Zack Snyder’s 300 is based on the remarkable true story of the historical Battle of Thermopylae. 300 transformed Gerard Butler’s Hollywood career and just may be the peak of his extensive filmography. 300 was released in the United States on March 9, 2007, and became the tenth highest-grossing movie of that year, earning $456 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million. The epic action film was only Zack Snyder’s second feature directorial effort following his breakout 2004 horror film Dawn of the Dead. 300 led Snyder to take on other blockbusters such as Watchmen (2009), Man of Steel (2013), and Justice League (2017).

The impressive box office performance of 300 inspired a sequel in 2014, although Snyder did not direct 300: Rise of an Empire. A 300 prequel series has recently been reported to be in the works at Warner Bros, with Snyder rumored to be attached. Although Butler never reprised his role as King Leonidas due to the ending of 300, his performance left an indelible impact on the trajectory of his career in action movies. After leading the cast of 300, Butler would go on to star in many action movies, such as Law Abiding Citizen (2009), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Gods of Egypt (2016), and Den of Thieves (2018).

The Carneia Festival Only Allowed King Leonidas To Send 300 Spartan Soldiers

Spartans feared they would anger the gods by sending their full military force during the festival

As portrayed in the movie 300, the Persian Army as commanded by Xerxes had diplomatically requested the city-state of Sparta of Ancient Greece to offer up a part of their land as a sign of respect to the Persian King. As history goes, King Leonidas took this request as an insult, leaving no choice but to lead his battle-bred Spartans into war, which took place in the late summer of the year 480 BCE. While Leonidas had an army of roughly 7100 soldiers, which still paled in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of warriors in Xerxes army, he was forced to attempt to hold off the Persian invasion with a group of 300 hoplites due to the Carneia Festival of Sparta.

The Carneia Festival prohibited military activity, making the actions of Leonidas and the 300 Spartan warriors unlawful in the eyes of their own culture. The festival was the reason why the Spartans were late in attendance at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, a historic battle during the first Persian invasion of Ancient Greece. The Olympic Games were also being held during the time of the Battle of Thermopylae, meaning it would also have been sacrilegious if the entire army of Sparta broke the Olympic truce and engaged in the war. The Spartans believed that fighting during the Carneia Festival would anger the gods, so Leonidas and his men were forced to fend for themselves (via History).

How Many Soldiers Were In The Persian Army

A conservative estimate is about 200,000 soldiers

Xerxes and his Persian Army were numbered by the hundreds of thousands, with some accounts estimating that the full force of his esteemed army of “Immortals” totaled in the millions. According to Reed College, “Herodotus says that Xerxes had 2.5 million troops and as many again of camp followers, but the figure is widely acknowledged to be fantastic. A more realistic estimate is had by lopping off a zero: perhaps 200,000, not all of whom had arrived at Thermopylae by the time Xerxes decided he had waited long enough.” Other ancient accounts claim that Xerxes’ army was as large as 800,000 soldiers but modern scholarly estimates give a range of 120,000 to 300,000.

Interestingly, the fact that Leonidas and his 300 troops fought Xerxes at the Battle of Thermopylae meant that they all would have defied Spartan law, while it was also against Spartan law to retreat from battle. This impossible conundrum left Leondias with no choice but to do as much as possible in the face of insurmountable odds, considering that the circumstances surrounding him seemed fated to begin with. Despite the valiant effort that would be remembered for centuries, Leondias’ defeat in Thermopylae paved a clear passage to advance into southern Greece and expand his empire even further (via Britannica).

How The 300 Spartan Soldiers Held Off The Persian Army

The Spartans used a highly effective defensive maneuver

The 300 Spartans employed effective defensive methods against the powerful attack of the Persian army. One of these methods was the Greek phalanx, a defensive maneuver in which Spartan soldiers would overlap their shields and use their spears to create a mostly impenetrable barrier against the shorter swords and smaller shields of the Persians. Xerxes first sent a group of 5000 soldiers known as the Medes, who were all defeated with a few Spartan casualties, before sending 10,000 “Immortals” who met a similar fate. The Spartans also pretended to retreat to gain an advantage over the advancing Persian army. Several of these clever military tactics and more can be seen in Snyder’s 300.