An Ancient War Documentary: The Rise and Fall of the Spartans (Ancient History Documentary)

• published: 07 Apr 2015
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An Ancient War Documentary: The Rise and Fall of the Spartans (Ancient History Documentary) This ancient war documentary is about the Spartans. They were revered and feared in their own time. They were ancient warriors that invented a lifestyle and aesthetic that until this day bears their name. They are the Spartans and this is their story. 480 B.C Thermopylae. It was the time and place that would forever crystalize the essence of Sparta. The Battle of Thermopylae would be considered as a turning point in the mankind history. This is a highlight in the Greco-Persian Wars. Greeks were largely outnumbered by the huge army of Persians. But Greeks pressed on, confident that the 300 men in the frontlines could lead them to victory. Simply because they were 300 men from Sparta. Meet the Spartans. The first militaristic society in the civilized world. After two days of holding off the Persians, finally the Spartan King Leonidas realized that defeat was inevitable. He ordered thousands of Greek soldiers to run for their lives. But, all 300 Spartans stood their ground and fought to the last man. Because they were Spartans. The stand of the 300 Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae has become a classical example of losing the battle but winning the war. While today we think of Athens as the birthplace of Western Civilization and the high water mark of the Greek culture, it was Sparta that many golden Greeks admired most. Spartans story starts from 1200 BC when Dorians that considered themselves as the descendants of Hercules wanted to take again their mother land. Their king was Lacedaemon after which Laconia took its name and their queen Sparta after which the capital of Laconia took its name. We have great samples of Spartan pottery but all before 800 B.C. This has to do with the Messenian Wars. Spartan decided to take over Messenia, a rich agricultural and iron mind Dorian territory. It took almost 100 years to take over Messenia. By then it was the biggest city-state of Greece. However, the more than 200 thousands of Messenians outnumbered by far the 10 thousands of Spartans soldiers. This had forced Spartans to change. With the directions of Lycurgus, Sparta transformed to a perfect militaristic state. For more than 400 years, Sparta had the most stable government in the history of Greece. Their priority was to keep Helots under control. The success of Sparta depended on a tightly controlled society. Many of the things that we know for Sparta and the Spartans come from Plutarch. Sparta’s legacy is not only they created the idea of military discipline but they also perfected through a social structure and a training program that begun at the age of 7. The treat for Spartans and all Greeks would come from Persians. Persia under Darius the First had the biggest army of the ancient world. Darius wanted to punish the Athenians for supporting the failed revolt of Ionia in 499 BC. In 490 BC, Darius sent his fleet with his troops at Marathon. Athenians asked helped from Spartans who said they will sent help after their festive was over. Athenians were outnumber 1 to 3. With no help coming from Spartans, Miltiades ordered the attack and they win. Xerxes, Darius son, was planning the attack to Greece with a massive force of 200-300k warriors. Greeks decision was to hold them at the point of Thermopylae. Spartans were led by Leonidas. Leonidas and the 300 Spartans knew they were going to die. If you enjoy watching history movie, history documentary, war documentary, war movies, ancient war documentary, ancient Greek documentary, please subscribe to our documentary history channel, here: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9_aHFxTszEJSG5iIplOusg Our Channel is dedicated to bring to you the most interesting and educative history documentaries, war documentary, ancient war documentary, ancient war movies, ancient Spartan full documentary film, Spartan history documentary film, Leonidas History best documentary, Battle of Thermopylae full documentary film, Greco-Persian Wars documentary film, history best documentary film, history top documentary film, history full documentary film, History Channel documentary Tags-Please Ignore “history documentary”, “war documentary”, “ancient war documentary”, “documentary history channel”, “history”, “documentary”, “movie”, “history movie”, “documentaries”, “ancient war”, “history channel documentary”, “History Channel”, “War Documentary”, “Spartan”, “full documentary”, “Leonidas”, “Thermopylae”, “Battle of Thermopylae”, “Persian Wars”, “documentary”, “full documentary”, “top documentary”, “best documentary”, “300”, “Marathon”, “Marathon Battle”, “Battle of Marathon”, “Xerxes”