(07-16-2014 02:18 PM)DragonLair Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 02:07 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Thermopylae

A small force of Greeks held off a Persian army that outnumbered them better than 100-1. This led to the rise of the Greek society which our own society is modeled upon, as is most of the rest of the modern world.

I knew this would come up. I didn't want to say it but yes it was a significant battle but it has gotten way blown out of proportion.

Yes there was only 300 Spartan warriors but each of those spartan warriors had their squires and assistants who would help out during the battle by being an auxiliary force. On top of that there were a significant number of Thebans, Athenians and many other Greek city-states represented.

Still they were outnumbered but not to the extent that is widely guessed.

The Greeks were vastly outnumbered. There were a few thousand Greeks (4000-7000, depending) against a Persian army numbering anywhere between 100,000-200,000, depending on which historian does the counting.

That's not a small thing, when you can send a large number of men after each single Greek. And this was an old style battle, when the fighting was done up close and personal. The fact that you dismiss it shows you really don't understand the realities of this kind of war.