this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
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The Battle of Thermopylae where king Leonidus and his "300 spartans" (it was actually a few thousand of a coalition force) held off the Persian invasion of Greece.
The plan was to use the narrow mountain path to pit a few of tgeir well trained soldiers against a few of Persias rank and file. The idea being a few well trained soldiers could take out a lot more rank and file if they didnt have battle tactics to worry about.
What caused Leonidus to lose that battle is an alternate route through the mountains that let the Persians flank the Spartans and probably totally destroy them.
What's mind blowing is this was hundreds year old history when Rome tried the same thing.
This one spot is famous for losing battles and ancient people loved choosing this battleground and then losing
Ah classic mistake, building up defenses on a choke point only to realize it's not the only entrance to your base and now zerglings are eating your SCVs.
Fell victim to one of the classic blunders...
Also, phalanx v short swords just lose as soon as the formation breaks a tiny bit, there's uneven terrain or open flanks. Up close long pikes don't do anything and the gladius goes stabby stabby.
Should be noted that it was a few thousand initially. When they found out they were being flanked they sent away most of the other soldiers. So it was just the Spartans and one other contingent, 700 Thespians.