This spectacular documentary transports us back to 480 BC; we examine the bloody and legendary Battle of Thermopylae. Under the Spartan king Leonidas, a tiny army battled the invading Persians, who were led by Xerxes I. The Persian Empire was determined to avenge the humiliating defeat they had suffered at the Battle of Marathon.

The two forces clashed at the narrow mountain pass of Thermopylae, leading from Thessaly to Locrish in central Greece. After being held in the pass for two days by their opponents, the Persians were guided through the mountains by a local Greek and brushed aside a force set to guard it.

Warned in time, most of the Greeks in the pass withdrew but the Spartans and some of the others remained, including those from Thespiae, to fight to the death. The last stand was made on the hillock opposite the modern monument.

Although the Greeks were defeated, the heroism of those who fought to the last against the Persians boosted Greek morale. Led by three hundred Spartans, the heroic resistance of these men would create a military legend that is remembered to this day.