Copy !req
548. Your Athenian rivals...Copy !req
549. will kneel at your feet...Copy !req
550. if you will but kneel at mine.Copy !req
551. You are generous...Copy !req
552. as you are divine...Copy !req
553. O king of kings.Copy !req
554. Such an offer
only a madman would refuse.Copy !req
555. But the...Copy !req
556. The idea of kneeling, it's...Copy !req
557. You see, slaughtering
all those men of yours has...Copy !req
558. Well, it's left a nasty cramp in my leg...Copy !req
559. so kneeling will be hard for me.Copy !req
560. There will be no glory in your sacrifice.Copy !req
561. I will erase even the memory of Sparta
from the histories.Copy !req
562. Every piece of Greek parchment
shall be burned.Copy !req
563. Every Greek historian and every scribe
shall have their eyes put out...Copy !req
564. and their tongues
cut from their mouths.Copy !req
565. Why, uttering the very name of Sparta
or Leonidas will be punishable by death.Copy !req
566. The world will never know
you existed at all.Copy !req
567. The world will know
that free men stood against a tyrant.Copy !req
568. That few stood against many.Copy !req
569. And before this battle was over...Copy !req
570. that even a god-king can bleed.Copy !req
571. You fought well today...Copy !req
572. for a woman.Copy !req
573. As did you.Copy !req
574. Maybe if I'm injured,
you'll be able to keep up with me.Copy !req
575. Perhaps I was so far ahead
you couldn't see me.Copy !req
576. More likely offering your backside
to the Thespians.Copy !req
577. Jealousy...Copy !req
578. does not become you, my friend.Copy !req
579. Move it, men!Copy !req
580. Pile those Persians high.Copy !req
581. For unless I miss my guess...Copy !req
582. we're in for one wild night.Copy !req
583. They have served the dark will
of Persian kings for 500 years.Copy !req
584. Eyes as dark as night.Copy !req
585. Teeth filed to fangs.Copy !req
586. Soulless.Copy !req
587. The personal guard to King Xerxes himself.
The Persian warrior elite.Copy !req
588. The deadliest fighting force in all of Asia:Copy !req
589. The Immortals.Copy !req
590. The god-king has betrayed a fatal flaw:Copy !req
591. Hubris.Copy !req
592. Easy to taunt, easy to trick.Copy !req
593. Before wounds and weariness
have taken their toll...Copy !req
594. the mad king
throws the best he has at us.Copy !req
595. Xerxes has taken the bait.Copy !req
596. Spartans, push!Copy !req
597. Immortals.Copy !req
598. We put their name to the test.Copy !req
599. Father!Copy !req
600. My king!Copy !req
601. Arcadians, now!Copy !req
602. Go! Show the Spartans what we can do.Copy !req
603. Go!Copy !req
604. They shout and curse...Copy !req
605. stabbing wildly,
more brawlers than warriors.Copy !req
606. They make a wondrous mess of things.Copy !req
607. Brave amateurs, they do their part.Copy !req
608. Immortals.Copy !req
609. They fail our king's test.Copy !req
610. And a man who fancies himself a god...Copy !req
611. feels a very human chill
crawl up his spine.Copy !req
612. To our king!Copy !req
613. And our honored dead.Copy !req
614. Whom will Xerxes dare to send next?
Whom?Copy !req
615. There's nothing that can stop us now!Copy !req
616. Even the king allows himself
to hope for more than glory.Copy !req
617. Such mad hope, but there it is:Copy !req
618. "Against Asia's endless hordes,
against all odds, we can do it.Copy !req
619. We can hold the Hot Gates.Copy !req
620. We can win. "Copy !req
621. Dawn.Copy !req
622. Whips crack. Barbarians howl.Copy !req
623. Those behind cry, "Forward!"Copy !req
624. Those in front cry, "Back!"Copy !req
625. Our eyes bear witness
to the grotesque spectacle...Copy !req
626. coughed forth from the darkest corner
of Xerxes' empire.Copy !req
627. When muscle failed...Copy !req
628. they turned to their magic.Copy !req
629. One hundred nations descend upon us,
the armies of all Asia.Copy !req
630. Funneled into this narrow corridor,
their numbers count for nothing.Copy !req
631. They fall by the hundreds.Copy !req
632. We send the severed bodies
and the fragile hearts back to Xerxes' feet.Copy !req
633. King Xerxes is displeased
with his generals.Copy !req
634. He disciplines them.Copy !req
635. Xerxes dispatches his monsters
from half the world away.Copy !req
636. They're clumsy beasts...Copy !req
637. and the piled Persian dead are slippery.Copy !req
638. - You still here?
- Somebody's gotta watch your back.Copy !req
639. Not now, I'm a little busy.Copy !req
640. Regroup!Copy !req
641. Astinos!Copy !req
642. My son!Copy !req
643. Astinos!Copy !req
644. No!Copy !req
645. Day wears on.Copy !req
646. We lose few...Copy !req
647. but each felled is a friend,
or dearest blood.Copy !req
648. And upon seeing the headless body
of his own young son...Copy !req
649. the captain breaks rank.Copy !req
650. He goes wild, blood-drunk.Copy !req
651. The captain's cries of pain
at the loss of his son...Copy !req
652. are more frightening to the enemy
than the deepest battle drums.Copy !req
653. It takes three men to restrain him
and bring him back to our own.Copy !req
654. The day is ours.Copy !req
655. No songs are sung.Copy !req
656. Your gods were cruel to shape you so,
friend Ephialtes.Copy !req
657. The Spartans, too...Copy !req
658. were cruel to reject you.Copy !req
659. But I am kind.Copy !req
660. Everything you could ever desire...Copy !req
661. every happiness you can imagine...Copy !req
662. every pleasure your fellow Greeks
and your false gods have denied you...Copy !req
663. I will grant you.Copy !req
664. For I am kind.Copy !req
665. Embrace me as your king
and as your god.Copy !req
666. Yes.Copy !req
667. Lead my soldiers to the hidden path
that enters behind the cursed Spartans...Copy !req
668. and your joys will be endless.Copy !req
669. Yes! I want it all.Copy !req
670. Wealth. Women.Copy !req
671. And one more thing...Copy !req
672. I want a uniform.Copy !req
673. Done.Copy !req
674. You will find...Copy !req
675. I am kind.Copy !req
676. Unlike the cruel Leonidas,
who demanded that you stand...Copy !req
677. I require only...Copy !req
678. that you kneel.Copy !req
679. Beautiful night.Copy !req
680. Yes, but I did not ask you here
for small talk, Theron.Copy !req
681. You can be sure of that.Copy !req
682. You never spared words with me.Copy !req
683. Can I offer you something?
A drink, perhaps?Copy !req
684. Is it poison?Copy !req
685. I'm sorry to disappoint you,
it's only water.Copy !req
686. I'm told it's been arranged for you
to go before the council.Copy !req
687. Yes.Copy !req
688. I need your help in winning votes
to send the army north to our king.Copy !req
689. Yes.Copy !req
690. I can see it,
the two of us standing together.Copy !req
691. Me, politician. You, warrior.
Our voices as one.Copy !req
692. But why would I want to do that?Copy !req
693. It proves you care for a king who right now
fights for the very water we drink.Copy !req
694. True.Copy !req
695. But this is politics, not war.Copy !req
696. Leonidas is an idealist.Copy !req
697. I know your kind too well. You send men
to slaughter for your own gain.Copy !req
698. Your husband, our king,
has taken 300 of our finest to slaughter.Copy !req
699. He's broken our laws
and left without the council's consent.Copy !req
700. - I'm simply a realist.
- You're an opportunist.Copy !req
701. You're as foolish as Leonidas if you think
men don't have a price in this world.Copy !req
702. All men are not created equal.
That's the Spartan code, my little queen.Copy !req
703. I admire your passion.Copy !req
704. But don't think that you...Copy !req
705. a woman, even a queen...Copy !req
706. can walk into the council chamber
and sway the minds of men.Copy !req
707. I own that chamber...Copy !req
708. as if it were built with these hands.Copy !req
709. I could crush
the life out of you right now.Copy !req
710. You will go before the council,
but your words will fall on deaf ears.Copy !req
711. Leonidas will receive no reinforcements,
and if he returns, without my help...Copy !req
712. he will go to jail or worse.Copy !req
713. Do you love your Sparta?Copy !req
714. Yes.Copy !req
715. - And your king?
- I do.Copy !req
716. Your husband fights for his land
and his love.Copy !req
717. What do you have to offer...Copy !req
718. in return for my word
that I'll help you send our army north?Copy !req
719. What does a realist want with his queen?Copy !req
720. I think you know.Copy !req
721. This will not be over quickly.Copy !req
722. You will not enjoy this.Copy !req
723. I'm not your king.Copy !req
724. Dilios.Copy !req
725. I trust that scratch
hasn't made you useless?Copy !req
726. Hardly, my lord. It's just an eye.Copy !req
727. The gods saw fit to grace me
with a spare.Copy !req
728. My captain?Copy !req
729. Curses the gods and mourns alone.Copy !req
730. Leonidas!Copy !req
731. We are undone.
Undone, I tell you. Destroyed.Copy !req
732. Daxos, calm yourself.Copy !req
733. Our hunchback traitor led Xerxes' lmmortals
to the hidden goat path behind us.Copy !req
734. The Phocians you posted there
were scattered without a fight.Copy !req
735. - This battle is over, Leonidas.
- This battle is over when I say it is over.Copy !req
736. By morning, the lmmortals will surround us.
The Hot Gates will fall.Copy !req
737. Spartans! Prepare for glory!Copy !req
738. Glory? Have you gone mad?Copy !req
739. There is no glory to be had now.Copy !req
740. Only retreat or surrender. Or death.Copy !req
741. Well, that's an easy choice
for us, Arcadian.Copy !req
742. Spartans never retreat.
Spartans never surrender.Copy !req
743. Go spread the word.Copy !req
744. Let every Greek assembled
know the truth of this.Copy !req
745. Let each among them
search his own soul.Copy !req
746. And while you're at it, search your own.Copy !req
747. My men will leave with me.Copy !req
748. Godspeed, Leonidas.Copy !req
749. Children!Copy !req
750. Children.Copy !req
751. Gather round.Copy !req
752. No retreat, no surrender.Copy !req
753. That is Spartan law.Copy !req
754. And by Spartan law,
we will stand and fight...Copy !req
755. and die.Copy !req
756. A new age has begun.Copy !req
757. An age of freedom.Copy !req
758. And all will know that 300 Spartans...Copy !req
759. gave their last breath to defend it.Copy !req
760. My friend.Copy !req
761. I have lived my entire life
without regret until now.Copy !req
762. It's not that my son
gave up his life for his country.Copy !req
763. It's just that I never told him
that I loved him the most.Copy !req
764. That he stood by me with honor.Copy !req
765. That he was all that was best in me.Copy !req
766. My heart is broken for your loss.Copy !req
767. Heart?Copy !req
768. I have filled my heart...Copy !req
769. with hate.Copy !req
770. Good.Copy !req
771. Dilios...Copy !req
772. let's take a walk.Copy !req
773. Yes, my lord.Copy !req
774. But, sire, I am fit and ready for battle.Copy !req
775. That you are, one of the finest.Copy !req
776. But you have another talent
unlike any other Spartan.Copy !req
777. You will deliver my final orders
to the council...Copy !req
778. with force and verve.Copy !req
779. Tell them our story.Copy !req
780. Make every Greek know
what happened here.Copy !req
781. You'll have a grand tale to tell.Copy !req
782. A tale of victory.Copy !req
783. Victory.Copy !req
784. Yes, my lord.Copy !req
785. Sire, any message...?Copy !req
786. For the queen?Copy !req
787. None that need be spoken.Copy !req
788. Hundreds leave.Copy !req
789. A handful stay.Copy !req
790. Only one looks back.Copy !req
791. Spartans!Copy !req
792. Ready your breakfast and eat hearty...Copy !req
793. for tonight we dine in hell!Copy !req
794. May I give the floor now...Copy !req
795. to the wife of Leonidas
and queen of Sparta.Copy !req
796. - What's this?
- This is nothing.Copy !req
797. Councilmen...Copy !req
798. I stand before you
not only as your queen.Copy !req
799. I come to you as a mother.Copy !req
800. I come to you as a wife.Copy !req
801. I come to you as a Spartan woman.Copy !req
802. I come to you with great humility.Copy !req
803. I am not here to represent Leonidas.Copy !req
804. His actions speak louder
than my words ever could.Copy !req
805. I am here for all those voices
which cannot be heard.Copy !req
806. Mothers, daughters, fathers, sons.Copy !req
807. Three hundred families
that bleed for our rights...Copy !req
808. and for the very principles
this room was built upon.Copy !req
809. We are at war, gentlemen.Copy !req
810. We must send the entire Spartan army
to aid our king...Copy !req
811. in the preservation of not just ourselves,
but of our children.Copy !req
812. Send the army
for the preservation of liberty.Copy !req
813. Send it for justice.Copy !req
814. Send it for law and order.Copy !req
815. Send it for reason.Copy !req
816. But most importantly,
send our army for hope.Copy !req
817. Hope that a king and his men have not
been wasted to the pages of history.Copy !req
818. That their courage bonds us together.Copy !req
819. That we are made stronger
by their actions...Copy !req
820. and that your choices today
reflect their bravery.Copy !req
821. Three hundred.Copy !req
822. We must send them.Copy !req
823. Moving...Copy !req
824. eloquent, passionate.Copy !req
825. But it doesn't change the fact
that your husband has brought war upon us.Copy !req
826. You are wrong.
Xerxes brought it forth...Copy !req
827. and before that,
his father Darius at Marathon.Copy !req
828. The Persians will not stop...Copy !req
829. until the only shelter we will find
is rubble and chaos.Copy !req
830. This chamber needs no
history lesson, my queen.Copy !req
831. Then what is the lesson
you would like to leave?Copy !req
832. Shall I begin to enumerate all of them?Copy !req
833. Honor. Duty. Glory.Copy !req
834. You speak of honor, duty and glory?Copy !req
835. But what of adultery?Copy !req
836. - How dare you.
- How dare I?Copy !req
837. Watch her carefully.Copy !req
838. She is a trickster in true form.Copy !req
839. Do not play with the members
of this sacred chamber, my queen.Copy !req
840. Just hours ago,
you offered yourself to me.Copy !req
841. Were I a weaker man,
I would have her scent on me still.Copy !req
842. - This is outrage.
- Oh, the hypocrite speaks!Copy !req
843. Did you not receive a similar payment,
which you took...Copy !req
844. in exchange for her having an audience
with these noble men?Copy !req
845. - That is a lie.
- Is it?Copy !req
846. Was he not, by your invitation,
asked to come to the king's bedchamber?Copy !req
847. The very bed where you attempted
to negotiate with me so vigorously?Copy !req
848. You look shocked.
A bribe of the flesh, gentlemen...Copy !req
849. while her husband
promotes anarchy and war.Copy !req
850. He speaks truth.Copy !req
851. Words escape
even the most cunning tongue...Copy !req
852. my little whore queen.Copy !req
853. What queen-like behavior.Copy !req
854. Remove her from this chamber
before she infects us further...Copy !req
855. with her inglorious and shabby self.Copy !req
856. This will not be over quickly.Copy !req
857. You will not enjoy this.
I am not your queen.Copy !req
858. Traitor.Copy !req
859. Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!Copy !req
860. Traitor!Copy !req
861. Leonidas, my compliments
and congratulations.Copy !req
862. You surely have turned calamity
into victory.Copy !req
863. Despite your insufferable arrogance...Copy !req
864. the god-king has come
to admire Spartan valor and fighting skill.Copy !req
865. You will make a mighty ally.Copy !req
866. Yield, Leonidas.Copy !req
867. Use your reason. Think of your men.Copy !req
868. I beg you.Copy !req
869. Listen to your fellow Greek.Copy !req
870. He can attest
to the divine one's generosity.Copy !req
871. Despite your several insults,
despite your horrid blasphemies...Copy !req
872. the lord of hosts
is prepared to forgive all...Copy !req
873. and more, to reward your service.Copy !req
874. You fight for your lands.Copy !req
875. Keep them.Copy !req
876. You fight for Sparta.Copy !req
877. She will be wealthier and more powerful
than ever before.Copy !req
878. You fight for your kingship.Copy !req
879. You will be proclaimed warlord
of all Greece...Copy !req
880. answerable only
to the one true master of the world.Copy !req
881. Leonidas, your victory will be complete...Copy !req
882. if you but lay down your arms...Copy !req
883. and kneel to holy Xerxes.Copy !req
884. It's been more than 30 years
since the wolf in the winter cold.Copy !req
885. And now, as then,
it's not fear that grips him...Copy !req
886. only restlessness.
A heightened sense of things.Copy !req
887. The seaborne breeze coolly kissing
the sweat at his chest and neck.Copy !req
888. Gulls cawing...Copy !req
889. complaining even as they feast
on the thousands of floating dead.Copy !req
890. The steady breathing
of the 300 at his back...Copy !req
891. ready to die for him
without a moment's pause.Copy !req
892. Every one of them...Copy !req
893. ready to die.Copy !req
894. His helmet is stifling.Copy !req
895. His shield is heavy.Copy !req
896. Your spear.Copy !req
897. You there...Copy !req
898. Ephialtes.Copy !req
899. May you live forever.Copy !req
900. Leonidas, your spear.Copy !req
901. Stelios!Copy !req
902. Slaughter them!Copy !req
903. His helmet was stifling.Copy !req
904. It narrowed his vision,
and he must see far.Copy !req
905. His shield was heavy.
It threw him off balance...Copy !req
906. and his target is far away.Copy !req
907. The old ones say we Spartans
are descended from Hercules himself.Copy !req
908. Bold Leonidas gives testament
to our bloodline.Copy !req
909. His roar is long and loud.Copy !req
910. My king.Copy !req
911. It's an honor to die at your side.Copy !req
912. It's an honor to have lived at yours.Copy !req
913. My queen!Copy !req
914. My wife.Copy !req
915. My love.Copy !req
916. "Remember us."Copy !req
917. As simple an order as a king can give.Copy !req
918. "Remember why we died."Copy !req
919. For he did not wish tribute or song...Copy !req
920. nor monuments,
nor poems of war and valor.Copy !req
921. His wish was simple.Copy !req
922. "Remember us"...Copy !req
923. he said to me.Copy !req
924. That was his hope.Copy !req
925. Should any free soul
come across that place...Copy !req
926. in all the countless
centuries yet to be...Copy !req
927. may all our voices...Copy !req
928. whisper to you
from the ageless stones.Copy !req
929. Go tell the Spartans, passerby...Copy !req
930. that here, by Spartan law, we lie.Copy !req
931. And so my king died...Copy !req
932. and my brothers died...Copy !req
933. barely a year ago.Copy !req
934. Long I pondered my king's
cryptic talk of victory.Copy !req
935. Time has proven him wise.Copy !req
936. For from free Greek to free Greek...Copy !req
937. the word was spread
that bold Leonidas and his 300...Copy !req
938. so far from home...Copy !req
939. laid down their lives
not just for Sparta...Copy !req
940. but for all Greece
and the promise this country holds.Copy !req
941. Now, here on this rugged patch of earth
called Plataea...Copy !req
942. Xerxes' hordes face obliteration!Copy !req
943. Just there the barbarians huddle...Copy !req
944. sheer terror gripping tight their hearts...Copy !req
945. with icy fingers...Copy !req
946. knowing full well
what merciless horrors they suffered...Copy !req
947. at the swords and spears of 300.Copy !req
948. Yet they stare now across the plain
at 10,000 Spartans...Copy !req
949. commanding 30,000 free Greeks!Copy !req
950. The enemy outnumber us
a paltry three to one.Copy !req
951. Good odds for any Greek.Copy !req
952. This day, we rescue a world
from mysticism and tyranny...Copy !req
953. and usher in a future
brighter than anything we can imagine.Copy !req
954. Give thanks, men...Copy !req
955. to Leonidas and the brave 300.Copy !req
956. To victory!Copy !req