Episode #227- What is the Spartan Mirage? (Part III)

Our Fake History

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Education, Talk Radio, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2025

⏱️ 105 minutes

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Summary

The famous Battle of Thermopylae forms the centerpiece of the Spartan Mirage. Legend has it that a tiny force of 300 Spartans took on over two million Persians and managed to hold them off for a remarkable four days. The Spartan sacrifice has been credited with saving Greece and paving the way to the ultimate Greek victory over the invaders. While it's true that the Spartans made a stand at Thermopylae, so too did thousands of other Greeks whose contributions have been edited out of the story. Almost everything about this famous showdown has been exaggerated and distorted. Who were the real heroes of Thermopylae? Tune-in and find out how playing possum, 700 Thespians, and something called the Battle of Champions all play a role in the story.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'd like to tell you a story about 300 Spartans.
0:13.1	And, no, it's not those 300 Spartans.
0:19.2	Believe it or not, it's a different group of 300 Spartans.
0:24.7	You see, about two generations before the Battle of Thermopyla made the Spartan group who fought
0:30.8	the Persians the most famous 300 in human history, there was another battle that involved the exact same number of aristocratic
0:42.2	Spartate hoplite soldiers. It's kind of amazing that this earlier battle of 300 is not as well
0:51.3	remembered, because it has an absolutely amazing name.
0:57.8	Historians call this engagement the Battle of Champions.
1:03.8	Ooh, I just got chills.
1:06.8	The battle took place in the middle of the 500s BC, while Sparta was expanding its power over Greece's Peloponnesian Peninsula.
1:17.5	The Spartans had earned a reputation for having an impressive army, but they were far from unstoppable.
1:25.6	Indeed, many cities had resisted Spartan domination and even scored
1:30.6	battlefield victories over the aggressive city state. But the Spartans were nothing, if not,
1:37.7	tenacious. They were unable to conquer and enslave the rest of the Peloponnese in the way that they had their
1:45.7	neighbors in Messenia. But through decades of military pressure, the Spartans were able to
1:51.9	steadily strongarm most nearby cities into joining their Peloponnesian League. This league
2:00.2	more or less turned Sparta's neighbors into vassal states.
2:05.7	Member cities were obliged to provide soldiers for any military engagement Sparta wished to undertake,
2:12.8	and as a result, their foreign policy became completely dominated by Sparta.
2:19.4	But part of the deal was that Sparta was also obliged to protect a league member if it was threatened.
2:27.6	So it was vassal ship, but with a touch more dignity.
2:33.7	Nevertheless, not all of Sparta's neighbors were enthusiastic about this arrangement.
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