In 480 B.C.E., King Leonidas of Sparta led 7,000 men against an estimated 300,000 Persian soldiers at the Battle of Thermopylae — and almost won. The Greeks successfully used their home terrain ...

The carnage of the last, heroic moments of the Battle of Thermopylae is vividly re-created in this 20th-century battle scene by Stanley Meltzoff. Bridgeman/ACI. By Javier Murcia.