Sparta was the greatest land army in Ancient ... This is a great simple line spoken by Leonidas in 300 as a way of letting his men—and the audience—know that the end has finally come.

After its victory over Leonidas' 300, the Persian Army under the command ... with the traditional rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta whose might lies with its superior infantry troops.

Each year the ephors, or magistrates, chose the 300 best hoplites ... neither monuments nor epics, Sparta’s enduring legacy is a military ideal, embodied in Leonidas, hero of Thermopylae ...

men to Greece and was confronted by 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans. Xerxes waited for 10 days for King Leonidas to surrender or withdraw but left with no options he pushed forward.