Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

And it just doesn't get anywhere. And everybody's getting sort of destroyed by their thousands by this immovable Spartan line. But we have to bear in mind that we just got told by Herodotus that this is a fortified pass.

So they're defending a wall, which makes it on the one hand very easy to defend, but it also, on the other hand, makes it very easy for the attacker to avoid casualties by just keeping their distance and just sort of probing that defense of seeing how close they can get, seeing how far they can get with missiles before they actually commit to an all-out assault.

So they're defending a wall, which makes it on the one hand very easy to defend, but it also, on the other hand, makes it very easy for the attacker to avoid casualties by just keeping their distance and just sort of probing that defense of seeing how close they can get, seeing how far they can get with missiles before they actually commit to an all-out assault.

So they're defending a wall, which makes it on the one hand very easy to defend, but it also, on the other hand, makes it very easy for the attacker to avoid casualties by just keeping their distance and just sort of probing that defense of seeing how close they can get, seeing how far they can get with missiles before they actually commit to an all-out assault.

It's also a narrow path, so you can't really commit that many. You can't really lose that many. It's really hard to actually... get much out of the Persian numbers, which is exactly why the Greeks decide to defend that position.

It's also a narrow path, so you can't really commit that many. You can't really lose that many. It's really hard to actually... get much out of the Persian numbers, which is exactly why the Greeks decide to defend that position.

It's also a narrow path, so you can't really commit that many. You can't really lose that many. It's really hard to actually... get much out of the Persian numbers, which is exactly why the Greeks decide to defend that position.

But it also means that Xerxes can afford to essentially keep those Spartans and their allies locked in position while he's figuring out how to deal with this strategic problem. What supposedly happens is the first day the Medes attack, they don't get anywhere. This is one of the larger Iranian peoples that the Persians rule over.

But it also means that Xerxes can afford to essentially keep those Spartans and their allies locked in position while he's figuring out how to deal with this strategic problem. What supposedly happens is the first day the Medes attack, they don't get anywhere. This is one of the larger Iranian peoples that the Persians rule over.

But it also means that Xerxes can afford to essentially keep those Spartans and their allies locked in position while he's figuring out how to deal with this strategic problem. What supposedly happens is the first day the Medes attack, they don't get anywhere. This is one of the larger Iranian peoples that the Persians rule over.

Then the Persians themselves have a go in the form of the immortals they attack. They also don't get anywhere against the pass. Obviously, the Greeks at this point are like, yeah, we're winning. The Persians are probably thinking, you know, you're still there. Okay, good. That means we still have an opportunity to defeat you.

Then the Persians themselves have a go in the form of the immortals they attack. They also don't get anywhere against the pass. Obviously, the Greeks at this point are like, yeah, we're winning. The Persians are probably thinking, you know, you're still there. Okay, good. That means we still have an opportunity to defeat you.

Then the Persians themselves have a go in the form of the immortals they attack. They also don't get anywhere against the pass. Obviously, the Greeks at this point are like, yeah, we're winning. The Persians are probably thinking, you know, you're still there. Okay, good. That means we still have an opportunity to defeat you.

They're not committing in any sense an all-out attack by their army because firstly, the they are still trying to figure out how to get around this, right? How to dislodge the Greeks rather than just sort of trying to frontally bash their heads against the wall.

They're not committing in any sense an all-out attack by their army because firstly, the they are still trying to figure out how to get around this, right? How to dislodge the Greeks rather than just sort of trying to frontally bash their heads against the wall.

They're not committing in any sense an all-out attack by their army because firstly, the they are still trying to figure out how to get around this, right? How to dislodge the Greeks rather than just sort of trying to frontally bash their heads against the wall.

And they find it eventually when somebody tells them, or so we're told, the traitor Ephialtes tells them that there is a path that leads up the mountain and around the position in the path. Geoffrey Robb's argument has been that they knew this all along. They heard it from the Thessalians. And so they were just waiting

And they find it eventually when somebody tells them, or so we're told, the traitor Ephialtes tells them that there is a path that leads up the mountain and around the position in the path. Geoffrey Robb's argument has been that they knew this all along. They heard it from the Thessalians. And so they were just waiting

And they find it eventually when somebody tells them, or so we're told, the traitor Ephialtes tells them that there is a path that leads up the mountain and around the position in the path. Geoffrey Robb's argument has been that they knew this all along. They heard it from the Thessalians. And so they were just waiting

for their fleet to get into position so that they could outflank both forces simultaneously.