Hey everyone, due to a copyright issue I had to mute a section of the video from 12:09 - 14:03. If you want to see the unedited version of it you can find it on watchnebula.com/historybuffs This is where I will upload all of my videos incase of any copyright issues. Really sorry guys.

"That's Gay". - Xerxes

Imagine training for all of this, and dying from a shot arrow.

I always assumed that the historical and visual inaccuracies in 300 were meant to reflect how oral legends of antiquity would be embellished and exaggerated. As in, the way the events are depicted in 300 are similar to how the stories would be passed down around campfires and at Greek theaters.

I absolutely love how the part where the spartan says " then we will fight in the shade " was actually a real phase that was said.

Leonidas: "SPARTAN'S, WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION??!" Spartans: "HOOO HOOO HOOO!!!" Greeks: ".......owls?"

The Spartan one-liner quip is known in modern times as a laconic phrase, named after the land of Laconia where the city stood. Unlike the philosophy loving Athenians who were very fond of hearing the sound of their own voice, Spartans were notorious for not speaking more than was absolutely needed. Thus, they acquired the reputation of being simpeltons, despite the fact that Sparta produced two of the classical seven sages of ancient Greece. Here are a few classics : The "If" answer to Phillip of Macedon that was mentioned here was preceded by another exchange. When Phillip sent a menacing letter to Sparta, asking whether he should come as friend or foe, the Spartans responded with "Neither". When a neighboring city that has suffred a drought sent a delegation to Sparta asking for help, the delegates made a long and winded speech before the Spartan assembly, imploring for aid. The Spartans retorted that the speech was so long that by the end of it they could no longer remember the begining. The next day the delegates returned with an empty flour bag, pointed at it and said "This bag needs flour". To this the Spartans answered that they need not have said "this bag" - but nonetheless agreed to provide aid. When a famous Spartan king was being pestered by a man asking who is the perfect Spartan, he annoyingly replied "He who is least like you". It was known that the Spartans discouraged theur people from travelling abroad, fearing they would be spoiled by the affluence and customs of other city states. When an Athenian haughtingly pointed this out to a Spartan, the latter replied "But you, when you come to Sparta, do not become worse, but better." Sometimes other Greeks paid back in kind. When a man from the Italian Greek city of Sybaris, known for it's love of fine dining, came to Sparta, he was invited to eat with the warriors in their mess hall and sample their famous "black broth" - Spartan blood soup made with onion and vinegar. Tasting it, the man proclaimed "Now i understand why Spartans are so fearless in the face of death. Any sane man would rather die a thousand times than live like this".

The Spartans were called "Lacedemonians" by their fellow Greeks. As you pointed out, they were known even in contemporary sources for their action movie-style one-liners. This type of witty terse response is called "Laconic Speech". Their society essentially successfully bred armies of Clint Eastwood clones that would do calisthenics and brush their hair before going into battle.

Ah yes. The movie that convinced every meathead at the gym that they were fractionally Greek.

“This is 300!” I feel robbed.

"Number's alone can't guarantee victory" Tell that to Stalin

Did anyone else's audio go out at 12:08

There is an entire story that took place once the Spatan lines broke. King Leonidas was killed very early on and the battle that ensued for his body is an entire story in itself.

The runner/messenger ran from the battle of Marathon to Athens. It was 26 miles. Thats what marathons are based after. When he arrived in Athens he yelled "Nike" meaning 'victory'. Thats where Nike clothing named themselves.

Spartans were actually greatly outmatched by one other particular fighting unit in the ancient world; the Florida man

12minutes and 4 seconds the sound stopped. A good 12 minutes though!

Sound cuts out for anyone else or just me? 12:09 to 14:00

How did Xerxes get Elephants before Cersei?

Cool fact: "Thermopylae" translates as "hot gates" in Greek, its name coming from various sulphur springs in the area and was thought to be the entrance to Hades.

The part that was muted between 12:09 - 14:03 reads. " To destroy an army of forty thousand Aztecs that helped lead to the downfall of the mighty Aztec Empire. So what do I mean about the Greeks being technologically superior to the Persians, well let's look at their weaponry. Obviously I don't need to tell you that the Greeks didn't go into battle half-naked like in the movie, this in clearly all from the graphic novel. In real life Spartans were heavy infantry and wore armor made of bronze, they also carried shields made of strong wood and a thin sheet of bronze and when the Persians fired their arrows, they would literally just bounce off the Spartans shields and armor because they were made of cheap date palm wood. In contrast, the Persians wore little to no armor and the shields made out of a much thinner wood and some of them were even made out of bloody wicker which Spartan weapons had no problems what so ever in penetrating. So what's ready infuriating to me is that, the Persians know this! They fought the Greeks at Marathon and sustained heavy loses because of their inadequate weaponry, you think someone somewhere would have said something in ten years about their weapons needing an upgrade! But anyway the question still remains, how did an army of just three hundred Spartans and seven thousand other Greeks, hold off an army of nearly half a million for three days. Well another advantage the Greeks had was the strategic value of the landscape they chose to fight in and Thermopylae was perfect of that because it was narrow coastal passage with Aegean Sea on one side and a high vertical cliff on the other. Its natural bends and curves created perfect choking points were Xerxes massive numbers were just taken out the equation, no matter many soldiers he funneled into the pass, the better equipped and trained Spartans were able to hold their ground and inflict heavy casualties. This continued foe two days before the Spartans were finally defeated on the third". Man that took for forever, but I think it was worth it, tell me what you all think.

“Yes your grace, very gay.”

"That's gay!" "Yes sir, very gay!" XD I love you.

"Numbers alone does not guarantee victory" Laughs in USSR.

"i may as well have marched them up here, from what ive seen" best line in the film

He forgot to mention how the spartans kept saying "freedom" countless times while themselves beeing slavers

10:00 "That's gay" My god that made me laugh

You mean kicking people into a seemingly bottomless pit while yelling "THIS IS " is not historically accurate?

anyone else audio cut off at 12:09

"Numbers alone can't guarantee Victory" Stalin: **doubt**

The main reason why the Persians had much less armour wasn't because of technological inferiority but because of their home territorys conditions and their tactics. Persia was mostly full of vast plains and deserts with a few mountain ranges and hills that have long since been safe from any sort of invasion, so their soldiers wore light armour and brought lighter weapons because they had to run and maneuver constantly in battles. This became a massive detriment to them whenever they invaded Greece because all of the battles there were in much smaller and tighter confines with mountains, hills, rivers, lakes and the very sea preventing them from being a mobile force, their preferred strategy and the strategy they've been equipped for.

A friend of mine is a Greek Cypriot who served as a tank commander for his national service. His regiments motto was some adaption of 'we will fight in the shade.'

There is no sound from 12:09 to 14:03

"I don't like the Spartans." *Athenian Boi spotted.*

Spartan women are actually more than just baby producers, they were super rich. When a spartan husband dies, which happens a lot to a warrior nation state, inherited his wealth, to his wife. And when that wife dies, her children inherited the wealth, and if one of the children are daughters, then they'll get it too. And when the daughters marry a man, with pockets full from inheritance money, when the man she married dies, she inherits his wealth. And this happens over generations, and women of sparta became very rich, and even the kings would make loans to the spartan women just to get by.

"They did a little bit more than just bang their shields"..... Genius.

I can't believe you didn't mention the utter ridiculous manner in which Xerxes was portrayed and dressed. I mean they had him looking like some whacked out apocalyptic eunuch.

The part referencing "if" was in fact the answer the spartans gave to Macedonian King Philip II, father of Alexander. And he actually left them be albeit pretty much unimportant for the rest of history

"Yes your Grace, very gay!" Holy shit this was hilarious.

12:09 an entire army of forty... Dear sweet lord how did they ever manage that.

fun fact, king Leonidas 1 was one of the few kings of Sparta to actually undergo spartan training. the King's First born son was exempt from the spartan training, and Leonidas, not being the first born was not exempt.

Only 1% of people realise that 300 is so "whacky" because the whole film is told from Dilios' point of view, as an exaggerated story, or motivational speech to the men. It's such a misunderstood film. I think it's brilliantly original and memorable, with some great scenes.

Anyone else notice the sound cut off at around 12.09???

Did you lose sound at 12:15?

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat”

The movie 300 is what I imagine people imagined when they heard the stories how many ever years ago it was. Sitting at a campfire, and your crazy uncle telling you the story of 300. I can just imagine how epic it seemed. And was.

Thank you for pointing out that, because it was narrated by Dilios, there is good reason to excuse the over-the-top nature of the battle. I remember coming to that conclusion myself and, like you, allowed me to like the film even more.

why did the audio just cut out like that

"helen of troy was from sparta" no wonder it took them ten years to sack troy

The whole idea of this movie, its an exaggerated story told by a soldier to encourage his men.

At 12:09 all sound just stops until 14:04.

king Leonidas didn't say "THIS IS SPARTA!!!!" he said "GO DIG IT UP YOURSELVES!!!" upon pushing the Persians in in my opinion way cooler!

Helen of Troy was from Mycenean Sparta. Long before the Dorians came and made Sparta into a warrior culture.

You should have mentioned the immortals and how they were actually called the immortals not because they were hard to kill but because there were so many soldiers in their unit that they seemed to be immortal, everyone you killed was replaced immediately.

Gerard Butler probably was way more passionate about this role than he had any reason to, but goddamit, are we all glad he got it

12:05 Why dose the audio cut out?

History channel needs to be in touch with you.

There was inaccuracy that you forgot to mention, when the Oracle’s men were being bribed with coins, the Spartans did not use coin currency.

The sound cuts out before part 3

Video goes mute for like 5 minutes towards the middle-end

When xerxes lost a part of his navy to a storm, he was so pissed he ordered his men to whip the sea

Bruh, that deformed Spartan looks like a flood carrier lmao

Did the adiou just cut out at 12:09 for u as well?

I really like how you gave the back ground of the Ionian Revolt. It is a pivotal part of the story and brings in characters like Miltiades who was hated due to his dictatorship methods and eventually ending with the battle of Marathon. Good job in giving the back story, if I remember my history Marathon was 40 years or so before Thermopylae. Another great misconception is that people actually believe there was only 300 Spartans at Thermopylae , Writings state the were other too like Arcadians. Leonidas may have only had 300 Spartans, but they did have allies with them.

“Spartans never die. They’re just missing in action.” - Catherine Halsey from the ‘Halo’ series

"Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Then we will fight in the shade" Me: "Oh burn!"

Just some more things that he might have missed. Sparta sent only 300 not only concerns of helots revolting but due to several religious reasons where military action was illegal by spartan law. That's why he brought his closest gym buddies with him(bodyguards). There were somewhere around 7000 greek soldiers with 300 being spartans. Some greek defector told the Persians about a secret pathway around the pass which the Greeks also knew of and had a small force placed. Those men were caught by surprise and didn't defend the pass taking position somewhere else thinking the Persians were coming for them. Word came out. Leonidas held a council of war. He said those who wanted to leave can since it was going to be the last stand whilst being surrounded. About 3000 chose to leave whist all Spartans and spartan slaves that participated with some other greeks chose to stay knowing it was a fight to the death. One injured spartan was told by Leonidas to return to Sparta and tell of what happened there and their honorable last stand. When war continued the Greeks were putting up a great fight. Leonidas in the later part of the last stand was killed. In order to retrieve his body the spartan soldiers and slaves pushed back the Persian lines however were not able to get his body. His head was stuck on a spear. Eventually, every last one of them perished.

If a time machine is ever invented, I want somebody to go back in time and record all of these great battles and bring the footage back to the present. Imagine sitting at home and watching what actually happened on that day...

Hi! so, King Xerxes actually had to wait for 10 years because some parts of Egypt (which they had conquered) had rebelled. I just thought I may add this in there!

I see a lot of comments talking about how Nick didn't talk about this historical inaccuracy, or this historical inaccuracy, but if you watch the video Nick said how he wouldn't talk about all the historical inaccuracies because the movie's source material was a graphic novel and not history. Believe me, I know how inaccurate this movie is ;)

At 12:08 minutes, the sound is gone for a while...

One thing you missed about the Spartan training that is interesting, when it come to Leonides, the son and heir of a Spartan king is exempt from being trained in the Agage but Leonides was the 2nd son and not the heir of one of two of the Spartan Kings (they always had 2 kings at the same time) so he was not exempt and did train in the Agage system. (Dont know if I spelled Agage correctly so excuse that please)

I think you've overlooked the *real* masterpiece: _Meet the Spartans_ .

Fun Fact: 300 is only 15 minutes long if played at normal speed and not in *slow-motion.*

Anyone notice at 12:00 the audio cuts out for about 2 full minutes. Surprised he never realized it.

That phrase in 5:12 was actually said but not like the way the movie shows it. That phrase was said by Diinekis (not the one who says it in the movie) and there was another soldier who said that the Persians seemed so many that their arrows would cover up the sun and he said the phrase: Υπό σκιήι (under the shadow)

"That's gay."-Xerxes2k15

The "Spartans, what is your profession?" line gives me absolute chills every time I see it.

your audio cuts out at 12:08 and comes back at 14:02

It is great to see people talking of the Greeks in history. Great thanks from a bulgarian historian.

One key decider was the famous Greek Phalanx formation of locked shields and long spears which proved invaluable not only for this battle, but also the eventual expansion of Alexander. The phalanx was so effective that it would remain so until the advent of the Roman Legion and its Manipular structure which was still in essense a form of the Phalanx. Even to this day, the phalanx is used in combat to some extent, seen extensively in crowd control tactics by police and paramilitary groups.

Numbers don't beat superior tech? Soviet Russia disagrees.

Did the audio cut out for anyone else around 12:10?

New subscriber. Love your channel. Love that you are not trashing the movie just because they don't get all the history right. The movie led us to learn more about the history and that is a good thing!

Fun fact only 299 Spartans died because 1 left

Few points to answer your questions brought up about Xerxes and the Persian Army. 1. Like all absolute monarchies, the Persian Empire suffered from civil war and unrest every time the King died. Quickly, the various satraps and royal heirs would struggle to claim the throne. Xerxes was one of the many contenders and had to defeat them before focusing on Greece. 2. The Persian army was not a professional force maintained by a centralized state, but a polyglot army of various regions and satraps with their own language, weapons, and styles of fighting. The King really controlled his elite guard of Persian Immortals that served as heavy infantry and at a high cost to the Persian monarch. It can partly explain the disorganized and inept performance of this massive army against the Greeks. 3. The Persians were victims of their own success. Having eliminated all enemies, they had no competition and became complacent like all empires throughout history. Rather than learn and adapt, Persian rulers and generals preffered to employ Greek mercenaries particularly Spartans. It was this hubris that would end.with Alexanders march a century later. 4. One thing you didn't mention that I hated about the movie was the total lack of acknowledgement for Athens part in Thermopolye. Without the Athenian navy harassing Persian supply ships and keeping the Persian fleet transporting troops around the pass, the Spartans would easily have been cut off and crushed quickly. I personally thought a scene with the Athenians saying the Spartans may rule on land, but Athens rules the waves would have been great. Also a forshadowing of the future war between Athens and Sparta.

*"Preparation of one's body before possible death"* lines up with the saying: *"Live Fast, Die.Young & leave a good Looking Corpse"* .....y'know, I can dig THAT! 👍

The graphic novel is really interesting as it is a portrayal of Romanticised Greek art and later Renaissance, Neoclassical, and Romantic Western art. The lack of armour is an example of the heroic nudity commonly featured in this art

the Spartans massacred the Helots ( Slaves/Serfs ) every year , Just because they were more numerous . Sparta was a state consumed by Paranoia .

The Spartans of the Iliad were a different people than the Spartans of 300.Spartans of the Iliad were classic Greeks and were gone by the time the Dorian's conquered the same Spartan land. Taking the name of city Sparta for themselves.Though the country of the city of Sparta was named Laconia Dorian Spartans called themselves Spartans.

That line where they said "come and get them!" May still be one of the most badass lines in film.

“When the legend becomes fact , print the legend”-

"Spartan women give birth to real men" SOMEONE NEEDS A LOT OF ICE AND AN ENTIRE OCEAN TO COOL DOWN!

Fun fact: the name Ephialtes(Εφιάλτης) in Greek means nightmare. After his betrayal, his name became the official word of horror dreams for a nation

45% of the reason I watch the older videos is for the bomb ass intro

Did the audio cut out for anyone else halfway throught the review then come back in ?

how about Das Boot?

You also forgot to mention how the infant spartans were bathed in wine, so the ones who survived supposedly had a better chance of becoming strong warriors. In addition during their trainning they used to drink blood(usually boar's) mixed with honey to supposedly develop stronger immune systems.

"Those Athenians, boy loves" That's rich coming from a society that apparently had women shave their heads so they could look more man like to attract their husbands better.

Why does that audio stop?

I thought it was Phillip of Macedonia who said, "If I enter Laconia I shall burn Sparta to the ground." To which he received the one word reply, "If"