Molon Lave

In 480 B.C. the forces of the Persian Empire under King Xerxes, numbering according to Herodotus two million men, bridged the Hellespont and marched in their myriads to invade and enslave Greece.

In a desperate delaying action, a picked force of three hundred Spartans was dispatched to the pass of Thermopylae, where the confines between mountains and sea were so narrow that the Persian multitudes and their cavalry would be at least partially neutralized. Here, it was hoped, an elite force willing to sacrifice their lives could keep back, at least for a few days, the invading thousands.

Threehundred Spartans and their allies held off the invaders for seven days, until, their weapons smashed and broken from the slaughter, they fought "with bare hands and teeth" (as recorded by Herodotus) before being at last overwhelmed.

The Spartans and their Thespian allies died to the last man, but the standard of valor they set by their sacrifice inspired the Greeks to rally and, in that fall and spring, defeat the Persians at Salamis and Plataea and preserve the West.

Two memorials remain today at Thermopylae. Upon the modern one, called the Leonidas Monument in honor of the Spartan king who fell there, is engraved his response to Xerxes' demand that the Spartans lay down their arms. Leonidas' reply was two words,

Molon lave: "Come and get them."



There is an epitaph on one of the monuments at the site of the battle with Simonides's epigram, which can be found in Herodotus's work The Histories (7.228), to the Spartans:

ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε
(O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti täde)
κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.
(keimetha tois keinon rhämasi peithomenoi.)

Which to keep the poetic context can be translated as:

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie

or more literally as:

Oh foreigner, tell the Lacedaemonians
that here we lie, obeying those words.

Another translation captures the spirit of enduring service to the state which was taught to all Spartan warriors:

"Friend, tell the Spartans that on this hill we lie obedient to them still." (translation by Michael Dodson 1951)



And we'll let Herodotus have the last word:

"Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that, when they fired their volleys, the mass of arrows blocked out the sun. Dienekes, however, quite undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we'll have our battle in the shade.' "

—Herodotus, The Histories



Note: all the Thermopylae pics are taken by me 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJkFal6gNSc

The armour shines bright under the sun, helmets look grim with unearthly glance. Shields with Lamda hold by strong hands, crimson cloaks fly proud in the air.

Guarding the path of no return. Smiling to death they´re waiting the end. Thousands of persians will die by their swords. Heroism beyond logic, beyond any hope.

Tell them in Sparta, that we lay here. Faithful to them we fought without fear. Never forget us, live with our example! May Lakedaemona´s laws be your only guide!

Under their feet a sea of blood, maiming and killing everyone in sight. Death to those who bow before a foreign king! Like dogs they shall die, like servants they lived!

A monument of honour forever will stand, a spirit of loyalty that few understand. Lucky those who in this life guard Thermophyles, immortality and glory belongs to them...